A lot of people who are trying to sell older homes may put off certain electrical upgrades prior to putting their home on the market, and this can be ok if you don’t feel like putting the investment into your listing, but it can ultimately deter buyers dramatically.

It’s actually a very risky move to know about any electrical issues and not doing anything about it prior to selling a property, but the legality will depend upon your disclosure of these electrical issues. But for the most part, it’s a lot better to get these issues solved in order to bolster your property value and feature it as a part of what you’ve done to prepare your home for its next owner.

We’re fortunate to have partnered up with Garber Electric to assist us in compiling this list of 6 electrical issues that deter homebuyers, and by going through this list you and your clients will be able to better determine where certain maintenances need to be made prior to putting your house up on the market.

So here are the 6 electrical issues you should be on the lookout for when you and your clients are preparing to put a property up for sale:

Outdated Wiring Systems

There are a ton of different wiring systems that may be ancient and extremely outdated as compared to today’s industry in many older homes that are put up for sale, and these outdated wiring systems could even lead to home fires if not properly replaced.

So when it comes to electrical issues, this is by far one of the most common issues that get buyers heading out the door without considering fixing it themselves after closing. Every home on today’s market should have modern, copper wiring and grounding that is more than adequate. If your clients’ homes don’t have this modern type of wiring system, it may be smart to suggest investing in replacement prior to putting the house on the market!

Antiquated Electrical Services

All homes should be well-capable of receiving over 200-amps, but there are many older homes all across the country that receive only 60-amps. This isn’t going to support a modern home any longer, primarily because of the many different electrical appliances, fixtures and overall daily load that the modern family or homeowner utilizes each and every day.

As a real estate specialist, it’s crucial that you examine your clients’ electrical services, especially when they’re trying to sell an older home.

Ungrounded Outlets (2-Prong)

Today’s homebuyers are extremely turned off by 2-prong outlets, so it’s crucial that if you notice this within any of your clients’ homes that you request they have their outlets replaced prior to going on the market.

We live in the digital age, and any home for sale needs to display how crucial a home’s outlets are for convenience with today’s electronics. Every potential homebuyer cares a lot about their expensive gadgets, so ensuring that your listings have solely properly grounded, 3-prong outlets is important.

A Lack of Outlets

If an important area or room doesn't have any outlets, then some buyers may be turned off by the home altogether. One outlet in each room simply isn’t enough by today’s standards, so as a realtor it’s important to always count the outlets in each room and ensure that they’re in convenient locations based upon the home’s layout and people’s daily tendencies.

If your client’s home doesn’t have enough outlets based upon your intuition, then there’s nothing wrong with suggesting an installation of more outlets in order for the home to be more capable of handling today’s culture and overall necessity for electrical connections.

Circuit Breaker Issues

All homebuyers are going to look through a listing’s circuit breaker panel(s), and if these are outdated or missing pieces then you’ll undoubtedly have a red flag on your hands. There’s no point in embarrassing yourself as a real estate professional when it comes to these simple replacements because you can insist to your selling clients that they should do proper electrical maintenance prior to selling their home.

GFCI Issues

Any potentially wet area like the bathroom or kitchen should have outlets that are GFCI equipped, because this will ultimately decrease the chances of shock. What’s great about these outlets is that they’ll instantly shut off if any type of imbalance is detected.

GFCI outlets are very safe, and the lack of them is very dangerous. Most buyers will be turned off by the lack of GFCI outlets, so this is another investment that you should insist on when a seller is trying to put an older home on the market.