Articles Tagged With: Home Inspection

June 25, 2024

What To Look For When House Hunting

If you are looking for your first home, there are areas of every house you should consider including in your mental checklist of features to look at during a real estate open house or a private viewing of a sale property. What follows is not a complete list but a great place to start when looking for potential deal-breaker problems lurking in the house you want to purchase with an FHA mortgage. The Condition Of The Walls And Ceiling Homes that have been flooded or experienced significant plumbing issues could have signs of water damage in areas like the basement, stairs, and walls throughout the house. Look for stains, patches of wall that don’t quite match the others, warped wood, poorly closed doors, etc. Staining and the smell of mold | more...

January 3, 2024

Buying An Older Home With An FHA Loan

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loans come with a myth or two. For example, the notion that only first-time home buyers can get an FHA loan. That is a myth. Also NOT TRUE? The idea that a house can’t be past a certain age to qualify. This myth isn’t as widespread as the first-time home buyer one, but the fact is, only SOME property types have a specific age requirement Manufactured homes have a specific age requirement other FHA loans don’t carry. An FHA-eligible mobile home or manufactured housing must be built after June 15, 1976 or it cannot be purchased with an FHA mortgage. Existing construction properties under the FHA single-family home loan program don’t have that age issue. Age or Remaining Life? The FHA lender’s handbook specifies that all houses purchased | more...

FHA One-Time Close Construction Loans In 2019

September 12, 2022

FHA Loans and Home Inspections

By Joe Wallace

We get many questions about the FHA appraisal process. One variation on a common theme? The questions we get involving readers who opted not to get a home inspection, relied on the FHA appraisal process alone in determining whether the house was defect-free or not, and had complaints about the home later on. This is a situation common enough that it makes sense to emphasize the importance of NOT relying on the FHA appraisal process as a means to detect flaws or defects with a home that could be purchased with an FHA mortgage. Why is relying on the appraisal alone a bad idea? For starters, the FHA and HUD official site makes it very clear that the FHA appraisal is NOT an inspection. “Passing” the FHA appraisal process only | more...

May 11, 2020

Buying A House In The Era Of COVID-19

By Joe Wallace

Who buys a house during a global pandemic? The answer to that question may surprise you at first, but a quick look at the official site for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and it’s clear that there’s a demand, and with good reason. Some Americans not only consider buying or renting a new home during COVID-19, but some actually have no choice but to seek new housing. This could be due to any number of factors including illegal evictions, loss of income, job changes that require relocation, natural disasters, changes in family size, changes in marital status, many reasons. And those people create a demand that must be met, even during a national emergency. Granted, not all home loans during this time are out of necessity, but the | more...

March 11, 2019

First-Time Home Buyer Advice: Get A Home Inspection

By Bruce Reichstein

Some wonder if they have had a home inspection when the FHA appraisal results come back. First-time home buyers should know that a home inspection is something that should be done regardless of the appraisal because the two procedures are quite different. The appraisal is not a tool for the borrower and will not give you an idea of the true condition of the home. The home inspection is the job that needs to be done to give you that information. The FHA itself publishes a pamphlet called “For Your Protection, Get A Home Inspection” which includes this advice; “You have the right to examine carefully your potential new home with a professional home inspector. But a home inspection is not required by law, and will occur only if you | more...

September 7, 2018

FHA Home Loans, Appraisals, And Home Inspections

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loans require an appraisal in order to insure the property meets minimum FHA requirements. The appraisal also helps the lender set the loan amount based on the adjusted value of the home. Some borrowers are tempted to skip the optional home inspection process and simply go with the FHA appraisal. This is a bad idea because doing so basically results in buying a home and making a large investment without knowing the true nature of the property’s condition. There are some questions you can ask yourself to help better understand why a home inspection is needed; learning the answers to these questions can definitely change your mind about the temptation to skip a home inspection. How Does The Buyer Know If There Is A Roof Problem? Can you | more...

August 20, 2018

Five Questions People Ask About FHA Home Loans

By Bruce Reichstein

Got questions about FHA home loans? Here are five questions people typically ask about FHA mortgages and the answers according to the FHA loan rules found in HUD 4000.1. Remember that additional lender standards may apply and these answers are based on FHA loan guidelines and not additional lender requirements. Do FHA Home Loans Offer A No Down Payment Option? FHA mortgage loans do not come with zero money down or no money down options but FHA loan rules do allow borrowers to accept properly documented gift funds for down payments from relatives, friends, or employers. You can’t use a credit card cash advance to make the down payment, nor can your down payment gift fund provider. Ask your lender how to help properly document the source and nature of | more...

June 6, 2017

HUD: June Is National Healthy Homes Month

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced the second-annual National Healthy Homes Month. According to a press release at the FHA/HUD official site, “Launched by HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH), National Healthy Homes Month 2017 will focus national attention on ways to keep people of all ages safe and healthy in their homes.” That focus includes an emphasis on lead paint. According to the HUD official site, National Healthy Homes Month is themed, “Just What the Doctor Ordered,” and put the spotlight on “the vital role that pediatricians and the health community play in healthy homes education” The HUD press release observes that due to lead poisoning and other home-connected health risks, creating a healthier home environment should be a top priority. “National | more...

August 29, 2016

FHA Loan Questions: Home Inspections

By Joe Wallace

A reader asks, “So what do I do if I bought a house with an FHA loan and 2 weeks after closing the roof leaks? You can visually see more than 3 layers of roofing without setting foot on the roof or a Ladder? Obviously the roof didnt have 2 years of life left in it and obviously it was in need of repair. Also the inspector I hired didnt go up on the roof either. What are my options now? Also code in my area is no more than 3 layers of roofing and after getting estimates the house has 5 layers on it.” FHA loan appraisals and home inspections are two different things. The reader question in this particular case seems to indicate that the borrower paid for | more...

June 15, 2016

FHA Home Loan Questions: Problems With The Home After Purchase

By Joe Wallace

One of the most important things a borrower can do is to pay for the optional home inspection prior to making the commitment to purchasing a home, or making the purchase of the home conditional on the results of the optional home inspection. FHA loans require an appraisal, which is NOT the same as a home inspection, and does not guarantee that the home is free of defects. Recently a reader asked us a question about a situation that may have involved a home inspection that didn’t catch a serious problem. “My daughter and son in law just bought a house two weeks ago with an FHA loan, they did pay for a home inspection which had small repairs to be done, once those were completed they closed on house | more...