A Tale of Two Scopes

It is on the short list of items for prospective buyers to have inspected in addition to the general home inspection performed during the purchasing process. Think of it as a colonoscopy for a house, but should sewer scope results be given enough weight to become a deal breaker?  The biggest concern of all is the grey area surrounding the health of a sewer, and who should be responsible for the repair if something is “broken”. 

The technology for a sewer scope has been around for many years, and the cost to inspect has now come down to around $100, making it readily available.  As a result, more and more sales are requesting them, but here is the problem; if the home you are inspecting hasn’t sold in ten years, it is likely it has never had a sewer scope performed, and the owner has never had a problem with the sewer.  No one has looked into the sewer before until now and when the sewer tech puts his head 100 feet into the darkness of the septic trenches, will it be considered broken or will it be considered usable? After all, it has been function just fine for the family of 5, happily flushing and showering for the last 10 Thanksgiving Day family reunion feasts!

Case Study 2012:

The same home in West Portland Park is given a sewer scope by two different buyers, each with their own realtor and two different sellers within 6 months’ time.  The scope was also done by two different sewer tech companies.  Here is where the perception can change based on the two companies and how they approached the inspection. 

The first company is an environmental specialty service company.  Upon the inspection that took place in spring, they deem the sewer unfit and in the need of a $3,000 repair, of which they were happy to provide their services for the "necessary" repair. The buyer negotiates the $3,000 in credit from then seller and intended to call the company to fix the repair in the next year after moving in.  Within 6 months the buyer, turned homeowner is relocated for work, and is forced to sell the home not having completed this repair.

The second company is an inspection only company, and hired by the next buyer in the Fall of the same year. The inspector sees the "necessary" repair area, and gives the sewer a passing grade. 

The only history we have on the sewer is that it was fully functioning for two previous sellers, and two scopes; one pass and one fail.  Both realtors of the buyers and sellers were different, so there were no agendas that were the same.  The home was the same, and the timeframe similar. The following question arises: Should an inspector with a conflict of interest such as profiting from work to be performed, be given power to affect the sale of a home with a sewer scope? 

I see this time and time again.  Fail, fail, fail, flush, flush flush.  It might be good to know that a sewer is near the end of its life or that you may be responsible for a portion of the sewer that affects others on shared party lines.  There are many good reasons to have a scope done, but what we do with that knowledge, and considering the source of the information are the real issues we should focus on before hammering a seller, or killing a transaction that may otherwise have been the perfect home for a buyer. 

In this case study, the sales weren't damaged by the report findings, but it's a perfect scenario to show how the conflict of interest by the service company's inspection can sway the transaction today, in contrast to ten years ago. Adverse effects may or may not have happened for another 10 years, but it cost one seller $3,000 in this case, and who knows how many others perhaps unnecessarily.

For recommendations on legitimate sewer scope companies, feel free to call or e-mail.

Steve Roesch

Principal Broker

PDX Home Group

503-318-6351

Steve@PDXHomeGroup.com