VA appraisal and My home inspection?

[D Brain]

Hello All,

I'm 24yrs old and purchasing my first home with a VA loan, having just come from Afghanistan last May.
I have a home under contract currently and I've already paid for a home inspection. I tailed the inspector during the inspection trying to get the best sense of what issues the house may have.
The home inspection came back with some bad news, however the seller has verbally agreed to fix any issues that the VA appraisal comes up with in order to sell me the home.
Some of these issues are pretty serious and I'm tempted to just walk away however I also have the 8k first time home buyer credit resting on this contract.
My major concern is, will the VA appraisal reflect the issues from my home inspection.

Home Inspection revealed the following (listed my worst concern to least).
1. Standing water in yard- ponding water in crawl space (i live in Arkansas and we had like 15inches of rain the 4 days prior to the H.I. but I would imagine it's still damp)
2. Multiple exposed nail heads on a new roof (3 tab shingles), boot flashing tarred over.
3. Furnace exhaust flue has negative slope (located in crawlspace)
4. Rot on subfloor possible due to water intrusion from deck.
5. hot water heater on water soaked 4x4s in crawl space.
6. Supply plenum in contact with soil in crawlspace, new air intake not boxed properly (pulls from wall cavity), old intakes "3 total" left uncapped (so you heat and cool the critters in the crawlspace).
7. Gutter flow angle incorrect, down spouts clogged, gutter broken above deck
8. Sagging roof above carport (lacking support beam)
9. Deck not flashed to house properly
10. new doors need to be trimmed and 1 strike plate is not fitted properly
11. 1 toilet is loose
12. Siding rotten and buckled
13. 1 window seal rotted
* I paraphrased what I recall from the inspection report, so any misspeaks can be attributed to me not the Inspector.

I know items such as 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 will be picked up easily but how about the others. I'm I able to share information from my inspection with the VA appraiser.

Thanks in-advance.

 

[Michigan CG]

It sounds like you picked a very good home inspector. Send him a gift card to Red Lobster, most are not that good.

Make sure the Home Inspection is provided to the appraiser so he/she will consider these things.

It is the weekend and you will not get many responses until the work week. I suggest you make an additional post Monday afternoon.

 

[biker4ever]

this house seems to have a lot of water influence and that would worry me plenty. I had a house that had water in the crawl and in the end, a sump pump was put in. What you will find is the house will be cold because of the water and it gets annoying hearing a sump pump going off.

 

[Jim Shoe]

Hello All,

I'm 24yrs old and purchasing my first home with a VA loan, having just come from Afghanistan last May.
I have a home under contract currently and I've already paid for a home inspection. I tailed the inspector during the inspection trying to get the best sense of what issues the house may have.
The home inspection came back with some bad news, however the seller has verbally agreed to fix any issues that the VA appraisal comes up with in order to sell me the home.
Some of these issues are pretty serious and I'm tempted to just walk away however I also have the 8k first time home buyer credit resting on this contract.
My major concern is, will the VA appraisal reflect the issues from my home inspection.

Home Inspection revealed the following (listed my worst concern to least).
1. Standing water in yard- ponding water in crawl space (i live in Arkansas and we had like 15inches of rain the 4 days prior to the H.I. but I would imagine it's still damp)
2. Multiple exposed nail heads on a new roof (3 tab shingles), boot flashing tarred over.
3. Furnace exhaust flue has negative slope (located in crawlspace)
4. Rot on subfloor possible due to water intrusion from deck.
5. hot water heater on water soaked 4x4s in crawl space.
6. Supply plenum in contact with soil in crawlspace, new air intake not boxed properly (pulls from wall cavity), old intakes "3 total" left uncapped (so you heat and cool the critters in the crawlspace).
7. Gutter flow angle incorrect, down spouts clogged, gutter broken above deck
8. Sagging roof above carport (lacking support beam)
9. Deck not flashed to house properly
10. new doors need to be trimmed and 1 strike plate is not fitted properly
11. 1 toilet is loose
12. Siding rotten and buckled
13. 1 window seal rotted
* I paraphrased what I recall from the inspection report, so any misspeaks can be attributed to me not the Inspector.

I know items such as 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 will be picked up easily but how about the others. I'm I able to share information from my inspection with the VA appraiser.

Thanks in-advance.

Sounds like the seller is trying to get out of repairing the property. The part I am concerned with is, "the seller has verbally agreed to fix any issues that the VA appraisal comes up with in order to sell me the home." First, the appraiser is NOT A HOME INSPECTOR. The appraiser is most concerned with the VALUE of the property, given its current condition. Sure, the apprasier might note some of the same problems with the property, but many problems will only be found on the Home Inspector's report. The seller appears to be limiting their repairs to just what the APPRAISER finds. However, I would want ALL issues repaired... everything the Home Inspector finds AND everything the Appraiser finds... IF you still want the property.

However, water issues have a way of finding their way into the structure... behind what you can actually see. I bet you are going to find issues after you purchase that you can only find by tearing into the walls. In short... WALK AWAY!

 

[Jim Shoe]

Forgot to mention... you say the seller "verbally" agreed to some repairs? This is a Real Estate transaction. If it ain't in writing, it don't exist. I don't care if this guy is the pastor of the local church. He WILL 'forget' everything he said when it is time for money to change hands. Your agent should be telling you this.

I bet you noticed some of these problems when you first saw the property and your agent said, "That is what home inspections are for." No, that is NOT what home inspections are for (unless your agent wants to pay for an inspection on every property you view). The home inspection is to find things you CAN'T SEE, not what you already know about.

 

[TC]

Is it possible the owner knew of the repairs needed and priced the property accordingly?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

A home inspector can find the visible things. But if you have that much rot visible...expect more problems hidden. I would look for a different home. You can find better in this market I would bet.
-another Arkie's view

 

[Proactive]

My major concern is, will the VA appraisal reflect the issues from my home inspection.

First of all, thank you for your service. The VA MPRs (Minimum Property Requirements) for your area are on pages 18 through 22 of the Appraiser Training Guide for the Houston Regional Loan Center (If the link doesn't work, Google Houston VA appraiser training guide). As you will see, these are minimum requirements and do not include a large part of what your home inspector has disclosed. It sounds like the seller may be savvy to the difference between appraisal and home inspections.

If you want the home, consider a counter-offer in writing, requesting the seller to agree to repairs of the items outlined in the home inspection. In lieu of that, your only other options are to accept VA MPRs (which will most likely not include many of the items disclosed) or find another home.

Good luck from a VA appraiser (and veteran); please come back to let us know how it all works out for you.

 

[David S. Roberson]

Rotten subfloor, sagging roof, rotten siding? Find another house. There are plenty out there.

 

[Noreen]

Hello All,

I'm 24yrs old and purchasing my first home with a VA loan, having just come from Afghanistan last May.
I have a home under contract currently and I've already paid for a home inspection. I tailed the inspector during the inspection trying to get the best sense of what issues the house may have.
The home inspection came back with some bad news, however the seller has verbally agreed to fix any issues that the VA appraisal comes up with in order to sell me the home.
Some of these issues are pretty serious and I'm tempted to just walk away however I also have the 8k first time home buyer credit resting on this contract.
My major concern is, will the VA appraisal reflect the issues from my home inspection.

Home Inspection revealed the following (listed my worst concern to least).
1. Standing water in yard- ponding water in crawl space (i live in Arkansas and we had like 15inches of rain the 4 days prior to the H.I. but I would imagine it's still damp)
2. Multiple exposed nail heads on a new roof (3 tab shingles), boot flashing tarred over.
3. Furnace exhaust flue has negative slope (located in crawlspace)
4. Rot on subfloor possible due to water intrusion from deck.
5. hot water heater on water soaked 4x4s in crawl space.
6. Supply plenum in contact with soil in crawlspace, new air intake not boxed properly (pulls from wall cavity), old intakes "3 total" left uncapped (so you heat and cool the critters in the crawlspace).
7. Gutter flow angle incorrect, down spouts clogged, gutter broken above deck
8. Sagging roof above carport (lacking support beam)
9. Deck not flashed to house properly
10. new doors need to be trimmed and 1 strike plate is not fitted properly
11. 1 toilet is loose
12. Siding rotten and buckled
13. 1 window seal rotted
* I paraphrased what I recall from the inspection report, so any misspeaks can be attributed to me not the Inspector.

I know items such as 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 will be picked up easily but how about the others. I'm I able to share information from my inspection with the VA appraiser.

Thanks in-advance.

First off, thank you for your service. Did you make your contract "Subject To a Home Inspection"? Please do not let the First Time Home Buyer's Credit influence you on this home, you would whined up paying far more than that in STRUCTURAL repairs that you have not counted on, given the dearth of STRUCTURAL repairs required to bring this home back to what it should be, I would have to agree with the other appraisers in recommending that you walk away and find a more solid home with less water damage and residual issues. Do you have a broker involved in this contract or is this a "For Sale By Owner"?