On Tue, 4 Mar 2014 13:46:26 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Tuesday, March 4, 2014 3:35:04 PM UTC-5, dgk wrote:
I have a 1950 era rowhouse, with 100 amps and fuses. New York City. I

haven't had any issues with the power and all the fuses are 15 amps.

There is on 240 volt circut for a large AC unit which is just two of

the 15 amps combined somehow.



Is there any need to upgrade the electric before selling the house?

I've had some people tell me that 200 amps and circuit breakers are

now required.

What's required for new construction doesn't apply to what's
already there. If it complied with the code at the time, then it's
almost certainly legal and doesn't need to be upgraded. That's how
it would work in the vast majority of places. But NYC could have
it's own rules.





I've hardly ever blown a fuse but can do so by running

the toaster oven at the same time as the microwave. Not always, but I

avoid doing that. In fact I replaced that fuse with a circuit breaker

dressed up as a fuse, which screws in but doesn't need to be replaced

if it pops.



There are two 100 amp fuses in the fuse box (big guys), so perhaps

there is already 200 amps coming in and just 100 are in use?


No, that's exactly what a 100 amp service has, ie, two 100 amp fuses.
If it's an old row house with fuses, it's almost certainly not a
200 amp service.

As to whether it's "needed" to upgrade the electric service, I'd
say that depends on a lot of factors. Unless there is some unique
NYC position on the code, the answer is that you aren't required to
do so. Whether it might make sense to do it, that's another issue.
How's the real estate situation? A house with a new upgraded electric
system that you can use as a marketing plus might help it sell faster,
get a better a higher price, etc. Any experience with neighbors you
can learn from? What shape is the rest of the house in? Sometimes new
owners are going to want to do a lot of renovation, gut the kitchen,
etc and if that's the case, then it makes more sense to upgrade the
electric system at that point.

If it were me, unless the electric system was the only thing wrong
and clearly out of line with the rest of the house, I wouldn't upgrade
it. I'd sell it like it is and see what happens. A home inspector
will have something to say about the electric service. And if the
buyer makes that an issue, you can negotiate and give them a discount
to help pay for any work that needs to be done. If I was a buyer, I'd
rather do it that way anyhow. But some buyers might get turned off
and walk away too. Which raises another question, ie do you need to
sell it quick, or if a sale falls through because of this, are you
OK with finding another buyer, etc?

I'd make sure to read the portion of the sales contract that pertains
to inspection. If what is there is code compliant, but a buyer wants
to insist that you put in a new electric service, you want to make sure
there is nothing there that says you *have* to do it. That whole area
is an interesting one. Plenty of buyers back out over something like
that. It would be interesting to see any contracts cases where the
seller said, "screw you, it's code compliant, it works, it's not broken,
I'm not upgrading
it and you have to go through with the purchase. But for practical
reasons, ie the buyers can manage to not get a mortgage, tie you up
for a year while it's litigated, etc, I've never heard of that being done.


In about a year I'm likely to buy a house from an old family friend in
Florida; it's a block away from my aging mother in the same
development, and we'll likely have pretty flexible purchase terms.
After all, I bought my current house from her when she moved to
Florida 25 years ago!

So, it's likely that I'll have a few months to sell my current house
and can pretty much move whenever it gets sold. The only downside is
having to pay maintenance on the Florida house and that's less than
$400 a month.

As for the current house, it's not in great shape. I haven't renovated
the kitchen or bath since I moved in and they both really need it
although everything works fine. So the electric is pretty much in
keeping with the rest of the place. But as I wrote in another post,
most of the houses sold in this neighborhood are illegally converted
to multiple apartments and even furnished rooms. I think renovating
prior to sale is likely unnecessary. I'll get somewhat less than the
top but they can do what they want.

I will look at the contract very carefully - thanks for the warning.