Don’t Be So Certain a Sacramento House Near High Voltage Qualifies for an FHA Loan

A house near high voltage power lines might not pass an FHA appraisal.

An appraiser called me with a few questions about a listing we have in escrow, a house near high voltage, which is located in Sacramento near the light rail. To say it’s near light rail is putting it politely as you can see the tracks out the window, but not everybody minds a bit of transportation nearby. I have clients who live on busy streets, for example, and they say it connects them to the outside world. Makes them feel part of what’s going on, so I don’t judge locations that much. Everybody has their own ideas.

The appraiser wasn’t that concerned, either, about the light rail. He was more interested in the house and how the location of a house near high voltage can affect FHA appraisals. I quickly looked up the date the seller bought the property and pointed it out, because she bought with an FHA loan and it wasn’t all that long ago. Didn’t matter, said the appraiser, lots of things have changed over the past few years. OK, how about the fact the seller refinanced into a new FHA loan last spring? That is surely a much shorter gap of time.

Maybe that particular appraiser was lazy, he offered. There are good appraisers, mediocre and bad, just like Sacramento Realtors, just like any profession. And think about THAT the next time you go to the doctor. However, he wasn’t a lazy appraiser and he would measure. He would calculate exactly the distance of the house near high voltage power lines.

Measure what? Apparently the height of the high power voltage lines are addressed as the fall distance, and they can’t fall on a house nearby. Plus, the house needs to sit outside of the high voltage power lines easement to qualify for FHA.

Further, just because the seller previously received FHA loans twice for this property was no guarantee that it met FHA guidelines. Oh, my goodness. My heart started to pound. The seller is already moving out, and the buyers have removed contingencies. Who knew a house near high voltage lines could cause such a dilemma? I quickly called the buyer’s agent. Oh, says she, I forgot to tell you, a couple weeks ago we switched the buyer to a conventional loan. YES!