Home Inspection - how carefully was the Electric Panel reviewed?

I posted a long response that said it was being “quarentined” but its still not showing up here. Anyways thank you all for our input. One thing that did happen was we found out mechanically we have an OIL-burner combo unit that works 24-7, 365 days to make hot water for the house and heat in the winter. The listing said GAS/steam unit. So the oil tank that looked abandoned in the basement was fact was still functioning. Does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to install a GAS unit with a separate boiler? We are rather upset with this. They must have laughed to themselves when we requested the removal of the oil tank as part of our counteroffer.
Amanda, we’re talking about a 1930s detached frame house actually.

We talking about a Brooklyn brownstone here?

We’ve gotten deep enough into a couple of places to ask questions about “code violations” — in both places, the inspector told us about real fire hazards — they took the boiler room pretty seriously, the door to the cellar being fireproof. But the plumbing and electric they just laughed when we asked about code violations. Basically, they said that if we want to play that game these places are full of code violations. They see their job as discussing what is safe and what isn’t.

Even in this market (which isn’t spiraling out of control but sure doesn’t seem to be tanking into my reach) I wouldn’t expect a seller to correct more than minor code violations in the wiring or plumbing. You can try, but I wouldn’t expect it. If you think it is going to be a real undertaking (hint: it is) you can haggle over the price.

Wiring and plumbing (and, apparently, roof sealing) are things you’re better off doing yourself. A seller is going to do the bare minimum to close the deal. You are going to (you should be going to, anyhow) do some research and make a real decision about how much of the electrical system you want to address now, and how much you’re going to undertake later.

Did he not even open the panel? That does seem odd. I think the deal with electric panels is that an inspector who knows what he’s looking at can tell from the manufacturer what decade it was installed and make some reasonable assumptions about what is inside. But he should have at least opened it — there can be all manner of hellish jerry rigging inside.

My advice though, after spending months on one house before we decided that we couldn’t do it (the inspector said “get a plumber to look at this line, all I know is it is funky”; the plumber said “this will be a project, but did you notice this huge ding in the sewer line?” It just kept getting worse and we reached the point where we’d found everything (we think) and had enough money to address it all and move tenants in and ourselves in … if not one other thing went wrong. So we walked away and the seller’s got a higher offer (this was a few years ago) so everyone was happy (except us, but our disappointment wasn’t anyone’s fault) is not to be afraid to go back ten times with contractors or electricians to get a handle on what you’re getting yourself into. They’ll tell you other people are looking at the house and it is possible it will get snatched up in the meantime, but for the most part any other buyer is in the same boat: they want to look at the wiring more closely before they buy the building and make a realistic budget for the work it will need.

In general, don’t set your expectations too high. Even in a lukewarm market, a seller will usually only be willing to fix egregious issues like a missing stair railing, a leaky roof or a dangerous wiring condition. If he’s a nice guy and wants to make the sale that is.

Something like a maxxed-out panel is typically an “as is” item because there’s no safety or maintenance issue. It’s not his problem if you might want to add a hot tub next year.

Everything is subject to negotiation, of course, but there are very few things that a seller is required to fix before sale. If you dump an expensive list of demands on him he’s likely to look for another buyer.

Also, it’s usually better if you use the list to reduce the overall price and go for the quick sale rather than ask for fixes. Otherwise you’re inviting the cheapest, half-assed repair and it will give other potential buyers more time to see the place and possibly outbid you.

Case in point: I saw evidence of termite damage when I inspected this place as well as a large crack in a center support beam. I asked that they be fixed. The seller hired the cheapest exterminator he could find and brought a letter from him to the closing “certifying” that he’d killed two termite nests. When the termites reappeared with a vengeance a year later, my exterminator laughed at the notion of certifying a kill of a termite nest because it could be 200 feet away and 20 feet underground. For the cracked beam, the seller installed a well-used lally column. I later replaced that lumber with a steel I-beam. What I should have done is negotiate a $2000 price reduction.