Hi guys,

I need some advice on a deal in looking at.

I'm considering to buy a fixer upper. There was a fire in the house at the entranceway. I would like to inspect the utilities and the electrical before closing on the property but it's all shut off. Does anyone know if I can have the utilities turned on so I can have it tested and inspected.

Would PSE&G turn on the electrical in a house after a fire? Perhaps I need a licensed electrician guide me, possibly requesting help from the building department.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Moshe

Doubtful. If the city shut it off due to code violation (fire damage) it will have to be inspected/repaired by a certified electrician who will at that point be able to setup a re-inspection from the building inspector and then have it turned on and that doesn't sound cost/time effective for you. The fact that you cannot inspect these items sounds like a great bargaining chip for you in your offer. You can have the sewer lines and furnace inspected without power. The best thing you could do is to call a few electricians and explain the situation and I'm sure one of them will guide you in the right direction. Good Luck-Sam

I agree with @Sam T.

Many times if we cant inspect something due to another major issue (say a fire), we assume that we will have to fix it, and we bring it to the sellers attention for bargaining purposes like Sam had stated.  Do the best you can with the inspection, just know that depending on how hot the fire got, how much smoke was in the house and how long, where exactly the fire went, etc can end up causing a lot of unseen damage.  We have had houses where the foundation cracks due to the heat of the fire for instance.  Smoke does most of the unseen damage if the fire wasn't too crazy.  Get an electrician to look at the house if you can, just know you wont get the power turned on prior to buying it from my experience.  Good luck!

  Last place I bought  I  used a generator  to check  electrical 

And have used air to check for gas and water  leaks .

A few 5 gallon buckets full of water dumped into drains  gives you a general idea about sewer

It lets me know what's working quick and then you do your bargaining as if it's all bad.  : )