Questions to Ask an Electrician Before Buying a House in San Antonio

You are about to spend a large share of your savings on a house, and the person you send to look at the wiring is the one telling you whether that house is safe to live in. Knowing the right questions to ask an electrician before buying a house is how you make sure you get an evaluation and not a quick glance. This is your interview. You are paying for an opinion, so ask for it in a form you can use.

Below are 15 questions, grouped the way the visit actually runs, with the answer that should make you worry after each one. Bring this page to the inspection, or send it to the electrician before they arrive. A good electrician will be glad you asked.

If you would rather have these answers in writing without asking each one, book a real estate electrical inspection. Our report is built around exactly these questions.

Why a buyer should interview the electrician at all

Most buyers never speak to the electrician. The agent books the visit, a report shows up, and the buyer reads it alone the night before the option period ends. That is backwards. The electrician is the one person in the transaction whose only job is to tell you what the wiring will cost you, and a few direct questions decide whether you get a usable answer or a vague one.

The questions also protect you from a common gap. Your general inspector reports on the TREC inspection report, a visual screening that flags items and recommends a licensed electrician follow up. If the electrician you hire then gives only a quick look, nobody in the deal has actually evaluated the system. Asking these questions up front closes that gap before you pay for the visit.

Questions about the electrician and the evaluation

1. Are you licensed by TDLR, and whose license is on this report? In Texas, electricians are licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and an electrical contractor holds its own license separate from the individuals who work for it. You can look up any license number on the TDLR website in a minute.

Worry if the answer is vague, if nobody can give you a license number, or if the person describes themselves as a handyman who does electrical. Your lender, your insurer and the seller's agent may all ask who wrote the report.

2. Who signs the report? A written report signed by a Texas licensed master electrician carries weight in a negotiation. An unsigned checklist or a text message does not.

Worry if the answer is that there is no written report, or that you will get a verbal rundown at the end of the visit.

3. Is this a full evaluation of the house, or a check of the items my inspector flagged? Both are legitimate visits, but they are different. A check of flagged items answers whether those specific items are a problem. A full evaluation for a purchase looks at the whole system, which is what you want before you commit to a house.

Worry if the electrician plans to look only at the flagged items and you are expecting a full picture. Ask before the visit, not after.

Questions about the panel and the service

4. Will you take the panel cover off? Most of what matters in an electrical system is visible only with the dead front removed: scorched terminals, double taps, undersized wire on oversized breakers, missing bonding. A qualified electrician removes the cover as a matter of routine where it is safe to do so.

Worry if the answer is no. An evaluation that never opens the panel cannot tell you much.

5. What brand is the panel, and is it one insurers question? Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels carry well-documented concerns about breakers that may not trip, and some insurers will not write a policy on a home that still has one. Other older panels are fine but no longer have replacement breakers available.

Worry if the electrician cannot identify the panel or tells you the brand does not matter. It matters to your insurer.

Background on both brands is in Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels in San Antonio.

6. What size is the service, and is it enough for this house? Many older San Antonio homes have 60 or 100 amp service. That may be adequate for the house as it stands and not enough for the EV charger, pool or addition you have in mind.

Worry if the answer is a number with no context. You want to know whether the service fits the house, and whether it fits your plans for the house.

7. What condition is the meter base, mast and weatherhead in? CPS Energy owns the meter, but the homeowner owns the equipment around it. Rust, a leaning mast or a weatherhead pulling away from the wall are repairs that need a permit and coordination with CPS Energy.

Worry if nobody walked outside to look. The service entrance is part of the electrical system.

Questions about the wiring inside the walls

8. What kind of branch wiring does this house have? Copper, aluminum, cloth-sheathed cable or knob and tube. Each one changes your insurance conversation and your repair budget. The electrician can usually tell from the panel, the attic and a few opened devices.

Worry if the answer is a guess. If the house was built in the mid 1960s to mid 1970s and nobody checked for aluminum, ask them to check.

If the answer is aluminum, read buying a house with aluminum wiring. If it is knob and tube, read what to know about knob and tube wiring.

9. Is the house grounded and bonded? A working grounding electrode system, a bond to the water piping, and bonding of gas piping where required are basic to safety. Homes with yellow CSST gas line may need bonding that was never installed.

Worry if the electrician tested outlets and never looked at the ground at the service.

More on the gas line question in CSST gas line bonding in San Antonio.

10. Did you test outlets throughout the house, and is GFCI and AFCI protection where it should be? Kitchens, bathrooms, garages, outdoor outlets and laundry areas call for GFCI protection, and newer work calls for AFCI protection on many circuits. Testing should cover polarity and open grounds across the house.

Worry if the answer is that a few were spot checked.

11. Do you see any signs of heat or overloading? Discolored outlets, melted insulation, a warm breaker or a burnt smell are evidence that something has already gone wrong.

Worry if a heat finding is described as minor without anyone tracing its cause.

12. What looks like DIY or unpermitted work? Open splices in the attic, cable run where it does not belong, a subpanel nobody pulled a permit for. Flips and rentals show this often.

Worry if the electrician will not comment on it. You can check permit history with the San Antonio Development Services Department, but the electrician is the one who can see the work.

Questions about the report and the repairs

13. Which findings are safety issues, which are repairs and which are maintenance? Not every finding is urgent. A rating on each one lets you ask the seller for what matters and let the rest go.

Worry if every item is presented as an emergency, or if nothing is.

14. What will each repair cost, as a flat price? A range is not useful in a negotiation. A written flat price for each item gives you a number to put in an amendment or a credit request.

Worry if the answer is that it depends and they will know once they start. That is how hourly billing turns into a surprise after closing.

We publish our prices on our pricing page and explain why in electrician hourly rate vs flat rate.

15. When will I get the report, will it have photos, and can you do the repairs with a permit? You need the report before your option period ends, with photos your agent can show the seller's agent. If the same licensed contractor can do the repairs and handle the permit and inspection, you have one fewer thing to coordinate before closing.

Worry if nobody can tell you when the report arrives, or if the repair offer comes without a permit for work that needs one.

Once you have the answers, use them. Findings rated Safety belong in your repair request or credit request. Findings rated Repair are negotiable and depend on the market and the house. Maintenance items are usually yours to handle after closing. A buyer who asks for everything often gets nothing, and a buyer who asks for the right items with a written price beside each one usually gets them.

How Wattsmith answers these questions before you ask them

We built our real estate electrical inspection around the questions a careful buyer asks. We are licensed by TDLR (TECL 41806). We remove the panel cover where it is safe, walk the service entrance outside, check the attic, test outlets across the house, and look at grounding and bonding at the service.

The report groups findings by area, and each finding carries a recommendation and a rating of Safety, Repair or Maintenance. Photos of each problem are labeled and placed beside the finding they show. A priority action plan at the end tells you what to handle first. A Texas licensed master electrician signs the report in our app, with a certificate of completion that shows it has not been altered, and you receive it by text and email.

One flat price covers the full evaluation. In our price book it is the Real estate electrical inspection task, from $399, and any repair it finds is priced from the same published book before work starts. Starting price. Your tech confirms the final number on site before any work.

If you are the agent, send this list to your buyer before the inspection, or send it to us and we will make sure the report answers every question on it. Agents who work with us often can read how we work with real estate agents.

Not sure whether you need a full evaluation or just a check of one item? Read should you get an electrical inspection before buying, or call us and we will tell you over the phone which visit fits your situation.

Your option period does not wait. Book the inspection now and get a signed report with a flat price on every finding, anywhere in San Antonio and our surrounding service areas.