October 6, 2015
A recent reader question about the FHA appraisal requirements had us looking up details on those requirements in the new FHA Single Family loan handbook, HUD 4000.1.
The previous FHA loan rulebooks including HUD 4155.1 and HUD 4155.2 have been superseded by HUD 4000.1, so it seemed like a good idea to post the FHA’s current appraisal requirements for the roof since it’s one of the most commonly asked-about parts of the home with respect to the FHA appraisal process.
When the FHA appraiser comes to review the property, the roof is one of the areas that must be evaluated. According to HUD 4000.1 Part II Section B:
“The Appraiser must notify the Mortgagee of the deficiency of MPR or MPS if the roof covering does not prevent entrance of moisture or provide reasonable future utility, durability and economy of maintenance and does not have a remaining physical life of at least two years.”
Excessive moisture, leaks or other issues are enough for the appraiser to note a required correction–and depending on circumstances such corrections may be required as a condition of loan approval. But required corrections may not be limited to fixing leak issues, as HUD 4000.1 points out:
“The Appraiser must observe the roof to determine whether there are deficiencies that present a health and safety hazard or do not allow for reasonable future utility. The Appraiser must identify the roofing material type and the condition observed in the Improvements section of the report.”
Additionally, there’s the “remaining economic life” issue to contend with:
“The Appraiser must report if the roof has less than two years of remaining life, and make the appraisal subject to inspection by a professional roofer. When the Appraiser is unable to view the roof, the Appraiser must explain why the roof is unobservable and report the results of the assessment of the underside of the roof, the attic, and the ceilings.”
Roof issues can be serious business, and part of the reason for corrections (as stated above) is to protect the overall investment in the home and insure it is suitable for future sale, hence the interest in the “remaining economic life” of the home in general and the roof in particular.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com–a free widget designed especially for real estate websites that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It’s a simple thing to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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