"Betsy" -0 wrote in message
...
FHA is VERY STRINGENT. My buyer had an FHA loan and I nearly beaned her
over the things she and the inspector picked at. Considering she was
probably moving out of section 8 housing into my house which was PRISTINE
I
was not a happy camper. It took quite some negotiation to get them to
overlook a 1/8 inch crack at the corner of one window, for example!


Then it wasnt pristine was it?
It always amazes me, considering the amount of work we do for real estate
companies, how the owners of the homes think they are simply perfect, while
they are always far from it. You always hear the same stories...."Thats been
there since we bought the home, and its never been touched...its PERFECT."
(Normally talking about the heating or air system, or the water heater..or
something that requires periodic service) and when we open it up to check
it...that comment is painfully obvious...and of course, it was installed in
1963.
The sellers NORMALLY refuse to admit anything is wrong with the home, even
after problems have been pointed out. What I always get a laugh out of, is
when the county inspectors, or the city inspectors come in prior to the
sale, and find tons of work that no permits have been pulled for, and then
the seller gets fined, and has to go pay 2X the price for permits to be
pulled and inspections to take place.
The buyers want everything perfect in a 50 year old home. It aint gonna
happen. They expect a 10 year old home to be like new....thats not gonna
happen either.
The only time the home is perfect, and like new, is after its constructed,
the final walkthrough has been perfect and all minor imperfections repaired.
Once you move someone into it, the wear and tear starts. The older the home,
the more things that may, possibly have been repaired wrong, or sloppy and
you get what you get.
It took us over a year to locate our current home...we knew good and well
what we bought. We found tons of issues that the seller was willing to
discuss, and after two weeks of looking the place over..having 3 different
home inspectors out, 2 county inspectors, and all of the crew that I work
with on remodels and new construction, we made an offer, much lower than the
asking price. If we got it, great. We liked the potential of the place. If
we didnt, ok..keep looking but at least now that all the issues have been
documented, it all fell under the states disclosure laws, and the next
potential buyer would know what was there.
The offer was accepted, no one pointed fingers...no one was upset, and the
seller was really amazed that we found so much wrong and could prove
it..they were simply uneducated in the matter. Next time, they have a better
idea, and we got what we wanted. When we go to sell it in a few years, I am
sure that we will not get the asking price, since I am not going to level
the place and start over, but we have increased the value, county records
show that..its been doubled in value in the last year....inspections and
permits help. Even if I put it on the market today, it would fetch more than
we paid for it. I cant complain there.



Good luck. Let FHA do the dirty work for you, perhaps then your buyer
will
capitulate.

Umm...you replied to the buyer. The seller probably could care less. When a
home is in that bad of shape, the seller probably knows that someone will
buy it, no matter the condition, and the offer the seller made to the buyer
is the best anyones gonna get. Period.
Also keep in mind that many times the FHA inspector isnt the brightest
crayon in the box. When we were in the process of this loan, we went FHA due
to the "better standards" the inspectors used. The first one called me and
said that there was a problem with the listed footage of the home....the
heated area was about half of its stated. Told him to stay put, and I would
be there in 5 minutes. Got to the home, and he was compliling a list....most
we knew, and were valid, but I was concerned about his comment about the
heated area. I asked what the problem was, and he stated that there were no
heating vents on the upper floor.
The upper floor was completely done in finished wood...floors, ceiling,
walls...and I asked if he had looked here, here, here, and here..oh..and
over here....
He stated that he had, so I went in, cut the fan on and took him back up and
showed him the vents....done in wood and blended into the surroundings.
Obvious as hell to me, but not to him.

Anytime you have issues listed on a report, and you want the home...go over
the list..you might find that it was a simple case of
misunderstanding.....and of course, the flip side is that you might find
more issues upon closer examination.



"Gren" wrote in message
om...
Update:

Lots of very helpful posts, thank you. Negotiations have taken an
interesting turn. The seller does not want to pay for any of the
needed repairs, and instead, give us a flat fee in the form of a check
at closing. Let me also add some details. We're going into this
house purchase with a CFHA loan, meaning, as first time home buyers,
we can put less down at closing and lock in a lower interest rate..
BUT. the house has to pass fairly stringent FHA inspection guidlines.
The fact that the seller wants to give us a little money in the form
of a check at closing makes it difficult to address these issues
before then, and consequently, the fha inspector will most likely put
the kibosh on insuring the bank for our mortgage. (basically, we
won't be able to get a mortgage unless the seller deals with these
issues BEFORE closing) Also, the amount the seller wants to give us
is about 1/5th of the estimated repair costs, so.. this ain't gonna
fly.

We're going to contact the bank and talk to them about options of my
flexible loan types and more importantly, get some contractor
estimates for the major repairs to approach the seller with.

The roof, the load-bearing beam, the chimney (needs to be capped) and
electrical all need to be looked at and us given an estimate for their
repair. Armed with those estimates, I go to the seller and ask him to
address these issues. If he doesn't, we'll just walk away.