As Dry as 60 Year Old Lead Based Paint

Here are three exciting things you can do on a Wednesday morning:

1) Watch (lead based or non-lead based) paint dry.
2) Read a Blog post about the new home buying rules regarding lead based paint.
3) WRITE a Blog post about the new home buying rules regarding lead based paint.

So, without further adieu, here are some new requirements for purchasing a home being financed by an FHA loan:

If the house was built in 1950 or earlier, the house MUST be tested for the presence of lead based paint regardless if there is any evidence of defective paint surfaces, either visible to the buyer or home inspector. Buyers can count on this adding about $200 - $300 over and above the cost of the standard home inspection. This test must be done by a licensed professional. All test results, positive or negative are to be shared with the buyer. If lead based paint is found, it must be remediated prior to closing, again by a licensed professional. I'm no expert, but I'm guessing this will cost in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

If the house was built between 1951 - 1978, ANY "defective" paint notated by the FHA appraiser must be tested. All test results are to be shared with the buyer(s). Any defective paint (i.e. chipping, peeling, positive for lead, etc.) whether lead based or not, must be remediated by a licensed professional.

If the house was built between 1979 and today, no testing is required, because they are certain that no lead based paint was ever used to paint any home after the original rules went into effect.

Now, for those of you still awake after this scintillating post, I invite you to jump over to this other website I discovered: www.watching-paint-dry.com