So, you’re well on the way to closing with a VA loan, your financing has been approved, the inspections went pretty well, repairs you felt were critical were negotiated and repaired. What else could go wrong? Well, enter the appraiser and the VA Loan Minimum Property Requirements.
Hi, I’m Sherri Echols, Broker Associate with RE/MAX Bryan – College Station. On typical loans, the appraiser ONLY looks at the value of the property. For VA loans, however, they have a list of issues to check for before they can submit the final Notice of Value or NOV.
These requirements are to protect you the buyer, the lender, loan servicers, and the VA. MPRs help ensures that the property is safe, structurally sound, and sanitary. The scope of MPRs also includes issues related to the property’s location and legal considerations. The VA wants to be sure you have a home that has a good roof, heat (air conditioning isn’t mandatory but if it’s there it must work), electricity, clean water to drink, and a sound sewer system of some sort to take the waste away. They look to avoid flood zones, lava flow zones, rock falls, landslides, avalanches, and other land and location-based issues. Then there are potential environmental hazards like high voltage power lines, buried storage tanks, high-pressure gas, and liquid petroleum lines, chemicals, or contaminants in the soil and groundwater to be careful of.
