Buying a home is not a cheap process. There’s the inspections, appraisal, down payment, insurance, movers – whew! It can add up and I know how it feels overwhelming. Today I’m going to give you a quick tip when buying an older or historic home that you may not have thought about. It’ll add a few hundred dollars to your upfront inspection costs BUT could literally save you thousands down the road.
Ever heard of a sewer scope? It’s where the plumber uses a video camera attached to a snake-like cable to examine the home’s sewer line. This privately-owned pipeline leads from the house to the publicly owned main sewer line or septic tank. Sewer scope inspection can reveal damage to the pipes, blockages, and other problems. And I WISH I had spent the couple of hundred dollars to have this done on my 1950’s historic home I bought years ago. One day I took a bath, let the water out of the tub, and heard gurgling noises coming from the OTHER bathroom in the house. I went to see what was going on, and raw sewage was coming up the shower in the other bathroom. YUCK. I called the plumber who then came out and did a scope. He found lots of old wipes and feminine products in the sewer line (not put there by me, I knew better than to flush those items) and also found I had old Orangeburg pipes that were partially collapsed which was causing the backup. At the time (this was maybe 8 years ago), it cost me around $3500 to have the orange burg pipes removed and new PVC installed – and had to have my concrete patio dug up in the process. Had I had a sewer scope done BEFORE I bought the home, I could’ve negotiated the price down or asked the seller to have it repaired before I bought the home.
Live and learn right? As the expression goes – don’t be pennywise and pound foolish – if you’re buying a historic or older home – this is a must-do inspection.
Below you’ll find historic homes built pre-1930’s below throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Some historic neighborhoods you may like include the Kenwood neighborhood in St. Petersburg, the Historic Old Northeast in St. Petersburg, Crescent Heights in St. Petersburg and in Tampa The Heights District including Seminole Heights, as well as many South Tampa homes are historic.
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