Selling Your Home?
The Fix List
Home inspectors have a greatest-hits list of electrical findings — and most of it is cheap to fix before they find it. What inspectors flag, what to fix yourself, what to hire out, and how the paperwork protects your price.
Get the full guide — $17How inspectors actually look at your electrical
A home inspection isn't a code inspection, and it isn't pass/fail. Understanding what the buyer's inspector is actually doing with your electrical system tells you exactly where your pre-listing dollars work:
- They sample, they don't audit. A typical inspection tests a representative number of receptacles, operates lights and fans, opens the panel (inspectors do remove panel covers — it's within their standards), photographs what they find, and checks GFCI presence and operation in the expected locations. They cannot see inside walls and they don't certify code compliance — they report conditions.
- The report is written for negotiation. Every finding becomes either a repair request, a credit demand, or a reason the buyer's lender/insurer gets nervous. A report with fifteen small electrical items reads "deferred maintenance" even when fourteen are trivial — and it prices accordingly.
- Safety items outrank everything. Inspectors segregate "safety hazard" language (missing GFCI protection in wet locations, double-tapped breakers, open junction boxes, problem-brand panels) from "monitor/maintain" language. Safety items are what kill deals and trigger lender conditions; cosmetics are what buyers shrug at.
- Lenders and insurers read over the buyer's shoulder. Federal Pacific/Zinsco panels, knob-and-tube wiring, and fuse boxes can stall insurance binding entirely in some markets — which converts your electrical line items into the buyer's financing problem, then back into your price problem.
Your pre-listing strategy follows directly: eliminate the cheap safety flags, fix the visible sloppiness that sets the report's tone, hire out the genuinely hazardous items, and document everything. A short electrical section in the inspection report is worth real money, and most of it is bought with receptacles, plates, labels, and one focused electrician visit — not a rewire.
Ahead: the panel (where reports are won and lost), the GFCI greatest hits, the cheap-fix list, kitchen and bath specifics, what never to DIY before a sale, the pro jobs that actually pay back, and the paper trail that protects you after closing.
This guide is about fixing things, not hiding them. Concealing a known defect — painting over scorch marks, swapping a dead GFCI for a plain receptacle so it doesn't trip during the showing, burying a junction box behind drywall — is how sellers end up in post-closing litigation. Pennsylvania's seller disclosure law expects honesty about known material defects. Everything here makes the house genuinely better and the disclosure shorter.
The other 7 chapters are yours for $17
Chapter 1 is free above. The panel items inspectors always write up, the GFCI gaps, the cheap-fix list that changes a report's tone, what never to DIY before listing, and the paper trail that defends your price — all of it unlocks when you order.
- 🔒 Chapter 2: The panel: labels, blanks, double-taps, and problem brands
- 🔒 Chapter 3: GFCI gaps: the findings that write themselves
- 🔒 Chapter 4: Cheap fixes with outsized report impact
- 🔒 Chapter 5: Kitchen, bath, and the moisture map
- 🔒 Chapter 6: What NOT to DIY before listing
- 🔒 Chapter 7: Pro jobs worth paying for before you list
- 🔒 Chapter 8: The paper trail: receipts, permits, and disclosure
The complete 8-chapter guide, printable, written from 20+ years in the trade. Secure online checkout — instant access after payment.
Buy now — $17Jason answers directly · Licensed PA HIC #PA166735
Need an electrician? Call JS Power LLC.
I'm Jason Mohoska, owner-operator of JS Power LLC (Licensed · PA HIC #PA166735), serving Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. 20+ years in the trade. When you call, you deal directly with me: I quote the job, I do the work, and it's done to code.
- Panel upgrades & service changes (100–200 amp)
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powerjsllc.com · powerjsllc@gmail.com
Licensed Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor · PA HIC #PA166735
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