FHA/VA Certifications
Home > FHA/VA Certifications
FHA AND VA HOME INSPECTION
Free — Added to a Standard Home Inspection
$350 — Standalone
Your Lender Has Requirements. So Do You. They Are Not the Same Thing.
When you use an FHA or VA loan to purchase a home, your lender requires an appraisal. That appraisal does two things: it establishes the current market value of the property, and it checks whether the home meets the minimum standards required for that type of financing.
What the appraisal does not do — and is not designed to do — is give you a complete, thorough picture of the home's condition. The appraiser works for the lender. Their job is to confirm the property meets a minimum threshold. If it clears that threshold, the loan moves forward. The appraisal tells your lender what it needs to know. It does not tell you what you need to know before you commit to the largest purchase of your life.
That is why the home inspection exists — and why it matters more, not less, when government-backed financing is involved.
What the FHA Appraisal Actually Is
The FHA appraisal is performed by a HUD-approved appraiser ordered by your lender. It serves two functions simultaneously: it determines the market value of the property, and it checks the property against HUD's Minimum Property Standards — three core requirements that all FHA-financed homes must meet: Safe, Sound, and Secure.
The appraiser walks through the home and looks for obvious, visible problems. A deteriorating roof. Exposed wiring. Missing handrails. Peeling paint on a pre-1978 home (which triggers lead paint evaluation). Evidence of significant water intrusion. Conditions that obviously compromise safety, structural soundness, or habitability.
What the appraiser is explicitly not doing: testing every outlet, running every fixture, operating every appliance, using thermal imaging on the electrical panels, evaluating the combustion efficiency of the furnace, or assessing the remaining service life of aging systems. The FHA appraisal is a pass/fail check against a minimum standard. It is not a diagnostic evaluation of the home's systems.
If the home passes the FHA appraisal, your lender is satisfied. The appraisal clears the minimum bar. It does not tell you whether the furnace is past its service life, whether the electrical panel has overloaded connections running hot, whether the sewer lateral is root-filled, or whether the roof has two years of life or ten. The appraisal clears the minimum bar. That is its job. Your inspection is what protects you beyond that bar.
What the VA Appraisal Actually Is
The VA appraisal is performed by a VA-assigned appraiser and serves the same dual purpose: market value determination and compliance with VA Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs). The VA's MPRs require that the property be safe, structurally sound, and sanitary.
The VA appraiser checks for conditions that affect the basic habitability and structural integrity of the home — defective construction, poor workmanship, excessive dampness, leakage, decay, and conditions that pose obvious safety hazards. For homes built before 1978, lead-based paint that is peeling or chipping must be addressed.
After the appraisal, you receive a Notice of Value (NOV) — the VA's determination of the property's value and whether it meets MPRs. The NOV is valid for six months and specifically notes that a home inspection is recommended. The VA understands that its appraisal does not substitute for a thorough independent inspection. It says so directly.
The VA home inspection is not required — but it is strongly recommended by the VA itself. Every veteran who has purchased three homes and paid for an independent inspection each time will tell you: the inspection more than paid for itself every single time in the information it provided.
The Difference Between What the Lender Needs and What You Need
The Illinois NPMA-33 Requirement for VA Buyers
Illinois is explicitly listed by the Department of Veterans Affairs as a state where wood-destroying insect (WDI) information is required for all VA loans. This is not optional and it is not based on visible evidence — it is a statewide requirement that applies to every VA-financed purchase in Illinois.
The document that satisfies this requirement is the NPMA-33 Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Report — a state-certified form completed by a licensed inspector documenting any evidence of termites, carpenter ants, wood-boring beetles, or other wood-destroying organisms. The report must be completed before the loan can close.
What the NPMA-33 covers:
The full exterior of the home — foundation, siding, structural wood contacts with soil
All interior rooms accessible to inspection
The basement — framing, sill plates, and all visible structural wood
Crawl spaces — including moisture conditions that are conducive to insect activity
The attic — visible structural members
Attached wooden structures — decks, porches, and garage
What it documents:
Active infestation — live insects present
Past damage — evidence of prior activity, whether treated or untreated
Conducive conditions — wood-to-soil contact, standing moisture, poor drainage that creates vulnerability to future infestation.
If the report finds active infestation or structural damage: Treatment must be completed and the damage repaired before the VA will approve the loan. This is not negotiable. The loan cannot close until the condition is resolved and documented.
The NPMA-33 report is valid for 90 days. If your closing extends beyond 90 days from the inspection date, a new inspection may be required. Book it early so a long escrow does not force a re-inspection and delay your timeline.
Our Policy for Active-Duty and Veteran Military Clients
We waive the termite inspection fee entirely for all active-duty and veteran military clients. This is our way of acknowledging your service.
The NPMA-33 still appears on your invoice — your lender needs to see it as a line item for the VA loan file — but the charge is zero. No exceptions, no paperwork beyond what the transaction already requires.
If you are a veteran buyer, simply let us know at booking that you are using VA financing. We handle the rest.
Why Inspecting Before the Appraisal Is the Smart Move
Most buyers assume the sequence goes: book inspection → appraisal happens → close. In practice, the inspection and appraisal often happen close together or in either order depending on the transaction timeline.
The strategic advantage of completing the home inspection before or immediately alongside the appraisal:
If the FHA or VA appraisal turns up a condition that must be corrected before closing — an exposed wiring hazard, a roof with less than two years of life, peeling paint on a pre-1978 home, a missing handrail — you are now in a negotiation with the seller about repairs on the lender's timeline, not yours. The appraisal condition becomes a closing contingency. That is pressure.
If your independent home inspection identifies that condition first, you know about it before the appraisal, before it becomes a closing contingency, and before the pressure is on. You can negotiate it on your terms — a repair credit, a price reduction, or a walk from a home that has more problems than it is worth. You are in control of the conversation.
The appraisal tells the lender what it needs to know to close the loan. A thorough independent inspection tells you what you need to know to make the decision in the first place.
Those are two different conversations. One of them is for your lender. The other one is for you.
What FHA and VA Appraisers Are Specifically Looking For
Understanding what the appraiser checks helps you understand both why the appraisal is insufficient on its own and why knowing these conditions in advance — through an independent inspection — puts you in a stronger position.
FHA and VA appraisers flag these conditions:
Roof — Must have at least two years of remaining useful life. No active leaks or moisture damage in the attic. Appraisers evaluate the roof from the ground or from accessible vantage points. Our inspectors walk the roof.
Electrical — Exposed or unsafe wiring is flagged. Specific panel brands known to be problematic — Federal Pacific, Zinsco — may be flagged. Our inspectors remove every panel cover, run thermal imaging over every panel, and test every outlet we can access.
Heating — A permanently installed heating system that can adequately heat the home is required. Our inspectors test every furnace with a combustion analyzer — the only way to evaluate heat exchanger integrity, which no visual inspection can provide.
Plumbing — Functioning water supply and waste systems are required. Our inspectors run water at every fixture and use thermal imaging beneath kitchens and bathrooms to detect hidden leaks.
Foundation and structure — Major structural defects must be corrected. Our inspectors use thermal imaging and moisture meters throughout the basement and foundation area, including behind finished walls.
Lead paint — On homes built before 1978, chipping or peeling paint must be addressed. Our inspectors document paint condition throughout the home with photographs.
Safety hazards — Missing handrails on stairways with three or more steps, no egress in sleeping rooms, fire hazards, and similar conditions are flagged. Our inspectors document every safety condition they observe.
The distinction that matters: The FHA and VA appraisers note what they can see that violates minimum standards. They spend 45 minutes to 2 hours at the property. We spend 3 to 5 hours. We bring thermal imaging, combustion analysis, moisture meters, and a process built to document everything — not just what crosses a minimum threshold.
The One Thing No Appraisal Catches
An FHA or VA appraisal evaluates the home's condition on the day of the appraisal. It is a snapshot of visible conditions against a defined minimum standard.
It does not catch a furnace that is two years from failure but currently heating the home adequately. It does not catch a sewer lateral that is 60 percent filled with roots but still draining. It does not catch the clay tile flue with separated mortar joints — because no one is inserting a camera into the flue during an appraisal. It does not catch the electrical panel where three circuits are running hot — because no one is pointing a thermal camera at the panel during an appraisal.
The appraisal clears the minimum bar. Our inspection finds everything else.
A Straight Answer on When This Makes Sense
For FHA buyers: If you are using FHA financing to purchase a home — especially an older home, a foreclosure, an estate sale, or any property that has had deferred maintenance — the gap between what the FHA appraisal covers and what our inspection covers is where the most important findings live. Book both. The appraisal is mandatory and paid for by your lender's process. The inspection is your protection.
For VA buyers: You have earned the right to a thorough, honest inspection. The VA appraisal covers minimum standards. Our inspection covers everything. The NPMA-33 is required in Illinois regardless — we handle it, we waive the fee for military clients, and we coordinate it so your closing timeline is not disrupted. Add our inspection to your purchase and you go into your home knowing exactly what you own.
For both: The home inspection is the one professional in the entire transaction whose loyalty is entirely to you. Every other party — the lender, the appraiser, the agents on both sides — has their own interest in the transaction. We do not. Book the inspection. It is the most important thing you will do in this process.
312-544-9180
Subscribe to our social
© Copyright 2026. Chicagoland Home Inspectors. All rights reserved.