5 Things to Know About Buying a Fixer-Upper

So you’re buying a fixer-upper? The house looks good, needs some work and is in a desirable neighborhood. But what might seem like a great fixer-upper property could actually be a money pit. Let’s look at some common potential issues with a home that could easily derail an appraisal and your mortgage.

Here are some common red flags that could halt your loan – and they come up more frequently than one might think. And just a note: It’s all about the appraisal and contract. If the problem isn’t listed in the appraisal or listed as a condition of sale within the purchase contract, it shouldn’t delay or deny your loan.

Roof

Many resale homes have worn-out roofs that must be replaced at some point down the road, some much sooner than others. In this situation, your real estate agent is bound to identify it right upfront. Get at least a couple of quotes to determine how much shelf life the roof actually has, and the costs associated with repairing or replacing the roof if need be. If the roof is shot (or worse — has a leak), and it’s identified in the appraisal as “subject to condition,” it will have to be fixed in accordance with the appraiser’s comments. It will also mean a second visit from the appraiser to sign off on the completion of the repair.

Open Subfloor

This one is biggie. Open and exposed subflooring is an automatic red flag because it presents a potential health and safety concern for the buyer of the property. As such, this is guaranteed to stop the loan, and the appraiser will be mandated to notate it in the appraisal as a condition that needs to be satisfied to make the property lendable.

Exposed Wiring

This seems obvious, right? Well, in many cases homes have exposed wiring either on the exterior or the interior of the home, which poses — you guessed it — another health and safety concern. It would be best to repair any exposed wiring prior to the appraiser visiting the property for the first time.

Dry Rot

Whether or not a rotten area is viewed as a condition of hazard depends on the individual appraiser. In most cases, appraisers simply want a rotted area repaired to make an appraisal clean — and also to cover their backside, so to speak.

Pest Damage

If there is large-scale pest damage — for example, if any average Joe can see obvious termite or pest damage when viewing the home — then yes, it’s probably going to be need to be fixed. However, it’s more common to see it identified as a condition of sale in the real estate purchase contract — at which point it must be fixed.