How it works

If you're selling, buying, or refinancing a home on a septic system or private well, the answer to “what does this property need?” is split across three places that never talk to each other — your county, the state code, and the loan. Here is how we put it back together, and why you can rely on it.

The problem we are built for

A home on a private septic system or well has an extra layer at sale or refinance. Some counties require an inspection or evaluation at every transfer; others do not. FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional loans each set their own requirements for the well water test and the septic evaluation. If the inspection finds a problem, the path forward — repair before closing, a price reduction, an escrow holdback, or walking away — depends on the loan type and the county. Most people meet all of this for the first time during a ten-to-fourteen-day inspection window, with no single place to look it up.

How we build an answer

1. Find the controlling authority. For each county we identify who governs on-site wastewater — the local public health agency, a sewer district, or the state — and the exact rule that applies at a property transfer.
2. Pull the primary source. We work from the government or lender document itself — the county ordinance, the state regulation, the USDA or HUD handbook — not from a summary of it.
3. Break it into checkable facts. “The county requires an inspection within X days” is stored as separate, individually sourced statements: what applies, to whom, the fee, the deadline.
4. Check for newer or conflicting rules. County ordinances change. If two authoritative sources disagree, we mark it and hold the affected answer back rather than pick one.
5. Independent review before it is published. A second person re-opens the source and confirms the jurisdiction, the effective date, and the exact wording before an answer goes live.
6. Re-verify on a schedule. Active rules and fee schedules are re-checked every 30–90 days; statutes and regulations at least every 180 days plus whenever we detect a change. Every answer shows its last-verified date.

Connecting you to someone who can help

When you need a licensed inspector, a certified water lab, or a repair contractor, we point you to contractors drawn from Missouri's official licensed and registered lists, checked against the state's suspended and revoked list. The inspector who diagnoses a problem and the contractor who fixes it are legally separate under Missouri rule — and the choice of contractor is yours. See how we vet contractors.

What we do not do

• Guarantee a passing inspection, a saved deal, a price, or that any contractor will perform.
• Give legal advice, or tell you a specific water result is “safe” or “unsafe.”
• Buy your house, or route you to a company that buys houses at a discount.
• Publish a page for a county unless the county's rules, process, or contractors actually differ there.