Electrical panel or fuse box

The electric panel, fuse box or electrical wiring in your home doesn't mean too much for an appraiser as long as it is up to date and is in good working order. But I'll tell you what I know. 200 amp fuse boxes are common for newer homes and homes that offer updated fuses boxes. Sometimes, I'll go to a home that will have 150 amp service or worse yet, the home will have knob and tube wiring. Most of the times, I can tell when they have knob and tube wiring, because they will have two buttons on the light switch panels. One button turns on the lights and the other turns them off. Also, you can look in the basement or in the attic area. I’ll see knob and tubes attached to wiring that run along the two be fours.

Refinance

As long as there are no frayed wires or safety hazards and the lights turn on and off correctly, you'll be okay. Look at the electrical box. If all the wires look okay and they are not frayed, that's pretty much it. Now you'll want to have the 200 amp service box. This is the most common in today’s homes. If you buy a home with an older fuse box or with the knob and tube lighting, you may be in for a big surprise. It will be difficult for an appraiser to determine if knob and tube lighting will actually influence the value. This is because there will be limited to no sales or the MLS will not disclose this type of outdated wiring.

Many banks do not finance homes with knob and tube lighting. I once went to a home that offered this type of wiring. They had spoke to almost every contractor in the area and most of them would not fix the lighting and most of the bids to change the lighting to something modern was outside of most people’s budget. There was another home that I went to where most of the wiring was complete, but they still had some wiring to update. The cost was $10,000 to finish replacing the lighting and install some basics lights in the kitchen area. For refinancing, there is not much that you can do, but be honest and tell your lender if you have knob and tube or outdated wiring. This will at least prevent you from paying appraisal fees knowing that your bank will not even finance your home until the wiring is updated.

Buying

If you are buying a home, look to be sure that the electrical box has been updated. Turn on and off the lights to be sure that they are in good working order. If the electricity is turned off, don't buy the home unless you are absolutely positive that the lights and all of the other utilities are in good working order. If the home offers knob and tube wiring, I'd walk from the home. There must be houses on the market area that offer traditional wiring amp boxes. Many times, home owners will not be able to insure homes with knob and tube lighting, because it is just too old and poses a safety issue with a fire hazard. 150 amp breaker boxes may be okay, but I'd try and find a home with 200 amp. If you buy a home like these, the value will be insignificant, but when you go to update these items you'll feel your wallet get emptier. Only consider buying a home like this if it has many other positive features such as river frontage, lake frontage, and excellent deal, spectacular views with no obstructions or something to offset the wiring.

Selling

If you are selling a home with outdated electrical system, then you've either been living in the home for a very long time or you bought the home like this. You could fix the issue by updating the wiring. This of course, will cost you possibly 10's of 1000's of dollars. Or you can attempt to sell the home as is. If the rest of your home is spot on and your home offers enough high in demand features, someone may want to buy your home and deal with the issues.

Antique lighting or other types of modern lighting

Many people collect and pay a good deal of money for antique lighting or special lights. These types of lighting may help to sell your home and when you are buying a home, this may be an added bonus, but be sure you are note paying for the cost of the lighting, if you are buying. New or antique lights will not increase the value of your home and will be difficult to support with MLS databases. For these reasons, only replace the lighting as needed and watch the cost, because there is a high probability that you will not be able to get your investment back when you sell. Most home owners that go this far in decorating their home will go all of the way so that there homes is either completely modern or offers an old world charm. Pick a theme and stick with it. This will give your home a better chance to sell for a better price if the entire theme and feel matches.

If you are selling your home, replace the lighting with something acceptable and remove the antique lighting. If you are buying, make sure that there are at least some sort of light fixtures. If you are getting good working light fixtures and they are antique (for older homes), this is all the better. When refinancing, lighting styles and types of lights will mean little to the value of your home. The appraiser will look at the entire package of the land, square footage, overall updating, etc. Expensive lighting will not be appraised separate from the home. So if you've spent lots of money on unique stuff and there is a market for it, you may consider removing these items and selling them separately and replacing the items with something less expensive, but that is just as nice.

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