..

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value? A while
back we got a pitch to do this work from an electrician and he made the
claim that the work would more than pay for itself in terms of increased
value. I was very skeptical of this given the $6000 price tag.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.

Most of my working life has been involved in the sale of residential
real estate. Upgrading will definitely enhance the value of your home.
Depending on the property values in your marketplace, the payoff may
well exceed the cost. But $6,000 is way out of range. So is the $2,500
mentioed above, unless you are maybe in Manhatten, San Francisco, or
Honolulu. In most of the real world of the US it will cost between
$1,000 and 1,500. A year and a half ago I paid $1,000, and with some
considerable extra wiring for things like a microhood, outdoor lighting
and more, this increased to $1,300. Adding extra unused breaker
switches for future use will also bump up the price. (But this is a
good time to add them) Put in 200 amps. Everyone says "Is it 200 amps?"
This is 2006, and we keep adding "stuff" that sucks power. I am in a
town of 23,000 in Pennsylvania. Adjust costs for your market.

It is amazing how many people walk away from a $300,000 house when they
see a 60 amp box with fuses. They say something like "I can't get into
all those repairs". I think that subconsciously they think if the
electrical system is not upgraded, then there must be a lot more that
will need to be upgraded as well. Bob .
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