Home Inspection Calls out Egress Windows-- Need straight answer and direction

[appraisalaska]

I have ran into this a couple times, and have never been able to find a straight answer from any of my reading, or from discussing this in my continuing education classes. Now I have another situation and am trying to determine where I need to draw the line.

I have a condominium built back in '75. The opening of the window in the second bedroom is only 21". The home inspection calls it out as a health and safety item as code at that time had a minimum of 22".

Question is, what is my responsibility? The lender has said that they will go by what I call out to be repaired. I have always been told that to be safe, call out all health/safety items noted by the home inspector. However, this is the third property in less than a few months where the egress bedroom window is called in health/safety by the inspector and it is less than a couple inches of the previous code. In my continuing education class two weeks ago, numerous local appraisers were stating that they are willing to disclose the egress problem in the appraisal, but do not call it subject to with the other health/safety items.

What is my flexibility on egress? This is a Fannie Mae appraisal.

Any opinion or direction on where to find the answer to this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Michigan CG]

I have ran into this a couple times, and have never been able to find a straight answer from any of my reading, or from discussing this in my continuing education classes. Now I have another situation and am trying to determine where I need to draw the line.

I have a condominium built back in '75. The opening of the window in the second bedroom is only 21". The home inspection calls it out as a health and safety item as code at that time had a minimum of 22".

Question is, what is my responsibility? The lender has said that they will go by what I call out to be repaired. I have always been told that to be safe, call out all health/safety items noted by the home inspector. However, this is the third property in less than a few months where the egress bedroom window is called in health/safety by the inspector and it is less than a couple inches of the previous code. In my continuing education class two weeks ago, numerous local appraisers were stating that they are willing to disclose the egress problem in the appraisal, but do not call it subject to with the other health/safety items.

What is my flexibility on egress? This is a Fannie Mae appraisal.

Any opinion or direction on where to find the answer to this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

So it isn't a bedroom, it is a den, study or office. Still has the same GLA. I would say it is a X bedroom home with an office although most of the market would most likely treat it as a bedroom. I doubt the market is going to react in any way to a window with a 21" opening vs. a 22" opening.

Explain and move on.

 

[Ken B]

One has to wonder how the building received a certificate of occupancy/occupancy permit at the time it was constructed if it did not meet code.

 

[appraisalaska]

One has to wonder how the building received a certificate of occupancy/occupancy permit at the time it was constructed if it did not meet code.

We are talking about Alaska....you'd be surprised what still stands when it was built pre-80s up here.

 

[Webbed Feet]

One has to wonder how the building received a certificate of occupancy/occupancy permit at the time it was constructed if it did not meet code.

One would have to be at the card game to have understood it...

 

[Webbed Feet]

We are talking about Alaska....you'd be surprised what still stands when it was built pre-80s up here.

I'll help you with a rule to decide these things with.

Don't fail to require anything you can't afford to pay to have corrected / repaired out of your own pocket.

How's that for an easy rule to use?

 

[VolcanoLvr]

This points up one of the glaring reasons why so many appraisers refuse to do FHA work...they expect us to be building inspectors in addition to valuation professionals.

Do you always have access to the home inspector's report? If not, I'd sidestep the issue......after all, do you measure every window opening in every bedroom?

But if the inspector's report is one that the lender underwriter knows you have reviewed, you could say something like "the appraiser is not knowledgeable about building codes that may have been in effect over 35 years ago, so will not make a statement regarding the window opening dimension noted in the home inspector's report and how it impacts the safety of any resident in the subject property. The appraiser recommends that the underwriter consult local jurisdiction building officials to determine whether or not the window is acceptable for egress purposes."

The difficulty of this is codes change frequently. And it may be that the window opening does not meet CURRENT code. This would be more serious than a code from 35 years ago.

The U/W is the one ultimately responsible for having corrections made, not the appraiser.

 

[Walter Kirk]

Check with the local code administrator. If the property was built in conformance with current codes it is probably grandfathered. As an aside a man was killed in a fire this week not far from my house because the window was too small for him to fit through.