Attic Inspection

[Mr Rex]

I did a home inspection probably 2 years ago on a 1800s house on the Historic Register. The attic scuttle was near the edge of the roof so you had to contort yourself to go under the slope of the roof to get into the attic. I'm not a little guy so It wasn't easy, but I pulled myself into the attic to look down at my hand right beside the knob and tube that was bare copper right beside the ceiling joist. The squirrels had perched on the joists and gnawed the sheathing off the knob and tube wiring at every joist. I crawled around and found a roughly 50 cent piece hole where they were coming in and immediately cut the power off at the main panel and told the owners not to turn it back on until a licensed electrician made repairs or they were pretty much guaranteed to burn the house to the ground.

 

[CANative]

It is absurd as they do not provide direction as what is required as far as level of insulation, exclusions if any based on age of construction etc.

I think the implication of the inspection requirement is for the appraiser to describe the condition and it's affect on livability (no attic insulation means cold in the winter and HOT in the summer unless you live where there is a mild climate.) It's also an energy feature. HUD/FHA desires that the residential properties it insures are at least moderately energy efficient as it can affect mortgage payments. It's germane to the valuation IMO even if HUD has no repair requirement.

 

[Mr Rex]

I think the implication of the inspection requirement is for the appraiser to describe the condition and it's affect on livability (no attic insulation means cold in the winter and HOT in the summer unless you live where there is a mild climate.) It's also an energy feature. HUD/FHA desires that the residential properties it insures are at least moderately energy efficient as it can affect mortgage payments. It's germane to the valuation IMO even if HUD has no repair requirement.

Maybe they should have a mixer with their brethren over at USDA that actually did a study and dropped their former "Thermal" requirements that actually were specific and see if they can come up with something a little less ambiguous.