Questions: 1) New Construction OV 2) chipped/peel paint on the adjacent neighbor's wooden fence

[Surf Cat]

We've found the perfect house honey! The right price, the right neighborhood.....but that fence...

 

[Mark K]

We've found the perfect house honey! The right price, the right neighborhood.....but that fence...

Might be easier to remove the fence rather than scrape and paint a long, old fence. Problem gone.

Many years ago FHA's rule was that if the house had ANY storm windows, it had to have all the windows with storms. Some houses had only a few storms. As a broker, I'd tell the owner to remove the storms completely if it was missing any. No storms was OK; partial storms, not OK. Owner would store the windows in the garage and tell the new buyer he could put them back up if desired.

In this case, no fence; OK.

 

[Dublin ohio]

I almost can't take it LMAO

 

[Surf Cat]

Might be easier to remove the fence rather than scrape and paint a long, old fence. Problem gone.

Per the OP, the fence belongs to the neighbor. So, as Terrell stated, it's not the appraiser's problem.

Everyone here who owns a house knows that when you purchased one, you had to make compromises/ concessions. That is, unless money was no object.

So in the grand scheme of things, and the point of my last post, is that fence going to deter someone from acquiring the property?

I'm kind of surprised that the realtor who listed the property, didn't knock on the door of the neighbor and have a pleasant conversation about the fence. Is the fence on their property? Would the neighbor agree to split the cost for a new property line fence with the new owner? Would the neighbor be all right with the new owner painting the fence?

 

[Mark K]

Per the OP, the fence belongs to the neighbor. So, as Terrell stated, it's not the appraiser's problem.

Per the OP, the Agent says it belongs to the neighbor.

I suppose the appraiser could condition the report with "according to the Agent" but personally I've known more than a few agents that would play a bit fast and loose with the facts to avoid a problem. I would want to know before I signed the report, especially if it involved lead based paint, a potential liability and possibly expensive remediation.

I'm kind of surprised that the realtor who listed the property, didn't knock on the door of the neighbor and have a pleasant conversation about the fence.

Seriously? I'd be very surprised if an agent would actually take the time. Maybe agents in your area are more diligent. Around here, it wouldn't even cross their minds.

 

[Surf Cat]

Seriously? I'd be very surprised if an agent would actually take the time. Maybe agents in your area are more diligent. Around here, it wouldn't even cross their minds.

Lol.... well, like anything I suppose there's good agents, bad agents, good appraisers, bad appraisers, good cops, bad cops.....on and on.

If I were the agent and the fence was such a blight or even one market participant commented on or asked about the fence, I would find out what my options were. After all, I'm in sales... once someone in sales doesn't have an answer or is stumped, they've lost all credibility and the potential buyer walks away.

I work with some very professional real estate agents in my area. Yet, there are some that use the ol' " buyer to verify" clause in their listings because they're just simply lazy.

You bring up a good point though and once again, it falls on the appraiser's shoulders. Is the fence indeed on the neighboring property or is it a property line fence?

 

[glenn walker]

"appraiser' Starts a fence war between new-owner and existing neighbor before he even moves in.

 

[Surf Cat]

"If" the fence is located on the neighbor's property, it "may" be the neighbor's responsibility to upkeep the fence.
The neighbor may be legally liable for any upkeep (or if the fence needs to be replaced due to safety issues).

Not a very neighborly way to move into a neighborhood but, it depends on the law.

The best case scenario for the appraiser would be that the fence is on the neighbor's property. That way the appraiser has nothing to do with it.

Just watch a couple of those "kill Thy Neighbor" shows.... people get wound up and downright nasty over territory. Just look at Ukraine and Israel.

 

[jay trotta]

"appraiser' Starts a fence war between new-owner and existing neighbor before he even moves in.

don't laugh, remember a driveway issue where one neighbor put large stones down the center of the to show his half. some folks just get wierd..........

 

[Mike Ault]

"If" the fence is located on the neighbor's property, it "may" be the neighbor's responsibility to upkeep the fence.
The neighbor may be legally liable for any upkeep (or if the fence needs to be replaced due to safety issues).

Not a very neighborly way to move into a neighborhood but, it depends on the law.

The best case scenario for the appraiser would be that the fence is on the neighbor's property. That way the appraiser has nothing to do with it.

Just watch a couple of those "kill Thy Neighbor" shows.... people get wound up and downright nasty over territory. Just look at Ukraine and Israel.

Not once, but every single time that I have pointed out peeling paint on a neighboring structure for an FHA loan, it causes a great wailing and gnashing of teeth, however, it always gets corrected prior to closing. Plenty of zero lot line homes around here where the neighbors home actually comprises the boundary of the subject property. Quite often the neighbor doesn't maintain the portion they don't see every day, and when the loan company runs that particular issue by their underwriting contacts at FHA, they make them paint the portion of the neighbor's house where occupants of the subject property might encounter peeling paint. Same has happened with the neighbor's fence. FHA doesn't care who actually "owns" the peeling paint, if it presents a lead-based paint hazard to the property they are insuring, it gets corrected, or FHA will not issue mortgage insurance on the loan. Most of the time the neighbors are happy about it, they get their house/fence painted for free.