Posted by Tony Colella on December 09, 2006 at 12:52:23:
The exterior electric panel (often mounted on a pole next to the home) will have a breaker in it that should say what amperage the breaker is. Sometimes the box will say on the inside of the door but in older units this may be missing.
Tony
Land Development / Septic - Posted by Kevin - WA
Posted by Kevin - WA on December 08, 2006 at 23:26:56:
Hi,
We are in the process of buying a lot that has been fully developed with septic / water / power.
The septic is 3BR. The permit from the county shows that the building was an “RV.” My guess is that the owner had the septic installed and were using the lot to park their RV on vacations - they live out of the area.
We are going to put a DW on the lot. The DW is 3BR. My question is - would the septic for an “RV” be different than the way it would have been designed/installed if for a DW? It is a 900 gallon tank and 21 foot drain field. I am basically changing the building type/use and just trying to look forward to any problems before hand.
This will be my first “rental” (all of our other properties are lease - optioned, so we have no maintenance until they forfeit the option) so I want to try to set it up properly and make sure I don’t have a lot of problems. And if I need a septic upgrade / redesign I want to factor that into the purchase price.
Thanks,
KLM
Re: Land Development / Septic - Posted by Tony Colella
Posted by Tony Colella on December 09, 2006 at 07:37:14:
This will vary greatly by state and county but here’s some thoughts.
In my area the septic line- per bedroom- runs about 80 feet. So for 3 bedrooms it would need 3 lines, each 80 feet long.
Even if the seller had upraded the septic to the those standards, it sounds as though your county is unaware of these improvements which means no permits were pulled and that the land is not actually permitted for a 3 bedroom mobile home.
Your first due diligence stop should be the various agencies such as Environmental Health (or whatever agency controls water and septic inspections), zoning (if applicable), Planning Commission (might be a good place to start), building dept. (or similar named agency).
This property reads red flags to me in that it may be advertised for higher use than it is actually permitted. This is not necessarily a deal breaker but you want to be certain you are able to develop this lot property and use it as a d/w mobile home with land. You also don’t want to buy it only to find out that yes you can develop it but the seller did it wrong so you now have to pay for the proper upgrade.
Let us know what you find out. As I said each are differs and the type of septic lines installed changes the requirements but asking a few questions of the permitting agencies will uncover the truth.
Tony
Re: Land Development / Septic - Posted by Kevin - WA
Posted by Kevin - WA on December 09, 2006 at 11:29:14:
Tony and Steve,
Thanks for the info. I will be checking into whether or not the septic is OK for my intended use. I do have a copy of the permit showing a 3BR septic was approved and installed, but again - I just want to make sure that that will be sufficient for our building needs. The seller is contractually obligated to have the septic inspected and pumped before closing and provide documentation.
There is an electric box on the property, but I do not know the amperage. It should say right on the box right? That will save me having to hire an electrician to determine that.
Thanks again,
K
again, I concur with Tony’s statement - Posted by Steve-WA
Posted by Steve-WA on December 09, 2006 at 10:32:27:
he is SO smart!
Kevin, the best way to get this answered is to contact the health department; consider also having a septic contractor scope out/inspect the system. They have a cabled camera on a reel that they run down the lines, and a little TV you can watch it on, and they’ll tape it for you too. Cost me about $400.
If the prop was used for an RV, ensure that you have the proper amperage electrical service for your new DW - an RV uses 30 or 50 amp service, and todays homes need a 200 amp power box. Upgrades can cost about $1000, and another $1000 if the pole needs to be moved/replaced.