House under contract, but aluminum wiring
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Anonymous
| We are under contract and had the home inspection done, which came back with a number of items including aluminum wiring in the house with noted rust and corrosion on several of the breakers in the electrical panel and lack of antioxidant paste on some of the wires. The report recommended a further inspection done by a qualified electrical inspector. I guess that is the logical next step, but was wondering if anyone here has had experience with this. I'm somewhat tempted to void the contract over this finding. Would rusty aluminum wiring be an immediate deal breaker for you or am I making a big deal out of nothing? |
Anonymous
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I would want the house rewired by an electrician of my choosing. Or I would want money from the seller in the amount of an estimate I got to have the house rewired by an electrician of my choosing.
But a lot depends on what kind of contract you have. If you have the option of voiding the contract based on the inspection (without having to ask for repairs) and you aren't necessarily enamored of the house/location, then just walk. My understanding is a house can be rewired, an electric panel can be replaced and upgraded. But it can be expensive, and I wouldn't want to live in a house until that issue was addressed. I'm not an electrician. That's just my personal opinion. You really need to talk to your real estate agent to know exactly what your options are and what the time constraints are. Usually after the inspection, the buyer has like 2 days to get back to the seller. Don't wait too long and run out of time. I would also get on the phone with an electrician and get some ballpark numbers for how much it is to rewire a house the size and age of the house you are looking to buy. Also find out how long that job usually takes. |
Anonymous
| If I didn't love the house i would walk. If I loved the house is get a requiring estimate and go from there admin fro money from the sellers. Electrical fires are no joke!! |
Anonymous
| Is aluminum wiring illegal meaning the seller would need to fix it before selling to someone else |
Anonymous
| You should check with your insurance company to see if they would insure your home with aluminum wiring. Also, if you are buying a home that has it, it is a much older home and you should anticipate this kind of surprise during the inspection and later when you go to do some repair or renovation. That just goes with the territory of owning an older home. |
Anonymous
| Absolutely rewire the entire house. Get your 3 quotes now (I'd look on Angie's List for reviews) and have it done the day you close. I don't care if the aluminum is in fabulous shape, there is zero reason to risk it!! |
Anonymous
+1 Surprised to hear its still out there. Bad news. |
Anonymous
| OF COURSE you should (a) get the second electrician to come in and do an inspection and (b) make sure the seller is going to pay to get the house re-wired by someone that you choose. |
Anonymous
That real estate contract doesn't work that way anymore. Homes are sold as-is and the seller doesn't have to fix stuff like this. OP, if you have a home inspection contingency, rather than a general inspection contingency, get multiple estimates and get a seller credit. If you have a general inspection contingency and don't have the money to rewire properly yourself, I would walk. The sellers will need to disclose this to other potential buyers. |
Anonymous
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You should not live in a house with aluminum wiring. Serious fire hazard.
So your options are to walk away (assuming you have that contingency in the contract) or fix it before moving in. It will be a lot of money and a huge PITA to fix since they will have to tear out the walls and rewire everything. So if the sellers are unwilling to work with you in some way, I would walk. |
Anonymous
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OP, here are a few links for you. Be prepared to walk...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/realestate/19home.html https://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/118856/516.pdf http://gcedestin.com/destin-electrician-gcedestin-aluminum-wiring.pdf http://inspectapedia.com/aluminum/Aluminum_Wiring_Hazards.php |
Anonymous
And because of that, the sellers are likely going to be willing to negotiate some additional credit to you for this. It's worth raising through your agent. We just bought and sold with general inspection contingencies and had seller credits in both deals after inspection reports disclosed some items that gave the buyers great pause (us in the first transaction, and the buyers in our sale transaction). |
Anonymous
| If such a thing was found in VA, would the sellers then have to disclose? |
Anonymous
Is that true though? I hear that mentioned all the time, but I know of unscrupulous people who would conceal known defects. I mean, you'd have to prove that they knew it and how would you know without access to the old report? Then to get any recourse, you would have to take them to court? Anyways I'm asking because we actually had to sue our flipper for major issues with our property. And even then, he got a slap on the wrist. By that I mean the judge let him make all the repairs required with unlicensed, incompetent contractors, meaning that it only delayed the problems. (bought us a few years before we had to get good contractors to redo the work) Oh and this flipper was a known fraud in DC and had a class action lawsuit against him. |
Anonymous
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It's getting to be the doldrums of winter. I'd negotiate for a a generous credit and take care of the issue yourself. The seller probably really really wants to get this property off their hands by the holidays.
You're in a good position, OP. |