Hi everyone, first time poster here - I have a couple questions that I hope you all can help me with.
Situation: I am looking to buy a house with a VA loan. Location is in Oregon. I've found a house that fits my needs and budget, and put in an offer yesterday. It is a REO house, the seller is Fannie Mae/HomePath. The house appears to be very clean and well cared for. Fannie Mae performed quite a bit of cosmetic upgrades, namely full interior and exterior paint, new carpet throughout, full kitchen replacement, and new attached deck. I've spent quite a bit of time researching the property and several walk-around a inside and out. To my educated but untrained eye I see no obvious issues that are of concern, except one:
Issue: There is a second deck in the backyard, not attached to the house (it's a daylight ranch on a sloped lot - walk out lower level). The deck is apx. 15-20ft. from the red of the house. FM replaced several of the surface boards but not all of them. There are some existing boards that are not in good condition, i.e. Splintering, showing signs of weather damage. I don't know if this could be considered "dry rot" or not, and that's what concerns me. The older boards seem sound, no movement or weakness when bounced on, they just look somewhat rotten. The pier blocks and structural beams and stringers underneath appear in fair condition. There is also one area of handrail on one side of the deck that is loose enough to wiggle, which I consider to be a minor issue but definitely needs correcting. The first thing I'd do if I got this house would be to rip out the deck and replace it. However, I may not be able to get that far if it becomes an MPR issue. Leading to question #1...
Q1: are unattached structures such as decks, not affecting the safety or soundness of the dwelling itself, covered under the MPR rules?
Q2: does the deck as described above, in your experience (only looking for opinions, I know it will be up to the individual appraiser) raise any flags that it might need fixing before sale can close?
My concern arises from the fact that Fannie will not perform any additional repairs to this house out of their own pocket. If it comes down to a condition of the sale I have limited options. If it were up to me I'd like to say just tear the dang thing out. The listing agent did say that if they had to perform repairs they might consider asking for an increase in my offer price accordingly. I'm considering that a viable option because I can't see walking away from this house over $1-2k on a deck I would've spent money fixing anyway.
Any thoughts, nuggets of wisdom, Yoda-isms would be appreciated in this stressful time. Thanks!
Situation: I am looking to buy a house with a VA loan. Location is in Oregon. I've found a house that fits my needs and budget, and put in an offer yesterday. It is a REO house, the seller is Fannie Mae/HomePath. The house appears to be very clean and well cared for. Fannie Mae performed quite a bit of cosmetic upgrades, namely full interior and exterior paint, new carpet throughout, full kitchen replacement, and new attached deck. I've spent quite a bit of time researching the property and several walk-around a inside and out. To my educated but untrained eye I see no obvious issues that are of concern, except one:
Issue: There is a second deck in the backyard, not attached to the house (it's a daylight ranch on a sloped lot - walk out lower level). The deck is apx. 15-20ft. from the red of the house. FM replaced several of the surface boards but not all of them. There are some existing boards that are not in good condition, i.e. Splintering, showing signs of weather damage. I don't know if this could be considered "dry rot" or not, and that's what concerns me. The older boards seem sound, no movement or weakness when bounced on, they just look somewhat rotten. The pier blocks and structural beams and stringers underneath appear in fair condition. There is also one area of handrail on one side of the deck that is loose enough to wiggle, which I consider to be a minor issue but definitely needs correcting. The first thing I'd do if I got this house would be to rip out the deck and replace it. However, I may not be able to get that far if it becomes an MPR issue. Leading to question #1...
Q1: are unattached structures such as decks, not affecting the safety or soundness of the dwelling itself, covered under the MPR rules?
Q2: does the deck as described above, in your experience (only looking for opinions, I know it will be up to the individual appraiser) raise any flags that it might need fixing before sale can close?
My concern arises from the fact that Fannie will not perform any additional repairs to this house out of their own pocket. If it comes down to a condition of the sale I have limited options. If it were up to me I'd like to say just tear the dang thing out. The listing agent did say that if they had to perform repairs they might consider asking for an increase in my offer price accordingly. I'm considering that a viable option because I can't see walking away from this house over $1-2k on a deck I would've spent money fixing anyway.
Any thoughts, nuggets of wisdom, Yoda-isms would be appreciated in this stressful time. Thanks!
