An FHA home inspection is completely separate from the regular home inspection that a buyer orders for the property they are buying. The FHA home inspection is done by the appraiser who comes out to the property to assess value and to make sure the property is worth the sales price the buyer is paying for it.
What Happens at an FHA Home Inspection?
The FHA appraiser’s inspection of the property is fairly quick – usually around 15 to 30 minutes at the most. They walk through the property and makes notes regarding their opinion of how much the property is worth. During their inspection, they also note any obvious safety issues, and the items that are noted on the FHA home inspection report have to be fixed by settlement. A buyer will typically ask the seller to fix the issues mentioned in the report, but the seller isn’t obligated to fix them – it’s all negotiable. If the seller refuses to fix these issues, the buyer is obligated to fix them before settlement, or the buyer’s FHA loan will not be approved.
How Does All of This Differ from a Regular Home Inspection?
In a regular home inspection, the buyer pays a home inspector to do a rigorous inspection of the property. It’s the inspector’s job to give the buyer an in-depth report that goes into detail about the present condition of the property. A typical Northern Virginia home inspection will run $400 - $500 for an average single family home, while the cost for an average Northern Virginia condo will be lower and the cost for a large single family home will be higher. A good inspector is incredibly thorough, taking around 2-3 hours for a typical single family home inspection.
It’s important to remember that the FHA home inspection is by no means a substitute for a regular home inspection. You should always get a regular home inspection, no matter what type of loan you’re getting on your home purchase. Also, the FHA home inspection negotiations are completely separate from regular home inspection negotiations.