Photo’s From A Recent Appraisal Inspection
Believe it or not, there are some properties that just aren’t capable of going traditional financing. I was recently sent to appraise a property that I knew was going to be a challenge as soon as I pulled-up. This appraisal was for an FHA loan, and from the street (50 feet away) I could see chipping and peeling paint-not a good sign!
After a pleasant greeting, the gentleman starting to show me around inside. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this property didn’t have a hope and a prayer of going regular FHA financing, but I learned long ago that doesn’t mean I cut the appraisal short. It’s not my call whether or not an appraisal should be completed, and there are times when a creative mortgage officer will be able to find some type of financing. But, I soon realized after inspecting few more rooms that this wasn’t probably going to happen.
Good Communication Can Save Major Headaches & Money
I’m not sure what conversation the loan officer had with his client, but whenever you’re ordering an appraisal, especially for an older home (built prior to 1978), there are some questions I would get answered first:
- Is there any peeling paint on the exterior or interior?
- Do yo have any unfinished projects?
- Do you have any potential safety hazards (exposed wiring, falling ceiling panels, plumbing issues )
- If you just finished a project, are all bare surfaces painted?
- If some windows were replaced, should have any of the other windows been replaced?
- If the roof was just replaced, was there any damage that hasn’t been repaired yet?
These are just some of the questions I would ask when talking to a potential client about a getting a mortgage. In this particular example the owners just replaced the roof, however, there was a lot of damage that hadn’t been fixed due to the neglect of not taking care of it sooner. A little detective work would of saved everyone time and money!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW! What a mess! A DIYer who watched too many episodes of HGTV and decided they could do a remodel job in a 1/2hour tv episode?? (seen that lots out there..)
Looks like a 1920-1930 home…. Minneapolis?
Yes, this is a tough situation for the owners. It definitely turned into a bigger project than they were anticipating. You’re pretty good, the home was built in the late 1920’s.
I’ve gutted my share of 1920’s homes and can tell by the brick and lath and of course hand cut rafters..
You see the same story over and over again in this business. I think they should put warning labels on the DIY tv shows! “Do Not try this at home, these projects take twice as long and cost twice as much as they do on TV.”. Usually it is a case of getting into an ambitious project and losing income or running out of money…
I like that idea a lot. They should offer some kind of warning like they do on late night get rich quick TV info commercials. “WARNING, WARNING, The results you are about to see is not typical, it actually took over a month to do, and cost serveral thousand more than thought.”