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It’s like a bad dream, a horrible nightmare, or worse, another mindless installment of ‘Saw’ or ‘Friday the 13th!’

Another one of my transactions has fallen prey to the ‘Curse of the VA Appraisal!’….

What began as a seemingly normal and relatively smooth contract between my Sellers (a beautiful ranch-style home on acreage in Lofall/Poulsbo WA) and some wonderful Buyers, has suddenly spiraled into the deepest, darkest recesses of VA hell – a place where common sense, fairness, and consistency cease to exist, and the massive wheels of government bureaucracy inch along painfully slow, impervious to any outside reason or influence.

I’ve been down this road before, unfortunately. Such is the risky Russian roulette of VA financing. It’s a Luck of the Draw, a crap shoot. It’s Forest Gump’s Box of Chocolates – “Ya never know what yer gonna get!”

You have enough VA transactions and you just figure your number will eventually get called up.

Whenever I take on a new listing, I usually talk to the Sellers about offering the property for purchase to VA Buyers. In our market (Kitsap County WA) you run the risk of missing out on a large segment of potential Buyers if you don’t offer it for VA financing. However, there are certain times when it’s not advisable to market a given home to VA Buyers.

With my last listing, it was a no brainer. The home was fairly new – built in 2000. It had been well-maintained, and the new 35-yr. composition roof was only a year old. The only questionable feature was the rear deck. It didn’t have any railings or handrails. But based on my previous experience with similar situations, the VA Appraisers always used the WA State Building Codes to determine an acceptable height limit before railing needed to be installed. If the deck was more than 30 inches above the ground, then the deck was required to have railings around the perimeter and handrails on each side of the steps. The highest point of my Sellers deck from ground level was 24 inches, so I figured the deck would pass the VA appraisal.

The VA appraisal was conducted, we came in at value and with NO conditions! Yippee! Hooray!

Or so we thought!….

A few days before we are scheduled to close, the Buyers Lender calls and says that the VA Regional Office in Denver has reviewed the appraisal, and based on pictures of the deck, has determined that it’s a safety/health hazard, and is requiring railings and handrails to be installed prior to closing. The VA Appraiser was asked to amend the appraisal and specify the railings as a condition for financing.

Somewhere in a big office building in Denver, a VA bureaucrat is attempting to justify their salary and decides to conjure up some mystical number of 18 inches. Where did this number come from? Do they have a dartboard in the break-room? Do they yell over to the person in the adjoining cubicle and say “Pick a number between one and 30?” No ones knows. We’re the frickin’ VA, dammit! You want the loan? Then install the railing, period!

Never-mind that the Buyers would much rather install the railings themselves, after the sale goes through. They have a particular style/design they want to use to make it their own.

Never-mind that my Sellers are going to install the very minimum required to pass, and it will most likely be removed by the Buyers once they occupy the house.

So there’s my scary story for this Halloween season. Maybe for Christmas, Santa will bring me a nice smooth VA transaction?…

UPDATE: Just as an update. I received this email today from the Buyer’s Lender, re-stating VA’s position on this issue:

“Yes, I spoke to our underwriting manager and she said since the SAR (staff appraisal reviewer) ruled that the deck needed a rail in order to be in compliance with VA guidelines regarding Safe, Sound, and Sanitary conditions. I also spoke to the VA office in Denver and the gentleman I spoke with gave me pretty much the same answer. (except not so kind) I also asked both parties if this was documented anywhere and they said the section of the handbook addressing the Safe, Sound and Sanitary conditions would cover this issue.“

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, ActiveRain, and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Tags: Kitsap County WA real estate, va appraisals, va appraisers, va buyers, va financing, va loans

One of the best things about living here on the Kitsap Peninsula in scenic Washington State is that we have the good fortune of being part of a very large and thriving military community. Our area is home to thousands upon thousands  of active-duty Armed Forces members faithfully serving our Country, along with their dependents, and many retired veterans as well.

Under the collective command of Naval Base Kitsap, there is the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton; the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Keyport;  and the expansive Bangor Submarine Base. As a licensed real estate professional serving clients throughout Kitsap County WA, I have had the good fortune and pleasure of working with many of these hard-working, dedicated patriots and their families.

A good many of my active military or veteran clients elect to use VA loans for their home financing. As a veteran myself, my first two homes were purchased using VA loans. It can be an excellent choice of financing products to use, requiring very little out-of-pocket expense, and with fairly competitive rates.

However, one of the potential drawbacks or difficulties associated with VA financing can be the appraisal process. Simply being aware of this possible pitfall helps to prepare my clients ahead of time.  It’s something that I always take time to educate my Buyers about fully.

Here is the process in a nutshell:

As a Buyer, your agent diligently assists you in finding a home that meets your needs. Once you find the right home, you submit an offer, and hopefully, your offer is accepted. At that point, you hire a licensed inspector to conduct a full home & pest inspection, and identify any items that need to be addressed/repaired. After the inspection results are negotiated to the satisfaction of both Buyer and Seller, you will enter the “pending” stage of the transaction. At this point, your Mortgage lender will contact VA, and they, in turn, will order an appraisal to determine if the property can be valued at the price that you have agreed to pay for it.

Here in Kitsap County WA, our mortgage partners rarely know who the appraiser will be in a given transaction. It’s a Russian roulette. If you’re an approved VA appraiser in Washington State, your name is simply added to the list, and whoever is next on the list gets the call. It may be someone local who knows and understands the nuances of our market. Or it can be someone from another county altogether.

In most of my experiences, the VA appraisers have been fair and reasonable. But there are times when they can be extremely picky or subjective. Usually, they try to stay focused mainly on major structural components and primary systems. They evaluate the roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling, etc.. Unfortunately, on occasion, they can become overly critical of other aspects of the home that are not necessarily critical to safety or proper function/operation. These aspects then become ‘conditions for funding’ and require resolution before the transaction can close.

Many Buyers assume that since the home inspection was performed, and the Sellers may have agreed to repair the things they requested, that everything is pretty much a “done deal” until closing. Unfortunately, there may be some additional items that the VA appraiser will call out that need to be remedied or repaired prior to closing. In some instances, these items can be small and easy to resolve, or they can present significant challenges and even cause the transaction to fall apart.

Additionally, in a slower, declining market, appraisers tend to be much more critical in their analysis of comparative property sales. Valuations can come back ‘under’ value and may require a re-negotiation of the contract sales price between Buyer and Seller.

An experienced real estate agent will wisely counsel their Buyers not to assume anything and to wait until the full appraisal results come back. Hopefully, the appraiser will not find any problems or issues that were not identified during the home inspection, and the appraisal will come in at value. If that’s the case, then the rest of your home buying experience should move along fairly smooth to closing, and you will successfully achieve the Next Adventure in Life!

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Tags: va appraisals, va appraisers, va loans