FHA Buyers - FHA Appraisals - A Call to Agents in the DC Metro Area

FHA Buyers – A Call to Agents

We all know that FHA loans are back in the game – they are reasonable and competitive and appeal to a much broader audience now, with changes in loan limits, terms, etc. And obviously, more FHA loans mean more FHA appraisals – Great!

 So now I make my plea to agents, if you know you have an FHA buyer, preview your houses, learn what FHA is looking for, take a course in basic residential construction – educate yourselves! If your buyer has limited available cash and your seller is unwilling to make repairs, why are you showing your buyers houses that need work?

This is not a once in awhile situation, and I see it most in Prince Georges County, this is a regular scenario: I get an FHA assignment on a purchase; the house is not suitable for FHA for obvious reasons (failing roof, missing plumbing, failing deck, infestation, mold, no smoke alarms, etc.). I condition the appraisal on FHA repairs and here it comes… The agent is ticked off at the appraiser, and sometimes even tries to coerce me into turning a cheek, saying something is repaired that’s not, etc… This week was a new one with a forged extermination certificate. Yes, I am serious.

So here’s the biggest question – why on earth would you want your buyers to be in a home that doesn’t meet FHA minimum standards? Especially if you know that they do not have reserve funds available to repair failing systems? You are doing your buyers a disservice and surely not acting in their best interests. Furthermore, you are making a bad name for all of the good agents out here!

So… please hear my plea. The real estate business is under constant scrutiny. That means that those of us who are serious about our profession can’t stand it when a few that aren’t are out here ruining it for all of us.  And brokers – this is your responsibility; train your agents, oversee them, and if they don’t get it or can’t perform, set them free. Same thing goes for appraisers out here apprenticing trainees; don’t use them for simple labor, typing reports and filing – TRAIN THEM! This is the future of the real estate profession as a whole; we need to take it seriously.