Our first house was on a 1 acre lot at the end of a dead end street in a quiet little town. There was no traffic making it a great place for our young children to play. Purchasing the adjacent 5 acres of farmland was an option we foolishly declined. Less than 2 years later, the 5 acre parcel sold. A prefab house went up and a used mobile home was planted. Two rowdy families became our new neighbors. They made a dirt track around their perimeter for racing their go karts and dirt bikes. They drove their cars past our house at unsafe speeds. They were noisy and could not be reasoned with. I could have prevented that by purchasing that 5 acre lot. Not doing so became a major regret. In the end, we sold our house and moved to a place with no nearby neighbors.

 
They do make septic systems that are really self-contained mini sewage disposal plants. Kind of similar to a chemical toilet but on a much larger scale. We learned about them years ago when we were looking a land in the Prescott area. Especially a bit north of there it's all rocks, with no soil to perk into. The systems are expensive compared to traditional septic systems, but there is an alternative for a no-perk property.
 

Spending $30,000 to serve as someone else's buffer sounds like an iffy proposition to me, if only because you're being dragged into a preexisting situation (even if the situation is only the current owner feeling antisocial toward the current neighbors). Throw in having to build a house that looks directly into the neighbor's house in an area like the one you've more or less described, and I'm wondering if there are neighborhood headaches in store.

Package treatment such as henryaz is suggesting is possible, but it would be well to look into whether you're willing to not only pay for and install such a system, but manage it diligently.

I'm guessing that there's no way to tap into an existing sewer system within the foreseeable future. If that's true and conventional septic isn't an option, my impulse would be to walk.

quote:

Originally posted by sig229-SAS:
however we just discovered that the soil failed the perk test for the septic, we have advised the owner of the condition and withdrew from the sale.

I'm not a realtor nor have I ever purchased a home in NC. However, I have purchased 6 homes in 4 states (my employer moves me every few years) and in every state recent inspections/tests were required disclosures.

If you had a sales contract contingent upon inspection (all 6 homes I've purchased had this contingency), you could have amended after the inspection to lower the cost. If your home perked, likely there is somewhere on the adjacent property that would've perked and if not (as others have posted) there are alternatives so you could have included the cost differential in an amendment. However, since you don't plan to build on the site it seems like an odd reason to back out.

There is a way to deal with the sewage.

But first you have to figure out if you are going to buy the land.

Then deal with the perc issue.

Use the lack of a perc test to your advantage. And try and get the price down. ~15K /acre sounds crazy high. (Though in Highlands land is much higher than Sylva or Franklin)

The sewage can be pumped elsewhere on the property that may perc, or you may use a low pressure drain field or other type to deal with sewage.

My dad lives on the side of a mountain in western NC (Macon Co.) and he has a "non-normal" septic system. He also sells E-ONE pumps in the area for septic systems in small subdivisions or communities. There is always a work around to your septic problem. It just costs money.

Check out an aerobic treatment system or ATS.

You probably need to consult with a septic system expert and a lawyer to know enough to chart the right course and to know what to expect.

Or you can continue to screw around and spend money while someone else buys it.

quote:

Originally posted by AH.74:
If it were me I'd get back in there with an adjusted offer. I would hate myself for missing the opportunity to lock in privacy. That's an intangible value IMO that you can't put a price on.

Also I'd hate myself not only during the construction period with my peace and quiet disturbed all day every day for months but to forever have my killer view on that magnificent parcel ruined with a house in the middle of it.

It's a small price to pay over the course of years. Once you let it get away, it may as well be gone forever.

Me too!

And, you never know, if no septic, your new neighbor may put in a double wide with a porta-potty! ;-)

quote:

Originally posted by TBH:
$30,000 for 1.7 acres seems a little high

Lol what?

My wife and I wear watching a show about people building houses in locations that were impossible to set up with sewer/septic. Mostly the homesites were built directly on rock.

They bought "incendiary" toilets. Basically they light their waste on fire (or something like that).

There are options. Don't waste a good opportunity if your heart is set on it.

My neighbor has what I think is a similar issue. We live in the mountains so most houses are built on a hill. We are all on septic systems. I recently found out about my neighbors septic design, built in the late 80's, way before both of us moved here.

They have a solids tank near the low point of their house. However, they have some other type of tank for the liquids ( in place of a leach field). These liquids are then pumped up the hill to the top of their property. That is where the leach field is located. This system is nothing but trouble for them.

The point of this is, if someone really wants that lot, not passing a perc test isn't necessarily a deal killer.

You need to think long and hard about how you will feel if someone build on that lot. If you bought it yourself you would have control. If the current owner sells it, you don't.

Is the peace of mind worth the ~$30k?

quote:

Originally posted by TBH:
$30,000 for 1.7 acres seems a little high unless it been approved as a building lot. But picture dirtbag neighbors right there and it may be more appealing.

Isn't that entirely dependent on where the land is? My office is surrounded by .25 to .30 acre lots that sell for ten times that. How much would an acre on Central Park West go for? Or, on the other hand, there are acres out there you couldn't get $10,000 for.

Well we took the advice of the majority and made a offer, but at a reduced price for the land. It is still overpriced but as many pointed out privacy sometimes has a higher price and we don't want to grow a crop of mobile homes with snotty kids and trail bikes....

It remains to be seen if it is accepted, I have my reservations... update to follow...

There are used in Europe and are appearing here. There’s a plant in Singapore that takes sewer in and produces bottle water from it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membrane_bioreactor
http://www.biomicrobics.com/pr...membrane-bioreactor/