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Electrical Issues that could Stop Someone Buying Your House

When it comes to selling your home you want to get the best price possible. This usually relies on having a good number of potential buyers all interested in your property. Unfortunately, sometimes things that have not been an issue to you living in your property are a big issue to buyers. This is particularly true for properties that are aimed at first-time buyers because they usually don’t have a lot of spare cash. Moving house is expensive and any extra costs can be a major deterrent. Most buyers won’t have any idea how much it costs to rewire a house/flat or upgrade a fuse board (consumer unit). They will see it as an extra expense that they will have to find the money for and many will discard it as a viable option.

Here are some electrical issues that may put off potential customers from buying your house

1. Old Fuse Board/Consumer Unit

The thought of having to upgrade an old fuse board can put lots of potential buyers off a property. Although they are usually hidden out of sight in a cupboard they will be mentioned in the Home Report. However, it is something that can be done relatively quickly and usually isn’t that expensive. The cost of a new fuse board will depend on several factors including the size of your home and the number of electrical circuits.

2. Old Wiring

A house that needs to be rewired will definitely deter many people. Unfortunately, there is no getting away from the fact that rewiring can be an expensive, disruptive and messy job. It usually requires some repair work to the internal décor due to the channels that need to be cut into the walls for the new cables to be run. (Although, some electricians will work with decorators so will be able to offer this as an additional service). Regardless of this, re-wiring is something that most people will want to avoid unless they are buying a very old property that will need everything ripped out and replaced. However, on the plus side, a house that has been recently rewired is a really good selling point and will be much more attractive to buyers.

3. Mismatched Fittings

If your house has a lot of mismatched sockets or light switches it can be off-putting to some people. Fashions come and go and while brass fittings were once very popular, chrome fittings seem to be much more popular now. Replacing socket covers is not a big or expensive job but it can be a dangerous one if you don’t know what you are doing. It is usually best carried out by an electrician to be on the safe side. In particular, if you are replacing plastic sockets or switches with metal ones, you must make sure that there is an earth wire which is not always the case in older houses. Otherwise, if the live wire manages to work its way loose and comes into contact with the metal casing it will give anyone who touches the fitting an electric shock.

4. Not Enough Sockets

Today, most of us rely on a lot of electric gadgetry and therefore need a lot of sockets to accommodate them. Many old properties still have only one or two sockets in rooms such as the bedroom. This means that extension cables are often needed. Viewers walking around a property are going to notice the extension cables and lots of messy wires and are going to worry about the electrical safety of the property. Contacting a local electrician to fit some extra sockets is a good way of making your home instantly more attractive and electrically safer at the same time.

If you are thinking of selling your home, it is always worth thinking about things you can do to enhance your property in order to attract more buyers. We recommend contacting a local electrician to carry out an EICR on your property. It will highlight any issues and give you the chance to carry out any work before you put it on the market. Many electrical repairs are not as expensive or inconvenient as you might think and they could make a big difference to the price that you eventually get for your property.

Capital City Electrical is an established electrical contractor in Edinburgh. Get in touch to find out more about our electrical services or give us a call us on 0131 202 9188