What things will fail or get flagged on an FHA appraisal?

An FHA appraisal flags health and safety issues and conditions that keep the home's systems from working as designed. Common flags include non-functioning heating, plumbing, or electrical systems; exposed or damaged wiring; roof leaks; broken windows; missing smoke or carbon monoxide detectors; poor site drainage; and chipping or peeling paint in pre-1978 homes because of lead. Cosmetic defects such as stained carpet generally do not get flagged; the home does not have to be perfect.

On an FHA appraisal, the appraiser flags conditions that affect the occupants' health and safety or the property's continued marketability. Common flags include safety deficiencies, defective conditions, roof or foundation problems, inadequate heating (the system must maintain at least 50 degrees F in plumbing areas), hazards, drainage issues, and chipping, flaking, or peeling paint in homes built before 1978. Cosmetic items, such as worn but adequate finishes, missing shrubbery, dead grass, and mismatched tiles, do not require repair.

An FHA appraisal can flag homes that fail HUD's minimum property requirements for safety, soundness, and security. Common repair triggers include peeling paint, broken windows or doors, drainage problems, infestation, and damaged major systems. The appraiser also checks that the heating, electrical, and plumbing systems work, the roof has at least two years of remaining life, the home has safe road access and adequate utilities, and the foundation is undamaged with proper drainage.

For an FHA appraisal, common flags include active roof leaks, broken windows or missing doors, exposed wiring, plumbing leaks and mold, non-working utilities, missing handrails, peeling paint in pre-1978 homes, structural damage, unpermitted additions affecting safety or marketability, pest infestation, and poor drainage. Items that do not meet FHA's Minimum Property Standards are treated as Required Repairs, and the FHA loan cannot close until they are completed, with the appraiser re-inspecting after repairs.

An FHA appraisal flags anything that fails HUD's minimum property standards for safety, soundness, and security. Common flags include peeling paint (a lead-based paint hazard), active termite infestation, water draining toward the foundation, structural foundation problems, non-working utilities, inadequate heating, a roof with less than two years of remaining life, and damaged or unvented attics and crawl spaces. Flagged repairs must be completed before an FHA loan can close.

An FHA appraiser flags conditions that affect health, safety, or marketability. Common flags include safety hazards, broken windows, steps without handrails, defective paint in homes built before 1978, soil contamination, and poor drainage toward the foundation. Roof problems count too: re-roofing over three existing layers requires removing the old shingles. A domestic well must sit at least 50 feet from the septic tank and 100 feet from the drain field, and an encroachment generally makes the property ineligible unless a perpetual easement is filed.

Common flags include peeling paint, broken windows and doors, drainage problems, pest infestation, and damaged major systems. To meet HUD's standards, the home needs working heating, electrical, and plumbing systems, a roof functional for at least two more years, access via a safe road, accessible utilities, and an undamaged, properly graded foundation with adequate drainage.