Posted on: 23rd Oct, 2010 05:45 pm
We're looking into the 203k program to purchase a foreclosed house. The house used to be a lodge but is now listed a single family home. The previous owner tried to convert it into a bed & breakfast unsuccessfully, so we would have to go for a full 203K to make it into a home. Because of the size, we're likely to split the house into a duplex, which we believe is allowed under the program. However, we have concerns about the appraisal process. According to our real estate agent other people have tried to purchase the house using a standard FHA loan but they couldn't get it appraised because there are no comparable sales with the past 12 months. We also have concerns on the HVAC system - each room has a gas line and 1/3 of the rooms have individual gas heaters but no central heating/air. We have discussed our concerns w/ BoA, but the 203K mortgage specialist did not give us any assurances that that house could be appraised using other benchmarks. We're ready to have the 203K consultant came and inspect the house, but we're concerned that it cannot be appraised, so we would be wasting our time and money. Any suggestions?
Unless you contact the 203K consultant, you won't be able to know whether or not you'll get a mortgage on it. In my opinion, you should give it a try.