the property is on a septic system, really common for residential property outside of city sewer, its life span usually about 25 years, if the property is over 20 years old, it may only have a 500 gal tank.
the new code depends on size of the lot and how many bedroom in the house, local health department usually require a minimum of 1000 gal tank, 100 feet of leach field per qualify bedroom, 50 feet away with any water source. if your lot is too small, you can seek a soil scientist test the soil simple and you may reduce the leach field requirement, or you may end up with a mount system if soil simple turn out bad.
a standard system with 300 feet of leach field, usually cost about $2800 to $3300. plus another $1000 for remove the old tank. a mount system will cost from $6000 to $8000.
if you buying it as-is, then you may end up paying for repair, talk to your lender or closing agent, mostlikely they can do an escrow account for repair after closing.
