Another Home Inspector story

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I've heard from many home inspectors that the electrical portion of an inspection is the hardest part. Given the way we discuss things here I can see why. This stuff is complex especially with a code that changes every 3 hears. Over the years I've made good money working for realtors, buyers, and sellers doing jobs based on inspection reports.

Having said that like electricians all HI's are good, some are very good, some not so good. I've bought and sold several homes and my experience has been that a majority of them were not so good but that doesn't mean that I will paint all of them as bad. When I purchased a home 5 years ago I asked our realtor for a list of recommendations. I went and checked every one of their websites and viewed sample reports. The HI spent over 4 hours looking things over and he still missed several minor items.

HI's do have a place in the real estate market the key is finding a good one.
 
Years ago. when I was selling my home in Michigan, the home inspector told me I had to install GFCIs in the kitchen , bathrooms, and outside. I responded that when the house was built it was inspected and it passed the NEC inspection. His response was he did not care what the NEC says, he was working for the bank that the people were getting their loan from. He told me with out the GFCI outlets, they would be unable to get their loan. It was easier to install the nine GFCI outlets than argue with him (of course at that time GFCI outlets were considerable less costly than they are now).
 
RCC1 said:
Years ago. when I was selling my home in Michigan, the home inspector told me I had to install GFCIs in the kitchen , bathrooms, and outside. I responded that when the house was built it was inspected and it passed the NEC inspection. His response was he did not care what the NEC says, he was working for the bank that the people were getting their loan from. He told me with out the GFCI outlets, they would be unable to get their loan. It was easier to install the nine GFCI outlets than argue with him (of course at that time GFCI outlets were considerable less costly than they are now).
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I don't mind the idea of installing safety devices. But I don't care for those who think that even with safety devices 70 year old completely intact un modified systems are just going to burst into flames. There's a balance that comes from seeing in person what actually burst into flames... banks should ban inside living space large lithium battery charging if anything.
 
hbiss said:
Seller gets an estimate from electrical contractor #1 who said that the receptacles could be replaced with GFCI receptacles or GFCI breakers in the panel. Buyer will have none of that and will only accept a complete rewiring- per the home inspector.
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I have some doubts about the extent of just installing GFCI's everywhere in a old house being fully NEC complaint.
While there is 406.4(D) one would still need to comply with 250.114(3)?
And on top of that I have seen GFI's cause problems like when they are crammed into those tiny old metal boxes energizing the box.
hbiss said:
Electrical contractor #2, a smaller one-man outfit quotes $3,500.
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I wonder if this quote is for running just an EGC per 250.130(C), it shard to believe one could re-wire a house for that.
 
How hard it really is depends on details of construction. I was able to abandon K&T in half my house because the living area is single story, and all the lights could be rewired from the attic and all the receptacles could be required from the basement. (Okay, the lighting switch legs were left in the walls and j-boxed where they entered the attic.) But I was lucky. If you have 2 finished stories it's a lot more work.

Agree that 250.130(C) is a useful section.
 
RCC1 said:
Years ago. when I was selling my home in Michigan, the home inspector told me I had to install GFCIs in the kitchen , bathrooms, and outside. I responded that when the house was built it was inspected and it passed the NEC inspection. His response was he did not care what the NEC says, he was working for the bank that the people were getting their loan from. He told me with out the GFCI outlets, they would be unable to get their loan.
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Soooo, let me get this straight (and it's not the first time I heard this GFCI story from a seller either). Buyers bank want's GFCI receptacles installed before they will give the buyer a loan. Sounds to me like the buyer should be responsible for that work, either by having it done or reimbursing the seller.

Now, if it was an issue like smoke/CO alarms that are required by code prior to sale, that would be a different story. But a buyer expecting the seller to foot the bill for something that is not required just so that they can get their loan is the height of arrogance.

-Hal
 
Who pays for the work obviously depends if it's a buyers or sellers market. Seller is not obligated to fix stuff in order to go through with a sale. If they think they can find another buyer who will pay the cost then it puts little pressure on them to make demands.
 
tortuga said:
I have some doubts about the extent of just installing GFCI's everywhere in a old house being fully NEC complaint.
While there is 406.4(D) one would still need to comply with 250.114(3)?
And on top of that I have seen GFI's cause problems like when they are crammed into those tiny old metal boxes energizing the box.

I wonder if this quote is for running just an EGC per 250.130(C), it shard to believe one could re-wire a house for that.
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They way I understand it, the work is only for ten receptacles in two or so rooms. Not re-wire the whole house. And the buyer was adamant about all new wiring being run. So that would rule out a separate EGC. Without seeing the job, I would be hard pressed to do it for $3,500. Maybe if everything could be run up from an unfinished basement and the walls were sheetrock...

-Hal
 
When I bought my first house in NJ 30+ years ago I asked my attorney about the 'kid wisdom' that said you can't sell a house without a stove. He explained that that was an old wive's tale-- it doesn't matter if there's a stove or not, it's what's written in the bill of sale that matters! You want them to leave the stove, put it in the BOS. You want the house re-wired before you buy, put it in the BOS.
If the seller doesn't agree, they can edit or submit an alternate BOS, and the 2 parties work things out.
You don't want to pay for rewiring, either refuse to do it, or knock $3500 off the selling price. Let the buyer pay the balance.
It's all negotiable!
 
PaulMmn said:
When I bought my first house in NJ 30+ years ago I asked my attorney about the 'kid wisdom' that said you can't sell a house without a stove. He explained that that was an old wive's tale-- it doesn't matter if there's a stove or not, it's what's written in the bill of sale that matters! You want them to leave the stove, put it in the BOS. You want the house re-wired before you buy, put it in the BOS.
If the seller doesn't agree, they can edit or submit an alternate BOS, and the 2 parties work things out.
You don't want to pay for rewiring, either refuse to do it, or knock $3500 off the selling price. Let the buyer pay the balance.
It's all negotiable!
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Exactly
It's a business transaction, you can request anything
 
Lazy cheap realtors should hire specific trades to look at there crap so these moron home inspectors stop make random crap up, or blowing thing out of the water. The seller can be intimidated by these reports also, and the. Give in, scam
 
LarryFine said:
"Our home inspector found these defects that will cost $10K to repair."

"So?"

"Well, we would like you to reduce the price by that much."

"No."
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Exactly, you're under no obligation to correct what's in an inspection report but if you want to make the sale you might have to suck it up and do it anyway. Also buyers that are having second thoughts about the house and really want out of the deal can insist on the seller fixing things that are in the report. When the sellers balk at doing it effectively kills the deal.
 
what about the “ little old lady” that knows nothing and is trusting the” professional home inspector”
The fact people use them when every other paragraph say “ seek professional opinion “
If they state that why the hell did you hire them. Scam
 
AC\DC said:
what about the “ little old lady” that knows nothing and is trusting the” professional home inspector”
The fact people use them when every other paragraph say “ seek professional opinion “
If they state that why the hell did you hire them. Scam
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HI's are supposed to follow a rigid SOP either provided by the jurisdiction they're in or by the organization that they're affiliated with (like Nachi). There are guidelines that they should be following and when something is beyond the SOP they're supposed to call it out for further evaluation by a professional. You are correct that lesser qualified HI's tend to call out just about everything so their inspections are pretty worthless that's why finding a good one is critical.
 
The last house I sold, the buyer's home inspector was one of these know-it-all types. One thing he called out was the lack of an expansion tank on the hot water heater. Well, my house didn't have a backflow preventer and, in that case, no expansion tank was necessary. I even got an email from the county plumbing inspector...buyer didn't care...all he wants is a price reduction. It's fine...just figure out your number and don't get hung up on any specific item.
 
tthh said:
The last house I sold, the buyer's home inspector was one of these know-it-all types. One thing he called out was the lack of an expansion tank on the hot water heater. Well, my house didn't have a backflow preventer and, in that case, no expansion tank was necessary. I even got an email from the county plumbing inspector...buyer didn't care...all he wants is a price reduction. It's fine...just figure out your number and don't get hung up on any specific item.
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So it comes down to paying for the cost of an expansion tank that isn't required and making the sale or don't and risk losing the buyer. I've was there when I sold my house several years ago. The buyer wanted a bunch of bogus stuff taken care of and I just said no so the deal fell through (the listing said we would only consider fixing structural items if found). Sold the house to someone else who didn't ask for anything.
 
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