Gary N Smith.net

In the end it was another loan that came to the Mercados’ rescue: the Federal Housing Administration’s 203(k), also known as the F.H.A. rehab loan, which is designed to cover not only buying the home but also renovating it, and is then paid back like a regular mortgage. A hybrid that has been around for more than 30 years, the loan program has recently surged in popularity.

Podcast by ASHI – Inspect that foreclosure!

First, a quick definition. A tandem circuit breaker is a double circuit breaker that takes up the space of a single circuit breaker on a panelboard. You’ll also hear them called duplex, slimline, twin, half-height, half-inch, double and wafer breakers, depending on local customs. While a two-pole circuit breaker gets connected to two different poles at a panelboard and has a common trip or a handle tie for simultaneous disconnecting of two poles, a tandem breaker does not.

Home flippers buy dilapidated houses, fix them up, then sell them again as quickly as possible with the intention of making a tidy profit. Flipped houses look shiny and new inside, but what’s going on underneath all the new drywall, carpet, and paint? Very few home buyers seem to trust flippers, and with the cheesy ‘repairs’ or ‘cover-ups’ I’ve seen over the years, it’s easy to understand why. Most of the quick and dirty home flippers take the same shortcuts when flipping houses; I’ve seen so many of them done the same way that I’m going to tell you all about the flipped house you just looked at without even knowing the address.

Smart first time home buyers use a mortgage program that finances a professional to do all the work so they can enjoy the new home rather than wallowing in the weekend work. So what does the smart, brave buyer use? It’s called the FHA 203k. This mortgage option allows you to buy a home in almost any condition and roll the cost of improvements or repairs into the mortgage payment, all based on the value after the work is done.

I always call people back to chat about this business and give the long answers to all of these questions; there is no such thing as licensing for home inspectors in Minnesota, so there is no ‘right’ answer to these questions. I’m happy to share my time chatting about this stuff, but I end up giving different suggestions every time. Like so many other frequently asked questions, I’ve found it’s nice to have a document already put together to direct people to for a well-thought out answer, not just the first stuff that comes to my mind.