Selling a Kingston House That Still Has Knob and Tube

The seller's playbook for old wiring

At Knob & Tube Kingston, roughly half the calls that start with "we're selling" come after a deal has already wobbled. An inspector found knob and tube on day 20, the buyer's insurer balked, and now everyone's lawyer is on the phone. The other half come from sellers who called before listing. The second group has a much better spring. If you're selling a pre-1950 home in Sydenham Ward, Portsmouth, Williamsville, Kingscourt or the Inner Harbour and it's never been fully rewired, this page is your playbook.

Disclose or hope? (The inspector settles it anyway)

The disclosure question comes up first, and the strategic answer is simpler than the legal one: it will be found. Knob and tube is the first thing a home inspector looks for in a Kingston century home: ceramic knobs along the basement joists, two-strand cloth wiring, two-prong outlets, a fuse panel. Nearly every buyer orders an inspection. A deal that collapses at day 25 over "undisclosed" wiring costs you far more than honesty would have: weeks lost, a re-listing that other agents treat as a warning sign, and a next buyer who now wonders what else you didn't mention. Whatever your lawyer advises on the disclosure form, plan the sale as if every buyer knows. Because they will.

Your two real options

Option 1: rewire before listing. Spend the money up front (published ranges on our cost page: $5,000–$8,000 for a full bungalow rewire, $8,000–$15,000 for a two-storey, $14,000–$25,000 for a large century home including a 200-amp panel) and list a house whose feature sheet says "fully rewired, ESA Certificate of Inspection." What that money gets you: no insurance objections, no conditional-financing fall-throughs, no wiring discount, a faster close, and a buyer pool that includes the cautious first-time buyers who would otherwise not make an offer. In most cases the cost is recouped through price and speed. The certificate is also a strong selling point in the listing.

Option 2: sell as-is, with a written quote. When timeline or cash rules out a pre-sale rewire, the next best step is to order the assessment and quote yourself, before listing. Now when the inspector finds the wiring, you hand over a licensed electrician's written number instead of letting the buyer guess at the cost. The quote sets the starting number: the discount negotiation starts at the real figure (for example $11,000), not at the $30,000 the buyer guessed. Sales survive because nobody is negotiating an unknown cost.

What doesn't work is the third option many sellers take by default: list, hope, and improvise when the inspection report arrives. In that version the buyer controls the negotiation. Our buyer's guide shows exactly what a prepared buyer will do. It is worth reading as a seller.

What the buyer's insurer will demand, and why it is your problem

Even though it's not your policy, the buyer's insurance drives your closing date. Their lender requires proof of insurance to advance funds; most standard insurers (TD, Aviva and Intact among them) refuse homes with active knob and tube or surcharge 50–300%. The workable outcomes are either an ESA Certificate of Inspection proving the wiring is gone, or a conditional policy giving the buyer 30–90 days after closing to replace the wiring. Insurers grant that far more readily when a written quote from a licensed electrician already exists. Either way, in Ontario the work must be done by an ECRA/ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor under ESA permit and inspection; an unlicensed rewire produces no certificate and solves nothing. Our insurance page explains the whole sequence.

The pre-listing package that strengthens any listing

Whichever option you choose, the same preparation serves both: a pre-listing electrical assessment, a written scope and quote, and, if you rewire, the ESA certificate. Sellers who have that package ready before offers arrive have answered the three questions every buyer, lender and insurer will ask, before they're asked. Starting costs nothing but a phone call, and it converts the worst line in your inspection report into a solved problem with a price attached.