Appraisals

When I sold my house and bought the one I'm in now, there wasn't a real estate agent involved on either side, so my bank ordered the appraisals. The same gentleman did both appraisals. He appraised my new home, then drove directly to my old house and appraised that one. They were appraised approximately an hour apart. The photo below is one of the "faults" at my old home. It's an open junction box in the basement. The bank required I fix this or I wouldn't be allowed to close ...

Cover plate missing from junction box in basement at old house.

Below are photo's of the light fixture in the garage and the light switch at the bottom of the stairs in the basement of my new home. The very same appraiser didn't note either of these as a "fault" on his appraisal of that home, nor was fixing them required for the closing to continue ...

Exposed wires in garage light fixture at new house.

Cover plate missing on light switch in new basement

Fixing the junction box in my old basement was a thirty second fix. It took a lot longer to drive to Lowe's to get a plate than it did to fix it. The basement in my old home was strictly used for storage, and we rarely went down there. We are in and out of the garage of my new home daily ... multiple times a day ... and the kids and their friends spend most of their time in the basement.

I understand exposed wires are considered "dangerous" by the government, but I assure you, I didn't remove the cover plate from the junction box in the basement of my old house and it didn't fall off or I would have seen it on the floor and put it back on. I can wire and hang a ceiling fan ... I hung one when I was seven months pregnant ... so screwing on a junction box plate wouldn't have intimidated me! It had to have been like that when I bought the house in 1999, and it was probably like that since the late 1980's when the house was gutted to the studs to remove all the plaster (and any lead-based paint), and replace all the outdated plumbing and electrical before installing new drywall. During the sixteen years I lived in that home, no one was electrocuted and the open junction box didn't start any fires.

My question is ... Why were the exposed wires in the basement of my old home so dangerous the sale couldn't continue until it was fixed, yet the exposed wires in the garage and basement of my new home were considered acceptable?

Regardless, I fixed all of the things the report noted as "faults", only one of which is what anyone of even below-average intelligence would have considered truly a "fault". I must admit, I felt like I was being held to a standard on my old house that the seller on my new house wasn't being held to, and it didn't seem quite fair. I know life isn't always fair, but real estate transactions should be!!