All Forum Posts by: Lisa Asselin

If the house used or leaked the water, I don’t believe there is any way the water company can bring down the bill.  That would be like finding out all the lights were left on and then asking the electric company to bring down the bill.  Have you found the source of the high usage to correct this going forward?  

@Bruce Woodruff

thanks for the info, the plan is definitely to get it upgraded asap.  The seller claims it’s only a small % but I am planning for the worse.  Most likely will do the 1st and 3rd floor in the first 30 days with access from the basement/attic.  The second will be trickier to avoid disrupting the tenants too much so If it’s all the outlets and lights it will probably mean moving them out and doing a full update on that floor in the first few months 

Hi All,

Just an update for anyone who might search in the future.  It was no trouble finding insurance coverage- agent quoted thru Mass Property which specializes in MA properties that might have these issues or other things common in MA like costal property.  Quote for full coverage was $3600 versus $2800 before the disclosure of K&T.  Also called my lender who said it’s ok as long as it’s “functional and typical for the area” and a licensed electrician signs off that it’s safe.  The current owner claims to have had an electrician out for same reason in the past so hopefully that is still the case.  If the sale goes thru I will update in the future on the results and any complications after the sale.  

@Bud Gaffney

Does that mean don’t touch the wiring or don’t touch the deal? 🙂

At this point I can still back out due to inspection results, so I would rather be very upfront with my insurance and see what they would require and if it doesn’t work, walk away and keep searching.  There are a lot of older houses in this area so I don’t think this is rare

@Matthew Irish-Jones

Thanks for the reply, it seemed to be the recommendation from searching this site that it will cause a fire hazard, issues with insurance and in general added risk.  It could be an interesting option to do the first and third floors asap and then the 2nd floor done right when the unit turns over.  I am going to start with a call to my insurance on Monday and see what they say.

@Account Closed

Thank you, that makes sense, I was trying to figure how to do the work with the second floor occupied but maybe I am just overcomplicating the situation and should think of the long term improvement.

Hi All,

I am in the process of purchasing my first investment property and found one with great numbers but inspection found knob and tube in attic and some in basement. According to the listing/owner the electrical is updated. It does have circuit breaker boxes but then it goes to junction box and continues with knob and tube.

It’s a 3800 sq ft 3 floor 3 family. I am in MA.

I am estimating $10-20k to redo electrical. 1st floor accessible from basement, 3rd floor has full attic.  2nd floor be trickiest with holes in the wall and then a good opportunity to cover up old plaster with 1/4” over all the existing walls.  But there is a current tenant and I would want to do the electrical immediately after purchase.

Anyone have experience with this? No specific questions, just looking for any insight if someone has been thru this before and cost.

Thanks,

Lisa