The FHA's Minimum Property Standards

Homebuyers looking to finance a home purchase with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan are sometimes surprised they are not allowed to purchase a particular property because it doesn't meet FHA property requirements.

The FHA has put these minimum property standard requirements into place in order to protect lenders, but they protect buyers, too.

FHA Minimum Property Standards

When a homebuyer takes out a mortgage, the property serves as collateral for the loan. In other words, if the borrower stops making the mortgage payments, the mortgage lender will eventually foreclose and take possession of the house. The lender will then sell the house as a way of reclaiming as much of the money still owed on the loan as possible.

Requiring that the property meet minimum standards protects the lender. It means that the property should be easier to sell and command a higher price if the lender has to seize it.

At the same time, this requirement also protects the borrower: It means they will not be burdened with costly home repair bills and maintenance from the start. In addition, with a fundamentally sound place to live, the borrower may have more of an incentive to make their payments in order to keep the home.

What Are the FHA's Minimum Property Standards?

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the FHA requires that the properties financed with its loan products meet the following minimum standards:

• Safety: The home should protect the health and safety of the occupants.
• Security: The home should protect the security of the property.
• Soundness: The property should not have physical deficiencies or conditions affecting its structural integrity.

HUD requires that an appraiser observe the property's condition and report the results on the FHA's appraisal form. Property appraisals are one of the many requirements that buyers fulfill before settling a deal.

For single-family detached homes, the appraiser is required to use a form called the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report. The form asks the appraiser to describe the basic features of the property, such as the number of stories, the year it was built, square footage, number of rooms, and location. It also requires the appraiser to describe the condition of the property, including needed repairs, any deterioration, renovations, etc. In addition, the appraiser is required to assess any adverse conditions that affect the livability, soundness, or structural integrity of the property.

The condominium unit appraisal form is similar but has condominium-specific questions about the common areas, homeowner association, the number of owner-occupied units, etc.

The FHA does not require the repair of cosmetic or minor defects, deferred maintenance, and normal wear if they do not affect the safety, security, or soundness of the home. The FHA says that examples of such problems include but are not limited to the following:

• Missing handrails
• Cracked or damaged exit doors that are otherwise operable
• Cracked window glass
• Defective paint surfaces in homes constructed post-1978 (because of lead paint hazards)
• Minor plumbing leaks (such as dripping faucets)
• Defective floor finishes or coverings (worn through the finish, badly soiled carpeting)
• Evidence of previous (non-active) wood-destroying insect/organism damage where there is no evidence of unrepaired structural damage
• Rotten or worn-out countertops
• Damaged plaster, sheetrock, or other wall and ceiling materials in homes constructed post-1978
• Poor workmanship
• Trip hazards (cracked or partially heaving sidewalks, poorly installed carpeting)
• Crawl spaces with debris and trash
• Lack of an all-weather driveway surface

Most Common Property Safety, Security, and Soundness Problems

There are many areas where the FHA does require problems to be remedied in order for the sale to close. Here are some of the most common issues that homebuyers are likely to face:

Electrical and heating

• The electrical box should not have any frayed or exposed wires.
• All habitable rooms must have a functioning heat source (except in a few select cities with mild winters).

Roofs and attics

• The roofing must keep moisture out.
• The roofing must be expected to last for at least two more years.
• The appraiser must inspect the attic for evidence of possible roof problems.
• The roof cannot have more than three layers of roofing.
• If the inspection reveals the need for roof repairs, and the roof already has three or more layers of roofing, the FHA requires a new roof.

Water heaters

The water heater must have a temperature and pressure relief valve with piping for safety and must convey with the property.

Hazards and nuisances

A number of conditions fall under this category. They include but are not limited to the following:

• Contaminated soil
• Proximity to a hazardous waste site
• Oil and gas wells located on the property
• Heavy traffic
• Airport noise and hazards
• Other sources of excessive noise
• Proximity to something that could explode, such as a high-pressure petroleum line
• Proximity to high-voltage power lines
• Proximity to a radio or TV transmission tower

Property access

The property must provide safe and adequate access for pedestrians and vehicles, and the street must have an all-weather surface so that emergency vehicles can access the property under any weather conditions.

Structural soundness

Any defective structural conditions and any other conditions that could lead to future structural damage must be remedied before the property can be sold. These include defective construction, excessive dampness, leakage, decay, termite damage, and continuing settlement.

Asbestos

If an area of the home contains asbestos that appears to be damaged or deteriorating, the FHA requires further inspection by an asbestos professional.

Bathrooms

The home must have a toilet, sink, and shower. This requirement might sound silly, but you'd be surprised what people will take with them when they're foreclosed on, and what vandals will steal from a vacant house.

Remedies for Properties Below Minimum Standards

There are options for homebuyers who have fallen in love with a property that has one of these potentially deal-killing problems.

The first step should be to ask the seller to make the needed repairs. If the seller can't afford to make any repairs, perhaps the purchase price can be increased so that the sellers will get their money back at closing. Usually, the situation works the other way around—if a property has significant problems, the buyer will request a lower price to compensate. However, if the property is already priced below the market or if the buyer wants it badly enough, raising the price to ensure the repairs are completed (and the transaction closed) could be an option.

If the seller is a bank, it may not be willing to make any repairs. In this case, the deal is dead. The property will have to go to a cash buyer or a non-FHA buyer whose lender will allow them to buy the property in the present condition.

Many homebuyers will simply have to keep looking until they find a better property that will meet FHA standards. This reality can be frustrating, especially for buyers with limited funds and limited properties in their price range.

Some homebuyers may be able to gain approval for a different loan product. A non-FHA loan may provide more leeway on what condition the property can be in, but the lender will still have its own requirements. So, this approach may not be successful. Another option is to apply for an FHA 203(k) loan, which allows the purchase of a home that has significant repair and maintenance problems.

The Bottom Line

FHA loans make it easier for borrowers to qualify for a mortgage, but they don't necessarily make it easier to buy a property. If a property does not meet the minimum standards for an FHA loan, many homebuyers will simply have to keep looking until they find a better property that does meet FHA standards—a process that can be frustrating, especially for buyers with limited funds and few properties in their price range.

However, FHA borrowers who know what to expect when home shopping can restrict their search to properties that are likely to meet FHA guidelines, or at least avoid setting their hopes on a fixer-upper property before having it appraised.