Might this ceiling fan be a safety issue for an FHA loan? What do you say? No biggie or an issue that’ll require repair before the loan can close? Have a look at the brief video below (or here) and let me know what you think.
If you said yes for being a safety issue called out in an FHA appraisal report, you are correct. FHA is primarily concerned that everything in a house works properly, there are no health and safety issues and there is a sense of economic longevity for the house too. Had I continued the video for a bit longer, you would’ve seen the fan shake even harder. If you don’t think it’s a safety issue, would you put your child’s bed underneath a fan like this? Probably not.
While an issue like this needs to be corrected before an FHA loan can be guaranteed, it’s really not a big-ticket item. Either the fan needs to be repaired or replaced or a cheap light fixture can be purchased and installed in its place. This is an older property and ceiling fans didn’t even exist when the property was built, so a simple light fixture is entirely reasonable in this case. This is not just my opinion either, but the Santa Ana FHA Home Ownership Center said the same thing during a recent phone conversation.
NOTE: This does not mean all wobbly ceiling fans will need to be repaired or replaced. This is where the FHA appraiser is subjective and has to use good judgment according to FHA guidelines and/or the spirit of FHA.
Let me know if you have any questions or insight. I hope this was helpful. You can see more FHA appraisal articles here.
If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.