Reanna Martinez

CaDre #01957040

Reanna@myCAREagent.com

323.905.2273

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How To Do A Utility Inspection Without Electricity

No Electricity

 

Part of your due diligence when buying a home is the physical inspection of the property.  You will want to hire a professional and certified home inspector to check the property from top to bottom for any defects or areas for concern.  A home inspector will make sure the structure is up to code and the electrical, plumbing, and gas are functioning properly.

My client is in escrow for a bank-owned property.  Dealing with the bank on a foreclosed home (REO) is very different than dealing with a homeowner.  Usually, the bank will offer little to no information on the property and is not required by law to produce the same property disclosures as a homeowner.  In this case, the bank did not make any concessions and even refused to turn on the electricity for inspection purposes.

But you don’t need to be connected to the city’s power grid to light up your home!  By connecting a generator to the main panel of the house, we were able to perform a full inspection of the home’s electrical system.  A generator can be rented from home depot for under $50.

Leave the connection to an electrician!  Connecting to the main panel can be dangerous.  Be safe and hire someone who knows what they are doing!

 

Main Panel

  1. Connecting to the main electrical panel

Generator

2. Plug into generator

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0 Responses

  1. When we got our home inspected before moving in, this is also what they did. They had a generator plugged in until the end of the inspection. We wanted the house inspected before we closed in on the house, which meant the utilities havent been switched over yet.

    1. It’s such a good thing that you follow the rules in your country, it’s a shame that does not really happen in mine, you’r lucky 😛

  2. Lets keep in mind that you have to be a little bit experienced when it tcomes to electricity to work with this kind of thing, electricity is really delicated and a wrong move could get you shocked, even dead. That’s why people need to use special equipment for that kind of labours. It is such a great information to know, I will take it into account for my Engineering classes, thank you very much.

    1. Yes, please don’t kill yourself, people. Playing with any sort of electricity can be risky, especially with the house’s main grid. Rather spend some money on a person that knows how to deal with it.

      I know a person that was messing with it without proper knowledge and he electrocuted himself. Luckily he didn’t die.

      Personally, I had no idea about this neat trick. Bank sounds nasty refusing to let you turn on the electricity for inspection though. Even if it isn’t required by law, they could still cooperate with you.

  3. These are types of things where I think that my efforts are best spent in hunting out a good deal, and having someone else do the actual work, like you suggest. I would like to think I am good at shopping around, though, so hopefully I could save some there. It looks dangerous though, you are right, so approach with caution of course.

    1. There’s always a chance for you to learn, all you have to do is be careful with what you do and what you use to do the job, other than that, it’s all fine. Sometimes paying somebody else to do everything is not the solution to your problems.

  4. This is rather risky. Although if you have some knowledge on electricity, you can dabble with minor connections such as lighting and switches. If you don’t, letting an expert handle your electrical wirings would be more practical.

  5. Great thoughts here… especially about not tackling things like this on your own. Very important. Sounds as if it’s miserable working with banks for foreclosed properties! You’d think they would have good reason to want to cooperate and be able to settle things more quickly.

    We were lucky with the house that we’re in now because the electric was still turned on. I’m not sure if the selling family kept paying the bills for those months it was empty or whether the real estate agent had it turned back on, but in any case, there were no issues with the inspection at all, fortunately.

  6. That’s a good idea, but what about the safety concerns? Instead of that, I’d choose to show the property during the day and with good natural light for the inspection, unless your clients want to check the electric connections.

  7. It is good to know that a electricity generator is available for rent at home depot. I learned that we have to be careful and meticulous in inspecting a house to be bought. Utility inspection can be done safely with professionals who is capable of handling such task.

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