Over-improving electric or doing it right?

[Jim Kaufman]

I am putting together my SOW for my first flip and want to upgrade the electric on the two story to grounded. Why? I want to put out a good product (that sells easy!) and it makes sense to me to upgrade the electric along with the floors, kitchens and baths. Stage one is upgrading from fuses to a 200 amp service. When I mentioned upgrading the entire house, my electrician rolled his eyes and wanted to know why I would do that if it was a flip.

The original 1930 wires may have metal in the wires, I will have to check. I was thinking of using cheap labor to cut out strips in the walls to run new wires, possibly making runs to the attic and distribute to the upstairs.

The entire neighborhood is the same age so I assume most are unimproved. I do not know if my potential buyers will see this as a problem. Any input is appreciated. Thanks, Jim

[Jon Holdman]

This is one of those things where you have to know your competition. If must of the other recent sales have upgraded wiring, you'll need to do it. If not, you probably don't need to. Almost certainly it will cost you much more to do it than you will recoup in selling price. Its a big job and requires permits and inspections, so its expensive.