wrote in message
oups.com...
Doug Kanter wrote:

As you look at other houses, don't obsess about the age of the wiring.
It's
not the age that counts - its how it was done. My house was built in 1956
and has original wiring. The wiring's in gorgeous shape, and except for
the
garage, it's all original. The way it's bundled and stapled in place,
it's
obvious the electrician was obsessive about details.

Heck, I suppose I'd buy something with knob-and-tube if at least a good
solid run of it could be examined. A realtor I admire recently took me
through another of these bungalows, much more new than the one I posted
about. The owner had passed away just that week, and there were still
dishes in the sink.

Despite this, I fell in love with the construction and well-maintained
place. Then we went down into the huge cellar, and the realtor took a
look at the breaker box, and said, "Nope, I want you to pass on this
one." The box was Federal Pacific.

All I know is that when I sold my Concrete-Is-Us money pit, I just
stood back and let realtors and potential buyers prod, poke, and peel
back whatever they wanted (within reason). I don't think it matters
what your income or socioeconomic group, but to have major elements of
vital systems totally concealed from view-- Well, it's a risk I won't
post about here again. Next time I'll remind myself of the caution
flags on this thread.


If people would just be honest about this stuff, the results would amaze
them. When I bought my first house, the owners said there had been water
problems in the basement, and they hadn't been there long enough to figure
out why. OK. That satisfied me. The rest of the house was fine. I made sure
no water sensitive items were on the basement floor. I knew what to expect.
until a spring thaw had occurred and we saw the problem. Took us two years
to fix the problem, but we did it.

When I sold my 1992 Ford Taurus, I advertised it as "$1500.00 selling price.
Real cost $2500.000 - needs this & that". I had a dozen calls in two days
and it was sold on the third. People don't like surprises.