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How FHA and VA Loans Affect Your Offer
If you are obtaining a VA or FHA loan in order to finance your purchase, you
must include that information in your offer. This is because government loans
place additional financial and performance obligations on the seller.
Non-Allowable Fees
First, VA and FHA loans prohibit buyers from paying certain types of fees that
are often charged by lenders, escrow companies, settlement agents, and title
companies. They are called "non-allowable" fees. They still get charged anyway,
but as the buyer, you are "not allowed" to pay them. The result is that the
seller ends up paying them instead of you.
Most of these "non-allowable" fees come from your lender. By the time you are
making an offer you should have already been pre-qualified by a loan officer, so
you or your real estate agent can ask how much the lender’s non-allowable fees
will be. Experienced agents should also have an idea of what non-allowable fees
will be charged by the escrow or settlement agent and the title insurance
company.
Since these are fees the seller would not pay on an offer with conventional
financing, this information must be included in your offer. You should also
realize that since the seller will be paying these additional fees, they may be
a little less negotiable on the price.
VA and FHA Appraisals
Home appraisal inspections on FHA and VA loans are a little more detailed than
on conventional loans (and more expensive). The appraisers are required to
perform certain minimum inspections as well as evaluate the market value of the
property. Although these inspections are not as detailed as a professional home
inspection and should not be considered a substitute, sometimes repairs are
required.
These are additional costs the seller would not be obligated to pay for someone
obtaining conventional financing, so your offer should include a maximum figure
for these repairs. Otherwise the seller is signing the equivalent of a blank
check, and they do not want to do that.
At the same time, whatever figure you put in will most likely affect the
seller’s willingness to negotiate on price. If you put $500 as an estimate, the
seller may be $500 less negotiable on their price. If no repairs are required,
you may have been able to get the house for $500 less than what you and the
seller agreed on as the price. The solution is to add a clause to your offer
that goes something like this. "If required repairs cost less than the maximum
amount allowed, the excess will be credited toward buyer’s closing costs."
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