An Appraisal is not an Inspection
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While eating dinner with my wife at one of our favorite Mexican Cantinas, which also happens to be less than a mile from home, we overheard two other diners discussing something we know quite a bit about. What caught my ears was when one of the ladies said to the other, “So she pulls into my driveway in her Porsche and gets out in a tight black dress and heels and I think to myself, ‘this girl is not dressed to crawl around in my attic and crawl space’.”
At first I thought maybe she was talking about a real estate agent but she continued, “I mean what kind of appraisers are these banks sending out these days? I could just imagine her crawling up on the roof and on ladders – she didn’t even have a ladder.”
It was at that point I realized she, like countless others, likely does not know the difference between an appraisal and an inspection. Chances are more people do not know the difference than do. In fact I run into it regularly in my own work when people say things like, “the guy didn’t check the outlets or water pressure or anything”.
In an effort to help the reader better understand let’s start with saying what the lender wants in almost every case in an appraisal not an inspection. There are some cases where the lender may ask for an inspection but in almost every case it is an appraisal. The difference? The appraiser tells the lender what they believe the actual worth/value of the property to be. The inspector tells the future home owner if there may be issues with the property that need to be dealt with now or may present an issue in the future.
Inspectors are there to find things like water leaks, bare wiring, code violations, etc.
Appraisers are there to tell the lender their estimation of the value of the property.
Then you get very confusing terms from people who should know better like “appraisal inspection”. There is also something called a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) which is neither and has no value when a loan is being considered.
Related articles
- Home Inspection or Appraisal: What’s the Difference? ASHI Sets the Record Straight for Homeowners and Buyers (eon.businesswire.com)
- Hvcc Update!!!! It Hurts the Consumers & Our Economy!!! (annarborundressed.com)
- The Ten Reasons People Can’t Sell Their Homes (247wallst.com)
- What is a BPO? (Broker Price Opinion) (findwell.com)
- All You Need To Know About Appraisals (apartmenttherapy.com)
- Home Seller and Buyer Liability for a Home Inspection (brighthub.com)
Mortgage insurance loosening restrictions
Dream solution for Georgia flood areas – special Down Payment Assistance
September of 2009 brought devastating flooding to many areas of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. During this time flood waters from the Chattahoochee River, the Yellow River, Peachtree Creek and hundreds of other small tributaries and?reservoirs?crested to record levels. During a 24 to 48 hour period as much as 15 inches of rain deluged the already water soaked landscape and created a new line of?demarcation?between flood zone and safe zone.
At least eight people lost their lives, hundreds were injured and thousands left homeless as the Georgia flood receded. What it left behind, as does any flood or other disaster, is wounded lives and dashed hopes and dreams. As a grim reminder of the loss of property there is a raw video feed from CNN attached.
What is a streamline mortgage?
Regardless of the industry there are certain buzzwords or words that seem like they are created simply to confuse the outsider. Near the bottom of the list for business goals should be confusing customers. Unfortunately it does happen and the one who stands the highest chance for damage is the most valuable of all; the customer.
Mortgage professionals throw around terms like an alphabet soup that would frighten even Vanna White. Words like ten oh three (1003) and respa (RESPA – Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act) fall out of their mouths like jelly beans out of a pinata.
Making it even a little more confusing for you different agencies use the same term to apply to different meanings and vice versa. Streamline and streamlined for example.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) makes available a couple of different “streamline” loans. Freddie Mac (FHLMC) has their “streamlined” loan. Essentially they are the same product and if you phone an FHA lender and ask for a “streamlined” loan they will neither laugh at you nor hang up on you.
For all practical purposes streamline loans, whether a streamline refinance or otherwise, indicate something less is required or they go faster than a standard loan. For the FHA streamline refinance a little less documentation is required and sometimes less evidence of value is required.
IRS Form for first time homebuyer tax credit
The IRS has released their new form for the first time homebuyer’s tax credit.
The most important new line is here:
If you are claiming the credit on your 2009 (or later) tax return, you must attach a copy of the properly executed settlement statement (or similar documentation) used to complete the purchase (see instructions).
It seems the IRS finally wised up that people were fraudulently stating they had already purchased the home when indeed the purchase had not yet been completed.
Link to the document http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5405.pdf
Power of the FHA 203k Streamlined
There is little secret about the devastation delivered to the real estate industry in the Atlanta area over the last twenty-four months. Values plummeted in 2009 as more properties made their way to the market through increasing numbers of foreclosures leaving banks and investors holding inventory unlikely to resell in months if not years.
Making matters worse many of the foreclosed properties are not in prime condition with many of them needing repairs to return them to livable condition. Add to this trouble the number of properties which have been vandalized while vacant and those continue to set in a deteriorating state further impacting the values of other properties in the area.
The Extension and Modification of the FTHB Tax Credit
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY - I don’t want to distribute incorrect information so if you have a viable correction please make it known in the comments.
HR 3458 “The Worker, Home Ownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009″
While it is called an “Extension and Modification of the First-Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit” it really is an extension and overhaul or re-construction. Modified doesn’t seem to cover it. If you are interested the full text of the Resolution signed into law is found at?this link on Thomas Library of Congress. (This is also based on?S 1678 dated September 16, 2009 and passed unanimously in the Senate.)
Georgia Area Median Income by County
Many home loan mortgage programs have different requirements for maximum income levels by borrower and or household. Each state has different areas and often a single MSA or AMI may cover multiple counties. It is always best to consult with your home loan mortgage professional but, only as a guideline, here is the HUD AMI (Area Median Income) list for Georgia as of November 2, 2009. In Georgia call Ken Cook at 678-439-8683
Interest Rate and Annual Percentage Rate (APR) – What you need to know.
Every loan officer who has done their job for more than a week or so has heard the question. Some loan officers avoid it altogether by simply not sending the Truth In Lending (TIL) until they absolutely are required by law to do so. Why? Because in the top left corner in prominent font is a number that confuses almost every borrower and non-financial insider – the Annual Percentage Rate (APR).
The APR disclosure requirement was sort of a good idea when it came out back in 1968 when there was pretty much just one type of home loan: a 30 year fixed interest mortgage. With time and exotic mortgage solutions the APR became highly obfuscated and even a tool of obfuscation.
Finance Challenge: Reserves – the right amount, the right type, the right timing
So you have the down payment – sourced and seasoned just like it needs to be. All saved up, stored away nicely in the bank for the last 60 days, and ready to be invested into a home. The closing costs are there, too, and all perfectly documented for the last two months. Great job! Your down payment and closing costs are in order. This is something to be proud of!
It’s always something that needs to be covered right up front. When the loan officer is taking the application and they know what it requires for down payment and the approximate closing costs they also need to calculate in the specified amount of reserves. What are reserves? Straightforward it is enough to cover the principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (at a minimum).
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| 30 Year Fixed | 3.56% | 3.61% |
| 15 Year Fixed | 2.87% | 2.92% |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.34% | 2.51% |
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