Can I paint my own house on a 203k loan?

Yes you can paint the interior of your home on a 203k but NOT if you want it to count for value on your appraisal. Be careful, everyone thinks they are a painter. Why? It is beyond me. Most aren't.

No you cannot paint the house. This is the answer I like to give everybody.

The problem becomes in whether or not the paint is so bad that it has a negative effect on the value. The appraiser will force us to put interior paint into the scope of work if they feel the paint is so bad that affects the value. Second problem with that is if the borrower wants to paint the house with proceeds from the loan they will not get paid for labor only materials. Third problem is that the contractor needs to get in and get the work done and get out. Many times when the homeowners painting there in the way of the contractor's progress.

So, can I paint my house on a 203K project? Answer is yes and no. If you want me to recommend that you paint your house on an FHA 203K loan, that won't ever happen. I have found over the years that it's best to let the professionals do what they do well, and you do what makes your money. In other words stay away from the house, let the contractor finish all the work, and move into your finish house.

What I don't like to see is someone buy a new home, do the bare minimum work, and then spend every waking hour, and every weekend doing what they could have done by a contractor for half the price. Don't be a slave to your new home.

Do you really have the equipment, time, and expertise, to paint the exterior of your home? In many cases painted the exterior the home require scaffolding - do you have scaffolding, most borrowers do not. If you are a grocery store clerk, do you really know how to paint the exterior of your home? I know you think you do, but in reality you don't. First thing you have to do is convince your consultant that you have the expertise, equipment, and most of all the time the paint this home.

Are you familiar with the EPA RRP techniques for curing cracked peeling paint, or dealing with lead-based paint on older homes. As a consultant I am not going to school you regarding the EPA RRP techniques, that's not my job. Most lenders want you to be a licensed contractor before you can work on your home. That way there's no doubt that you have the experience, and ability, to do the work. But it just becomes an issue of do you have the time to do the work. In most cases a contractor doing his own work will always let his works slide and put it off, over and over again if he hasn't paid job that he can go do.

Were doing a home right now in which the borrower wants to paint the interior of the home. The problem is that the people that were living there provided lots of crayons to their children and had them draw pictures all over her the interior walls all over the house. It looks like graffiti in its early stages. This amount of interior problem painting has a negative effect on the value of the home. If we don't put it in our work scope than the appraiser will deduct value. Many homes are coming in under value right now therefore this would be a bad thing. Just one more reason to let the professionals do what they do best.

If you want to count the fresh paint in the valuation of your home then it must be in our scope of work for the 203. For it to be in the scope of work and should be completed by the contractor in a professional, workmanlike manner, and not by the borrower. Let's revisit the question, can I paint my house on a 203K project? I would like to say no, absolutely not. The money you might save on labor still has to be built into the scope of work, the contractor has to agree to allow you to do that work, and any savings you made on the labor is applied to the loan and pay down on the mortgage. This requires additional documentation and monitoring. So, you might save a dime, but you're going to cost the contractor and the consultant a dollar to do it.