What would you do? VA appraisal question, (long one)?
My husband and I are first time home buyers and are using the VA for financing. We are trying to purchase a lender owned home that has been vacant for quite a while. We had an offer accepted on a house and proceeded with the home inspection.
At the inspection, the hot water was turned on. It is connected to a solar panel on the roof. When it is on, it sends water up to the roof and it leaks heavily. Within seconds of turning on the water heater, there was a waterfall coming off the roof. This is not a big deal, the solar just has to be taken out of the connection and the hot water will work just fine. Because of this, there were also other minor plumbing issues that need to be addressed.
Also, the permit to have the power on is temporary. The electrical does not meet city standards. There are missing GFC protectors and the fuse box is not labeled correctly. We did not need an inspection for this, the failed permit is sitting on the counter when you walk in.
Also, the furnace does work.
There are other minor things wrong with the house but those are the biggies. Well, we ordered the VA appraisal when we signed the contract on Jan 07. We sent a BINSR report to the lender after our home insect on Jan 14 letting them know what we wanted repaired. The lender told us that they would not agree to any repairs until after the VA appraisal so we let it go and waited.
We finally received the VA appraisal 02/09. Per our lender, these appraisals are only expected to take ten business days plus five more for the underwriters. We have been in constant contact with our lender asking for the appraisal. We have gone past our closing date and because of that, the seller is keeping our earnest money. During this past month, the listing agent never received a call from the appraiser asking for the key code to get into the house.
Now the appraisal has come back and they have said that no repairs need to be made to the house. Our lender said that she has never seen a house come back clean. So the seller is refusing to make any repairs to the house and we are stuck with a house that has no hot water and no heat.
My question is, it is obvious that the VA appraiser never entered the house. If he would have turned on the hot water heater, he would of seen a waterfall off the side of the house. The furnace does not work. There is a pool in the back yard and the fence surrounding it is completely dilapidated. What options do I have? Any experience?
Of couse we have an appraisal contingency, it only applies if the house appraises for more than our loan, which it did not.
You may have been an underwriter, but you have obviously not dealt with VA appraisers and property.
If you have not dealt with a VA appraiser, don’t answer the question. I cannot get funding if the VA does not approve of the house and yes, they do inspect the HVAC. The house has to meet certain VA standards before they will fund the loan. Look if you don’t know and get a little smarter.
http://www.vba.va.gov/ro/Roanoke/rlc/forms/APPRAISER%20GUIDE%202005.pdf
The Seller refused to make any repairs before the VA came through because the VA ALWAYS demands certain repairs be made. Like I said, our lender told us they have NEVER had a house come back needing no work when it went through a VA appraiser.
Seriously, if you do not know, don’t answer. Of course we knew the house needed work but so did the seller. They knew that repairs would have to be made when they agreed to accept VA financing.
Maybe read the link I have posted so next time you answer a VA appraisal question, you sound a little smarter.
“An appraisal IS NOT THE SAME AS A HOME INSPECTION AND NEVER STATES WHETHER REPAIRS MUST OR MUST NOT BE MADE ON THE HOME…an appraiser IS NOT a licensed inspector.”
This statement right here makes it painfully obvious that you do not know what you are talking about and are not, in fact, an expert realtor. VA appraisers make repair demands all the time. If you don’t know, don’t answer.
Tagged with: Biggies • Furnace • Waterfall
Filed under: Renting & Real Estate
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First, you never buy a home as a first time buyer without a Realtor.
I can tell you now that they CANNOT LEGALLY keep your earnest money without you signing off on it. It should have been kept in a trust account and that is where it stays until it’s time to either close or debate on who gets to keep it.
Did you have an appraisal contingency in the contract?
Did you have a financial approval contingency in the contract?
Did you even READ the contract before you signed it?
An appraisal IS NOT THE SAME AS A HOME INSPECTION AND NEVER STATES WHETHER REPAIRS MUST OR MUST NOT BE MADE ON THE HOME…an appraiser IS NOT a licensed inspector.
An appraiser is not required to turn on the water heater, they are not required to turn on the furnace, he doesn’t even have to TOUCH anything…this is another misconception you had for what the appraisal was supposed to reveal.
The VA appraisers are NOT sent out by the lender, they are sent out by the VA…the lender has no control over who they send out….this is one thing that makes VA appraisals unique and it’s for your protection.
I underwrote VA appraisals for over 10 years as a Direct Endorsement Underwriter.
My advice is to seek a Real Estate attorney. A good Realtor would have saved you from every issue you are having..you did not save any money by not using a Realtor…b/c they already budgeted in for a commission that the listing agent gets to keep and not share with an agent that would have otherwise representated you.
This is not something you can handle on your own…you need a professional.
PS: Solar panels cost like the moon to repair and a plumbing repair will probably sticker shock you.
The fence is not an issue b/c you saw that when you bid on the house.
the problem was: you should have had a professional home inspection done. And the results of THIS!!! inspection should have been a contingency in the contract.
The results of the VA appraiser is TOTALLY different then a home inspection. The SOLE purpose of the appraiser to to determine value. NOT!!! the condition of the property.
The appraiser DOES NOT turn on HVAC, water, etc. This is done by the home inspector.
In regards to the pool, the fence and the other items. You must have seen this BEFORE you put the contract in. Why are they problems now?
Bottom line: you are confusing an appraiser and a home inspector
***EDIT***
I read your other posts. You KNEW that the house needed work!! AND!!!!!!!!!! you made your offer based on this fact. I sounds like you now want to have the seller pay for these.
Although I agree with portions of what the other posters stated, I don’t agree with other parts.
An appraiser is not an inspector, true. But an appraiser has a copy of the contract, so they can know the particulars of the transaction. AND you can make a copy of the inspection report available to the appraiser.
I am surprised that the appraiser came back with no required repairs, sounds like there were some condition issues that would have been red flags. Have you or your agent spoken with the appraiser? Was a copy of the inspection sent to the appraiser?
You might try speaking with your lender about making other information available to the appraiser and maybe doing an amended appraisal. I have had this happen in the past, I don’t know if now there is an “arm’s length” policy that would make this impossible.
If you do not have a real estate agent representing you..tsk,tsk. You might have saved yourself a lot of stress and trouble. If you still want the house, you will have to be your own advocate and push to make these things happen. Otherwise, it looks like you will lose the house, your earnest money, the cost of the inspection and the cost of the appraisal.
Good luck.