FHA Appraisal Checklist

If your home is being sold to a  buyer using an FHA loan then you will have an FHA Appraisal. To make it easy to pass use this FHA Appraisal Checklist.

Home buyers and sellers are often surprised to find that FHA appraisers will be inspecting the property. This is different than a standard appraisal, where the appraiser just wants to know what the value of the house. When an FHA home loan is being used, the appraiser basically has to perform double duty.

Here are the mai differences:

• Conventional: In a typical real estate transaction, with a conventional (non-government-insured) home loan, the appraiser is mostly concerned with the current market value of the property. That is his primary objective when visiting the house. He is only concerned with the condition of the property as it relates to the value.
• FHA: When an FHA loan is being used, the appraiser has two objectives. (HUD) requires the appraiser to determine the current market value, just like a conventional appraisal. They are also required to do a property inspection to be sure the home meets HUD’s minimum standards for health and safety. This is what makes the FHA appraisal process unique.

The FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook says “HUD requires every property to be safe, sound, and secure to be eligible for FHA insurance”. The property must also comply with HUD’s Minimum Property Requirements (MPR) and Minimum Property Standards (MPS).  In other words, the appraiser has to follow FHA guidelines and look at things a regular appraisal might not look  at.

Take a proactive role and use this checklist to make sure your home passes the appraisal.

• Repair (i.e. scrape, sand, fill, prime, paint) all defective paint surfaces.
• Repair all leaks (i.e. plumbing, HVAC, roof, foundation, etc.).
• Repair all foundation/structural settlement.
• Repair/replace defective roofing.
• Repair/replace all loose/missing handrails.
• Repair/replace defective and exposed electrical wiring.
• Properly install required safety items such as GFCI outlets, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, water heater pressure relief valves/extension pipe/straps, etc.
• Repair/replace broken inoperable windows/doors and their locks.
• Repair/replace broken/inoperable overhead garage door openers.
• Repair/replace broken/uneven/loose stairs, walks, driveways, flooring, etc.