Minnesota Homes With Hidden Costs: Septic, Shoreline, Radon, Wells and As-Is Sales

Some homes come with a bill you can’t see. It’s not on the listing sheet and it’s not in the photos. Every item on this list comes up in our market, and every one of these problems was already in the house before the buyer showed up. You’ll catch most of them, but only if you know what to ask for.

1. Failing or non-compliant septic systems

Here’s how it shows up: you close in the fall, everything’s fine through winter, then spring thaws the ground. There’s a smell, and a soft, unusually green patch in the yard that won’t dry out. Replacing a septic system typically runs $30,000 to $45,000.

Most buyers assume someone checks the septic before closing. Often, nobody does. There’s no statewide law in Minnesota requiring a septic inspection on every sale; it’s county by county. Some counties, like Chisago and Nicollet, have point-of-sale compliance rules, and plenty have none. You and your agent need to know which applies.

Where inspections are required, a passing compliance inspection is generally good for three years, and a brand-new system for five. If a seller hands you a certificate, check the date.

Many Minnesota systems are mound systems, built above ground level with special fill so wastewater filters properly through our soils. A system can work fine, with nothing backing up, and still not meet current code, which can block remodeling permits and cause trouble when you sell.

Sellers must disclose what they know about the system, including where it is and whether they believe it’s compliant, but many have never had a compliance inspection. Before you write an offer:

1. Ask whether the county requires an inspection.
2. Ask for the compliance certificate and check its date.
3. If there isn’t one, get your own inspection before you waive the contingency.

(On the plus side, a private well and septic mean no monthly city water and sewer bill. You just pay up front.)

2. Lake homes where the dock or shore structures aren’t legal

You’re paying a premium for the shoreline lifestyle. But what you’re really buying is the land and whatever the rules allow on it.

Every Minnesota lake falls under state shoreland rules, and counties and cities can add stricter ones. Building setbacks depend on the lake’s classification. For lots without city sewer, they’re at least 75 feet from the ordinary high water level on general development lakes, about 100 feet on recreational development lakes and 150 feet on natural environment lakes. Within that setback, the shore impact zone (half the setback) is restricted even more. Your county or city has the final say.

Many docks, boathouses, stairways and decks went up before these rules existed. They’re nonconforming, allowed to stay but not approvable today. Grandfathered doesn’t mean guaranteed. If a storm takes out the boathouse or the stairs rot, the right to rebuild or expand doesn’t automatically come with the property.

Get the actual permit history, confirm where structures sit relative to the ordinary high water level, and call the governing city, county or state office directly. Unpermitted work can bring stop-work orders, daily fines and an order to restore the shoreline at your expense. See our lake homes page.

3. Elevated radon with no mitigation system

Radon is an odorless, tasteless gas that rises from the ground, and a lab test is the only way to know it’s there. Minnesota’s geology puts us near the top of the country: more than two in five Minnesota homes tested have levels the state considers a serious health risk, and our long heating season pulls soil gas up all winter. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, and the leading cause among people who’ve never smoked.

Sellers must disclose radon test results and mitigation systems they know about. But on disclosure after disclosure you’ll read “seller has no knowledge of elevated radon,” and usually that’s true because nobody ever tested.

The test is inexpensive and runs in the background for a couple of days. If levels are high, a mitigation system (a pipe and a fan that pull gas from under the slab and vent it above the roof) usually costs $1,500 to $2,500. If you already have a system, retest every two years; if a past test was low, retest about every five years.

4. Rural and semi-rural homes with an untested well

A well that works and a well that’s safe are two different things. Once you’re past the suburbs into acreage in the west, north or south metro, homes often draw from a private (sometimes shared) well. The water can look and taste perfect and still carry arsenic, nitrates or coliform bacteria.

• Nitrate is one of the most common contaminants, tied to farm areas where the outer ring meets agricultural land.
• Arsenic occurs naturally and shows up in about 40% of new wells in Minnesota; roughly 1 in 10 private wells test above the safe limit.

The Minnesota Department of Health recommends testing for coliform bacteria every year, nitrate every other year, and arsenic, lead and manganese at least once. A basic bacteria and nitrate test runs about $150 to $200, and a full panel about $250. If the seller can’t produce recent results, make testing a contingency.

Minnesota requires a well disclosure certificate at closing for any property with a well, showing where it is and whether it’s in use, not in use or sealed. Unsealed, unused wells must be sealed (or covered by a maintenance permit), because they’re a direct path from the surface to drinking water.

This isn’t just a rural issue. Many older first-ring suburbs (Richfield, Bloomington, St. Louis Park, even Edina) had private wells before city water lines arrived. A pre-1970 home on a normal city lot may still have an old well, sometimes used for watering the lawn. Read the disclosures and ask your inspector to look.

5. As-is listings with waived or limited disclosures

An as-is listing usually means one of two things: the seller doesn’t know the property well (an estate or bank-owned sale), or they know something’s wrong and would rather not fix it. Both are workable.

As-is is a statement about repairs. It means the seller isn’t fixing anything. You can still negotiate full inspections in your purchase agreement. But be more careful: with a waived disclosure, the seller may not have to tell you about material facts, including problems that happen between signing and closing. Do a thorough final walkthrough.

Know what you give up if you waive inspections: the general inspection, radon test, sewer scope, well test and, for homes with stucco built roughly 1990 to 2010, a stucco inspection. Stucco installed incorrectly around windows can rot a home from the inside out, so get your own independent stucco inspection even if the seller has one.

As-is plus a full inspection is a negotiation. As-is plus no disclosure plus no inspection window is your cue to slow down. If the price reflects the condition, you’ve inspected, and you have money set aside, as-is can be a great deal. We’ve helped plenty of clients do exactly that.

The bottom line

None of these is bad luck. Every one of them is findable before you sign. Shopping in the Twin Cities? Tell us where you’re searching, and we’ll tell you what typically comes up in those areas. Also see 5 types of homes that can be risky investments.