OK, trying to get a real mortgage. For me, FHA is the only game in town.
No, really, it is the only game. Don’t waste bandwidth telling me otherwise.
If comes down to this:
About 30 years ago, somebody installed an in-ground pool and spa.
Appraiser wants to see blue water flowing in both,
Problems thar water and chlorine can’t fix:
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Heater. Ancient, pilot-light style gas heater is still connected to the gas kine. It is NOT connected to the water. I suspect trying to run it without water would burn it up.
Since it is not connected (the pipes are very visibly cut), does it need to be running?
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Booster pump - when running, the booster has small leaks in the volute. This pump’s sole purpose is to run a pool cleaner (present, but he doesn’t know that) and is on a separate switch AND water valve. Do I need to replace this, or just not run it?
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Spa - has 4 or 5 ‘bubble’ jets, only two of which have any flow (they did not plumb the returns properly). Is this a problem? There are concrete slabs over the pipes, so I am NOT interested in digging up the lines.
I cannot get the loan officer to answer these questions, or even give me the name and contact info of the appraiser.
This thing uses the skimmer as its primary return line, so I will need to waster between 1,000 and 2,000 gallons of potable water to demonstrate the damned pool (which I never use). This is CA - the one with the historic drought.
We did get a trace of water today - yea!
All it did for me was give the weeds overgrowing the pool/spa a growth spurt.
Are you buying this house? In which case, why are you doing repairs on a house you don’t yet own? That’s the seller’s job to make the house meet the appraisal requirements. There should be wording to that effect in your purchase agreement.
Or, are you trying to get a mortgage on a house you already own? In that case, would a HELOC be easier? Not trying to “waste bandwidth,” but FHA mortgages (and VA as well) have condition requirements for their appraisals. The property has to be “safe, secure, and sanitary.” That’s where the appraiser is coming from. He wants to make sure things work and won’t poison/electrocute/blow up/otherwise kill people.
Either way, you paid for the appraisal. You get a copy of it. Talk to the loan officer’s supervisor. Tell them you can’t understand what needs to be done and you need to see a copy of the appraisal. The specifics of what the appraiser is looking for will be on the “conditions” page and should be pretty clearly stated. Even just a copy of the conditions page will answer your questions. The loan officer is not an appraiser, so she won’t answer your questions - that’s outside of her knowledge base and liability if she does it and gets it wrong. But you can’t read her mind, so she needs to give you the conditions page at least. I would start by asking for a full copy from her supervisor first and then work my way down to just the conditions page if that’s necessary.
Yeah. I got a call from another person from the bank with her hand in the mess - will call her tomorrow and see if I can get a copy of the appraisal from her. Current dud is unhelpful as Hell - I have repeatedly asked him, when leaving message, to say SOMETHING about why he called.
All I get is 'call me - I need to talk".
When I call, I get the list of stuff - you know, the info that COULD have been in the ‘call me’ VM, that he wants.
This is a refi.
Again - a FHA loan is the only game - no HELOC, just FHA.
No worries. Is this by any chance a “streamline” FHA refi?
I’ve never heard of "streamlined’, so I’m going to guess it isn’t.
I was really hoping for an explanation why the condition of the pool would affect the appraisal of the property.
For Instance:
If I build a waterproof, permanent platform (aka ground-level roof) over the spa, would that exclude it from consideration?
First google hit yeilds:
"FHA Streamline Refinances are the fastest, simplest way for FHA-insured homeowners to refinance their respective mortgages’
Bolding added.
Nope - not a ‘streamlined’.
How did it go with the other person? Were you able to get a copy of the appraisal?
The condition of the pool matters because a pool either adds to or detracts from the market value of the property. Appraisers have data that they can use to determine the added value of a pool. The appraiser’s problem is not the fact that the pool is THERE, it’s the fact that the pool is there and is in less-than-good condition. In other words, FHA requires a pool, like a house, to be in a safe, secure, and sanitary condition.
A streamline FHA almost always does not require an appraisal. Usually the lender you got your original FHA loan through will be the only lender willing to do a streamline FHA refi. Usually they won’t pull your credit report, either. They’re just changing the rate and extending out the time. There are requirements, though. They will require you to be current on the loan you already have and usually require no late payments on your loan for the prior year or two and you can’t be pulling out cash as part of your refi. But otherwise it’s much easier - again, no appraisal. Closing costs can be rolled in, too. So that’s why I asked whether it was a streamline refi. I couldn’t see what you bolded in your prior post.
Got a hard copy of the 33 page appraisal - in about 8-pt type. I’m 66 and use a magnifying glass.
Found the ‘Conditions’ doc, but it seems to cut a sentence off - it says ‘continued on next page’. Next page is a boilerplate of conditions. identified by letter. It says ‘M and N’ - re-work and document rework.
At least I now have the appraiser’s name and email.