Again, all good info. I'll have a local company on the island inspect it. It's not a "cottage" like with an outhouse. In fact the neighbors of "the cottage' told us it was almost insulating when the sellers called it a cottage. It's a nice 3bdrm house with a guest house over the large detached garage. Nicer than my home on the mainland. The seller just built a new $2M house on this island. The neighbors said they spared no expense when they built this one. The seller gal told me they paid $5k every few years just to have the cedar shake professionally cleaned. On a 20yo house it looks like they just installed it. So I'd imagine, and I'll ask (and verify) that they had the septic tank maintained.