[pasmith]

I had an inspection done on a condo I'm considering buying and the inspector noted "the 30 AMP breaker in use on the A/C should be a 20 AMP".
He also checked the box in his report that the ARC fault devices are missing or deficient. Other than that, the rest of the report stated only minor issues that I'm not concerned with. I am somewhat handy with a lot of things but electricity is not one of them. Could anyone let me know what would be a ballpark estimate for these repairs?
Thanks.
Patricia

 

[jbfan]

I had an inspection done on a condo I'm considering buying and the inspector noted "the 30 AMP breaker in use on the A/C should be a 20 AMP".
He also checked the box in his report that the ARC fault devices are missing or deficient. Other than that, the rest of the report stated only minor issues that I'm not concerned with. I am somewhat handy with a lot of things but electricity is not one of them. Could anyone let me know what would be a ballpark estimate for these repairs?
Thanks.
Patricia

Depending on when the condo was built, arc faults may not be required.
If you can, check the plate on the A/C and I bet it is fine the way it is.

 

[Jim Port]

When you look at the data plate you are looking for the maximum overcurrent protection and also the minimum circuit size. I too think the inspector did not understand the sizing rules or check the dataplate.

A home inspector can note whatever they feel may be an issue and it does not need to follow the code requirements.

 

[Cement_Frank]

Arc faults are nuthin but problems. You dont want them or need them.

 

[Tom738]

Get a quote in writing from a local electrician for changing the breakers. Then use the quote to knock the cost off the condo, or sellers can choose to do the work/have the work done.

And if you wind up deciding not to do the work, I would still give the electrician fifty bucks as a gift or consulting bonus or however he wants to structure it. He just knocked five hundred bucks off the price of your house, right?

 

[Tom738]

Also

Do NOT rely on the home inspector's report.

The home inspector follows a checklist, but will only waive you off the most egregious homes in the market, like if they see lots and lots of mold, and the mold starts to sing 'little shop of horrors.' They are generally biased (they can only stay in business if they don't kill many deals, so primarily they pick one thing to mention that knocks a thousand bucks off the sale price, but they miss all kinds of things.)

Go through the condo with a contractor, and if there are changes you want to make, be sure the condo allows them. (A common example is if you want to put in hardwood floors and they require carpeting.)

 

[Speedy Petey]

Get a quote in writing from a local electrician for changing the breakers. Then use the quote to knock the cost off the condo, or sellers can choose to do the work/have the work done.

And if you wind up deciding not to do the work, I would still give the electrician fifty bucks as a gift or consulting bonus or however he wants to structure it. He just knocked five hundred bucks off the price of your house, right?

This post is proof positive that a H-I's only purpose is to get a lower price for the buyer. They may have had some structural or safety purposes in the past, but now they are just whores.

Also Tom, you should be ashamed for making this post.

 

[Speedy Petey]

Arc faults are nuthin but problems. You dont want them or need them.

OK, this post is stupid as well. What if they are/were code required???

Your or my opinion does NOT change the fact that they ARE a safety feature and have been code required for several years now.

 

[Speedy Petey]

I had an inspection done on a condo I'm considering buying and the inspector noted "the 30 AMP breaker in use on the A/C should be a 20 AMP".
He also checked the box in his report that the ARC fault devices are missing or deficient. Other than that, the rest of the report stated only minor issues that I'm not concerned with. I am somewhat handy with a lot of things but electricity is not one of them. Could anyone let me know what would be a ballpark estimate for these repairs?
Thanks.
Patricia

This guy sound like a real winner of a H-I.

I'd bet that the 30A is FINE for your A/C unit and the H-I has no idea what he is talking about. As stated, look at the rating plate and look for the "Maximum breaker or fuse" rating. THIS is what the breaker can be at the most.
Then look for "Minimum circuit ampacity". This is what the wire must be sized for minimum.
YES, in cases like this you CAN have #12 on a 30A breaker.

As for arc faults, you'd have to find out what code the house was under when built to know if they were required originally. They are NOT retroactive, so if they were not required then they are NOT required or needed now.

 

[Tom738]

This post is proof positive that a H-I's only purpose is to get a lower price for the buyer. They may have had some structural or safety purposes in the past, but not they are just whores.

Also Tom, you should be ashamed for making this post.

Why? This is how real estate transactions are structured in the United States. Anybody who says different is selling something. It's an incredibly inefficient and stupid part of the process, but if you're operating with standard buy/sell contracts then you and the seller have agreed to negotiate repairs only on the basis of a home inspection. If you have other repairs you want to make, or want to use a contractor rather than an inspector, for example, you can easily try to negotiate those additional terms.

The big problem is that the home inspectors don't *admit* that that is how the system works, and as a result people who don't do a lot of buying and selling both (a) may make the wrong decisions in terms of repairs and (b) unjustifiable rely on the evaluation of a home inspector.

The home inspector who fails to explain this is the one who should be ashamed of himself or herself, as should the real estate agent who fails to explain the process honestly.

There is nothing wrong with my explaining how the process works and what a rational buyer's course of action should be. The fact is that the contract calls for an inspection contingency. The inspector, who usually does not do an adequate job, picked something to write up. The inspector identified this work to be done. Under the agreement between purchaser and seller, things identified by the inspector usually have to be remedied by the seller or the price of those things is deducted from the purchase price. Usually the contract doesn't obligate the buyer to actually do the work if the cost of it is deducted from the purchase price.

In point of fact, I even went so far as to suggest paying the electrician for his time even if you didn't use the quote.

So please stop directing your anger at the stupid home inspection process towards me for explaining how real estate transactions work.

 

[Jim Port]

Do NOT rely on the home inspector's report.

The home inspector follows a checklist, but will only waive you off the most egregious homes in the market, like if they see lots and lots of mold, and the mold starts to sing 'little shop of horrors.' They are generally biased (they can only stay in business if they don't kill many deals, so primarily they pick one thing to mention that knocks a thousand bucks off the sale price, but they miss all kinds of things.)

So what is the benefit of hiring someone that misses important issues with a potential house? They should not be worried if it kills the deal. They are supposed to be an educated advocate for the potential buyer.

The issue I have is when something like a #12 on a 30 amp breaker for an A/C gets written up and the seller now has to spend money to refute something that is perfectly fine and suffers from the inspectors lack of knowledge.

 

[Jim Port]

Why? This is how real estate transactions are structured in the United States. Anybody who says different is selling something. It's an incredibly inefficient and stupid part of the process, but if you're operating with standard buy/sell contracts then you and the seller have agreed to negotiate repairs only on the basis of a home inspection. If you have other repairs you want to make, or want to use a contractor rather than an inspector, for example, you can easily try to negotiate those additional terms.

.

There is no reason that a seller should be making concessions on the sale price simply because I want to make changes to the house after the sale. The buyer needs to realize they are buying a used house and it may not have all the latest bells and whistles. It is not the sellers responsibility to provide the new car smell and airbags on a 73 Pinto.

 

[Jim Port]

Arc faults are nuthin but problems. You dont want them or need them.

Do you have statistics to backup your opinion? Do you feel the code requirements should be ignored? Maybe the afci's are tripping for a valid reason and preventing a fire a potentially saving a families lives.

 

[Speedy Petey]

So please stop directing your anger at the stupid home inspection process towards me for explaining how real estate transactions work.

It's your agreeing with, and blatantly encouraging, the sad process that is shameful.

 

[Tom738]

There is no reason that a seller should be making concessions on the sale price simply because I want to make changes to the house after the sale. The buyer needs to realize they are buying a used house and it may not have all the latest bells and whistles. It is not the sellers responsibility to provide the new car smell and airbags on a 73 Pinto.

That's a perfectly legitimate position, but it's not inherently better or worse, it's just a different position on how the deal should be made, and you can always agree on that by making a contract for an as-is sale or without an inspection contingency. Sellers usually prefer not to because buyers then assume the house has bigger problems than they know about.

 

[joed]

How did our parents ever buy a house before home inspectors? They must have all gotten screwed on the deal.

 

[Tom738]

It's your agreeing with, and blatantly encouraging, the sad process that is shameful.

Thank you for clarifying!

Yes, I don't agree with it, I just think it's the most obvious way to do the deal because it's what everyone's used to, so doing something else risks adding friction to the deal and ignoring the way it's done risks having you leave money on the table that industry wide it's agreed goes to the buyer.

Ideally you just look at the house with a contractor, price work that you'd need to do, then figure out what the house is worth to you, and only then make an offer, which you stick to, and you can make the offer without an inspection contingency and claim you've saved seller that five hundred bucks if you want, to sweeten the pot.

Usually the inspection amount is such a small percentage of the home value that it just doesn't matter in practical terms--not worth getting upset about one way or the other. Usually you care more about getting the $300K quickly than about fighting over the contract that might cost you $1K off your negotiated price. But you can always make a different deal, and the seller can usually break the deal over it if they really want to. (They can be sued and forced to sell, but most people won't spend the money on that.)