Buying a Sonoma County fixer property?  Be prepared to do some work. What many see as a fantastic fixer-upper property, potential property issues associated with the dwelling could easily derail an appraisal and your mortgage loan. Key characteristics the property you’re interested in purchasing has some “hair on it”…………….

Red Flags That Could Jeopardize Your Mortgage

*Mortgage tip: it’s all about the appraisal and purchase offer, if it’s not listed in the appraisal or the offer, shouldn’t delay or deny your loan.

Roof-many local resale properties have worn-out roofs. In such a situation, your real estate agent is will already be working a solution for it. Best to obtain at least several quotes to determine how much much more economic life the roof has. If the roof is completely done or worse has a leak, and it’s identified in the appraisal as a “subject to item”, it will have to be fixed in accordance with the comments made by the appraiser.

Open Sub floor– is an automatic red flag because it presents a safety concern for the buyer of the property. As such, it is guaranteed to stop the loan process at the appraiser, till new flooring is laid and the appraiser signs it off.

Exposed Wiring-seems silly right? Well houses in Santa Rosa and throughout Sonoma County, contain exposed wiring either on the exterior or the interior which posing a lending monkey wrench. Any open and exposed wiring would be best suited to be repaired prior to the appraiser visiting the property.

Dry Rot-depends on the individual appraiser on whether or not they view it as a conditional repair item. In most cases, appraisers simply want the rotted area repaired.

Pest damage-If the pest damage is visible to the naked eyem then yes it’s probably going to be noted in the appraisal for the pest damage to be repaired. However, it’s more common to be a concern when it’s identified as a condition of the real estate purchase contract at which point, it must be fixed.

Making The Repairs To Get A Mortgage On A Fixer House

Repairs critical for loan clearance, can be paid for buyer, seller, listing agent or realtor buyer’s agent. More commonly, the buyer typically pays for such repairs to the property, but this is always negotiable. It can be paid for by any one of these parties and can be divided up as well.

As a prudent home buyer, you’d want to make sure your loan is lender approved prior to making such repairs. The last thing you want to deal with is shelling out dollars for repairs for a house you don’t own yet, when your mortgage lender hasn’t given you the sign off.

There are other repairs that inevitably pop up when evaluating homes, including the need for a CO2 detector (became law in July 2011), obvious repairs such as broken windows or an unstable deck are all examples of things that will likely need an appraisal clearance.

Whatever the case may be, proactively communicating with your mortgage lender, and real estate agent about any repairs that need to be done, is the best course of action to take to ensure financing is successful.If you are looking to purchase a home, and are looking for  competitive rates with top-notch local professionalism, give us a shot at earning your business by getting a complementary mortgage rate quote today for your situation. It’s free..