No issues living in a house with a septic. Had one for years, saved a ton on sewer bills. 
I would have no issues buying another house but I would do a serious due diligence regarding septic regulations in the area. We have areas here where one can get seriously hosed if they buy a house with an outdated septic. While the thing could be grandfathered and might pass the county inspection, the next repair could be tens of thousands of $$ or not even possible! Beware of any critical areas like NGPAs and wetlands surrounding the property when buying a house on a septic.
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One of the first houses we looked at was basically in the same neighborhood where we were living in our condo. It was located in a circular property where all of the houses were part of an association and were painted in a 1960s “yellow”. There were no fences, gates, or real visible property lines, so that was our first “clue” about issues. It was an impromptu visit to an Open House.
The inside of the house had the same unusual yellow color but it had been repainted several times as we could see and tell the thickness of the paint layers.
Before we even had a chance to step in to the main living area, a HUGE dog came running through one of the open doors and came barking, straight towards me! The real estate agent for the house looked appalled and tried to block the dog from me. My husband didn’t have time to respond as he was just as shocked as I was.
About a minute later, a woman and her husband (they looked to be in their late 20s) came chasing after the dog. The woman grabbed ahold of his collar because he was still trying to get to me, barking loudly. She explained that the dog saw me, and wanted to run towards me to “be my friend”!
Right.
She rambled on how about how they were so happy that a young couple would be moving into the neighborhood as there were no other young couples. She said they would be great friends to us, and since the dog already liked me, that it would be so great to be in the same neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the shocked real estate agent tried to intervene and said that we we’re in the middle of a showing and perhaps should talk later. My husband and I were still in stunned silence and as the agent tried to regain his composure and walked through the house noting features while Fric, Frac and the dog, added their commentary as they followed us.
My husband finally came out of his catatonic state and said “would you excuse us please?” We quickly got ran to our car and heard the agent arguing with the couple as we left.
Earlier I mentioned I’d run away from “Septic system is the responsibility of the buyer.”
I have no problem with houses with a septic system. The problem is that in our state all septic systems must pass an inspection before a house is sold. “Responsibility of the buyer” means the septic failed miserably enough that the current owners are choosing not to update it. The buyer can not get a conventional mortgage on the property because it is not officially habitable in its current condition.
This is not a good situation for a first time buyer who is stretching their funds to buy.
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Touring a house, opened a closet and it was full of S & M leathers with chains, whips, etc.
But one, all my houses have been new construction. I don’t like having to clean up someone else’s dirt.
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“No issues living in a house with a septic. Had one for years, saved a ton on sewer bills” - You got lucky as many septic owners do… but not everybody is lucky. Sewer bills are not all that high compared to big ticket septic repairs/replacement.
From google search - " On average, the cost of installing a new septic tank system is $3,900 . The price ranges from $1,500 to $5,000". I actually thought I’ve heard higher, but that may be for install on a new septic system.
This might depend upon where you live. We have septic. We own a rental house with sewer. The sewer costs the tenants between $125-$150/qtr and the cost will be going up shortly. That’s roughly $600/year. Septic tanks need pumping once every three years for about $300 (for ours) if my memory is correct. It’s very rare that the tank needs replacing. We replaced it once here in the 24 years we’ve lived here and I don’t recall the cost being that high.
I’ve been very thankful we have septic and not sewer. I like having a well too.
But yes, buying into a problem can be costly, esp with current environmental regs so it’s well worth it to do due diligence before purchasing any place with one.
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Very dependent on the municipality’s charges. Where we lived, it was assumed that every drop of water you used would go into the sewer (sewer charges were 2X water charges, so summer time garden watering bills were giant even though none of that went into the sewer!). When we moved to the house with the septic, we immediately cut our water bill by 2/3! Saved hundreds of $ each year even accounting for occasional maintaining fee; the county required a septic maintainer to file a report every 3 years. The guy would show up, pull up a lid, take a peek, and grab our check. Pumped the whole thing exactly twice in our 18 years in the house, only when it was needed as mentioned by said maintainer, and then paid for the inspection and pumping when we sold. We did not have a garbage disposal, and it made a difference. And the assessment for sewer hookup where we lived is not really cheaper than a drain field septic install for a new construction (sand filters and other special designs could make the cost higher).
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Our current house was a foreclosure. The angry owner removed the toilet and high-end sink/vanity in the master, gas fireplace insert, light fixtures, all closet rods/shelves - even down to the toilet paper holder. The realtor had to install a cheap toilet and sink in the master so we could get a conventional mortgage! Great deal and great house.
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I checked our city util bill, and sewer has gone up a bit over the years … now $31/month, but no complaints from me - glad to not have the worries of septic tank of my youth, not pretty. (On my bill there is also a drainage/wastewater fee of $11/month, which they use to upgrade storm sewers etc. I used to roll my eyes about that charge until the "500 year flood’ in 2013, where a recently completed project minimized the damage to our city.)
As a relo family over the last 14 years, we’ve bought and sold 6 houses and looked at well over 200. This final destination has by far been the worst, but we’re now on a lake in a high retirement area. Most of the homes were built in the 60s, so we saw a lot of avocado, brown, pink and yellow baths and appliances along with lots of shag carpeting. Aside from the pink bathrooms, this house had 11 different flooring types. The previous owners had cats who sprayed all the carpets and baseboards, the drywall ceiling in the garage was being held up with the light fixtures and drywall tape, there weren’t boxes behind any of the light fixtures, there were roots growing into the foundation because they planted a sequoia 15 feet from the house and on and on…BUT it was the one that needed the least amount of work. The lake is man-made, so we have lots of steep lots. One of the houses we looked at this time around, had a long steep driveway that was poured on a steep hill with a 14’ retaining wall built with railroad ties 
you can probably guess what was happening. They didn’t list it in the disclosure; our contractor estimated it would be a $50k repair because you aren’t allowed to remove trees and there was no way of bringing heavy equipment into the ravine or onto the driveway
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My parents bought a house when I was in HS with a wallpapered bathroom. Wallpaper looked exactly like pot plants. (This was the mid-70s). Immediately became part of family lore, as my parents had zero clue as to why my brother and I found this so funny.
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Tigerwife92 - is the location worth all the efforts to remediate the 1960s era stuff? Just wondered!
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Definitely; the house we bought was actually built in 2002, but the woman was in her 70s when she built it and apparently had an affinity for pink. We were in a time crunch, so we didn’t want to take on a lot of structural repairs. Our’s has really good bones with “easy” fix repairs; we recouped triple our reno investment in 6 months. There’s been a massive influx from NY, NJ and Chicago in the last 6 months, so they’re driving up the prices. We went in thinking we would have to gut a house, so this house wasn’t as bad as most. There are new builds, but they’re further north and running 3x what we paid.
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Yes, this. On one house tour, I mentioned an overwhelmingly musty odor and pointed out how the shower corners were covered in mold, and the RE agent thought I was nuts. He said it just needed a little cleaning and didn’t know why I thought the lack of an exhaust fan in the bathroom was a problem. Another house had a similar smell but the owners tried to cover it up with multiple plug-in fragrances. The plug-ins were so strong they were nauseating, but even they could not hide the smell in the basement. The agent tried to say that a heavy rain the day before was the only problem and the house would be fine as soon as everything dried. No thanks.
Lol, the agent showing the house where we live now followed us like a pet dog and always had an excuse for things that looked off. Like a rotted window - “oh this is an easy fix, just replace this piece of wood.” 
This house definitely was in a very sad, neglected shape but had the right footprint for us and also had the coveted by my husband 400 amp newer electric panel! This is what we saw right off the bat… signs of rats in the attic, rotted windows, siding that could fall off any minute, gutter downspouts that were detached so water was gushing down the side of the house where the outdoor electric outlets were, a boiler that was about to kick the bucket, you name it! That said, we were not deterred. After we made our offer (with an inspection contingency), we went through with a fine tooth comb and documented everything. In a very hot market, we were able to negotiate a small price drop. Then, when we got the keys, we sat down on the deck and wondered how we would ever make this place ours… several years later, the house is still standing, and it looks better and better. We call it the frankenhouse - it has got a number of new “body parts,” but the layout is still the same.
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If their house looked that bad from smoke, just imagine the inside of their lungs!
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We saw a house that was otherwise unremarkable, but there was a camera mounted on a tripod that faced the bed in the master bedroom. 
Sounds like you made a great call!
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My cousin just sent me this link for a house in Rydal, PA - I told her there’s a part of me that would like to buy it, as is, furnishings and all, and leave it be, because no one would believe me if I tried to describe it! Fair warning, you cannot unsee it once you see it…https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1471-Autumn-Rd-Rydal-PA-19046/9891128_zpid/?utm_campaign=zillowgonewild&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=zillowgonewild&fbclid=IwAR1Ltbtf9yAFd9BSU41LLCBjqb3it_sCkbs6rcx8-YbUMGTtb7hqj-HwHRo
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I’ve seen worse-much worse!
At least it is very tidy, with no clutter, and the wild dated stuff can be changed! I’d be willing to be there is very little deferred maintenance.
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