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Tuesday, August 7, 2018

By Stephen Johnson


If you love old houses and are in the market for one for yourself, you have to take the cost of renovating it into consideration. If you're unfamiliar with 203k rehab loans Seattle lenders can offer, you probably think you'll need two loans, one to buy the house and one to fix it up, or save up for repairs as you go. Hopefully your lender suggested a 203k option. With this loan, you get the money to buy the house and renovate it all wrapped up in one.

The kind of renovations you are going to make will determine whether you want to apply for a standard or streamline 203k loan. If the house is undergoing major structural changes, you'll need the standard 203k. You will not be able to live in the house while the renovations are being made. This loan requires a lot more paperwork than a streamline loan, but there's no maximum allowable loan amount.

This loan is designed for houses that need cosmetic repairs. The most you can get is thirty-five thousand dollars. An appraiser has to inspect the house first and give you a list of repairs that are either needed or required. You have to get in touch with an approved contractor, get a bid from him, and forward that to the lender. If the bid is approved, the repairs can go forward.

You will not ever see the thirty-five thousand dollars. Half of it is turned over to the contractor at the beginning of the project, with the other half going into an escrow account. After the project is completed, the contractor receives the escrowed money, and the lender closes the escrow account. The repair costs are combined with the mortgage payments for the buyer.

A streamline 203k loan will only pay for certain repairs. It covers items like plumbing and electrical systems, repairing or replacing roofs, gutters, and downspouts, exterior siding replacement, window and door replacement, and improvements to accessibility. You can't buy a new heating and air conditioning system with this loan, but you can have an existing one repaired.

Removal of asbestos is allowed, as is stabilization of lead based paint. If you are outside the city limits, and have a septic tank, the loan will pay for any necessary repairs to it. You can remodel the bathrooms and kitchen. You may buy new appliances and have them installed. You can finish or remodel a basement, but you may only do cosmetic renovations.

When you are budgeting for your renovation, you must remember that more than the cost of repairs will be taken out of the loan amount. There will be two separate inspections to ensure the contractor is meeting FHA standards. Money will be set aside for a title update fee, which protects the mortgage lender from any liens the contractor might place against the property.

A contingency reserve, kept in escrow for any cost overruns, will take ten to twenty percent away from the thirty-five thousand dollar total. The extra cost of opening and maintaining the escrow account is known as the supplemental origination fee. If you can make the repairs you need within these parameters, a streamline 203k loan might be your best option.




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