Guides

Things we know from doing the work

Plain-English answers to the questions our brokers get asked most — the ones that come from renovating, managing, and financing houses, not just selling them. Read them before you call, or instead of calling. Every guide is general information for Pierce County, not advice about your specific property; requirements change, and a lender, attorney, or licensed contractor should confirm anything you rely on.

Will this house pass a VA or FHA appraisal?The conditions that stop a government loan, and the cheapest cure for each. What repairs actually change the sale price?Where the money comes back and where it doesn't, from our own job costs. Selling or buying a manufactured homeTitle, tags, park approval, and financing — the things that decide the price. You got a Notice of Trustee's SaleWashington's foreclosure timeline and what each option costs you. Buying a fixer with a renovation loanHow FHA 203(k) works and when it beats waiting for a move-in-ready house.
Guide 1

Will this house pass a VA or FHA appraisal?

Government-backed loans require the house to meet minimum property standards, not just appraise at value. A great borrower and a bad property still fails. Most of the failures are cheap to fix — if someone spots them before the appraiser does.

Who this matters to: VA and FHA buyers writing offers; sellers deciding whether to do repairs before listing; anyone near JBLM, where a large share of buyers are using VA.

The usual failures, roughly in order of how often we see them

  • Peeling or chipping paint on a home built before 1978 — inside or out. Scrape, prime, paint. Cheap.
  • Missing handrails on three or more steps, and missing guardrails on decks or landings.
  • Roof with visible damage or fewer than a couple years of remaining life in the appraiser's opinion.
  • Active leaks or moisture — under sinks, at the water heater, in the crawlspace.
  • Soft or damaged flooring, especially in manufactured homes and bathrooms.
  • Broken windows, doors that don't latch, missing smoke and CO detectors.
  • Bare or exposed wiring, missing cover plates, double-tapped breakers.
  • Crawlspace access and clearance; standing water or debris under the house.
  • Unpermitted additions the appraiser can't count, or that create safety issues.
  • Wood-destroying insect evidence and wood-to-earth contact at the foundation.
  • Well and septic that need inspection, and private roads without a maintenance agreement.
What to do with this: Buyers — have your broker walk the house against this list before you offer, and write the repair responsibility into the offer. Sellers — cure the items on this list first; they're almost always cheaper than the buyers you lose without them. Our contractor prices these regularly, and the numbers are usually smaller than sellers fear.
Guide 2

What repairs actually change the sale price?

The honest answer is: fewer than you think, and not the ones the home-improvement shows feature. The work that pays is the work that either lets more buyers finance the house or removes a reason for them to discount it.

These are patterns from our own listings and contractor jobs in Pierce County. Your house may differ, which is why we price a specific scope before you spend a dollar.

Usually pays

  • Anything on the VA/FHA list above — it expands your buyer pool, which is worth more than the repair
  • Interior paint in a neutral color; fresh exterior paint if it's failing
  • Replacing worn carpet or badly damaged flooring; refinishing hardwood
  • Deep clean, decluttering, and hauling — the cheapest money you'll spend
  • Yard cleanup, bark, and pressure washing; a front door that looks cared for
  • Fixing the small broken things: outlets, faucets, doors, screens, light fixtures

Usually doesn't

  • A full kitchen or bath remodel right before listing — you'll spend $25,000–$60,000 to get maybe half of it back, and a buyer would rather pick their own finishes
  • Roof replacement when the roof has a few years left; disclose it and price for it instead
  • Finishing a basement or converting a garage weeks before sale
  • High-end landscaping, hot tubs, and anything the next owner might remove
The test: a repair pays when it changes who can buy the house or removes a specific objection, not when it makes the house nicer. If you're unsure, ask your broker for two net sheets — as-is and after a priced scope — and compare.
Guide 3

Selling or buying a manufactured home in Pierce County

Manufactured homes are some of the most affordable housing in the county and some of the most misunderstood. A few facts about the title and the land decide who can finance the home, and that decides the price.

We list manufactured homes in parks and on land regularly, including for out-of-state owners.

What decides everything

  • Is the home titled as personal property or real property? In Washington, a manufactured home on land you own can go through title elimination with the Department of Licensing and the county, after which it's taxed and financed like a house. Without that, it's personal property financed with a chattel loan — higher rate, shorter term, fewer lenders.
  • In a park: the home is personal property on leased land. Buyers need park approval, the park's rules govern, and financing is chattel or cash. Prices reflect that. Resident-owned co-op parks work differently again.
  • HUD tags and data plate: homes built after June 1976 carry a HUD certification label on the exterior and a data plate inside. Missing labels are fixable but slow; plan for it.
  • Permanent foundation and skirting: conventional, FHA, and VA financing on a home-on-land generally requires a permanent foundation and an engineer's certification. If it's on blocks, budget for it.
  • Condition items that fail appraisals show up more here: soft floors, roof, skirting, tie-downs, water damage around windows. See Guide 1.
  • Age and additions: pre-1976 homes and some additions limit financing significantly. Know before you price.
For sellers: the single most valuable thing you can do is find out whether the title has been eliminated and whether the foundation qualifies. Those two answers move your buyer pool from cash-only to everyone. For buyers: get your lender to confirm they lend on the specific type of home before you fall in love with it.
Guide 4

You got a Notice of Trustee's Sale. What now?

Washington uses non-judicial foreclosure under a deed of trust, which means the process runs on a fixed sequence of notices and dates. Every option you have is tied to one of those dates. The worst thing to do is nothing.

This is orientation, not legal advice. Timelines below are general; your notices show your actual dates. A HUD-approved housing counselor (800-569-4287) and an attorney can both help, and the counselor is free.

The sequence, roughly

  • Missed payments → pre-foreclosure notice. Washington law requires the lender to send a notice and offer a meeting before starting foreclosure. Ask for the meeting. Ask about a loan modification, repayment plan, or forbearance.
  • Notice of Default. Formal start. You typically have a window of about 30 days before the next step and can still reinstate by paying what's owed.
  • Notice of Trustee's Sale. Recorded and mailed at least 90 days — often around 120 — before the sale date. This is the document most people mean when they say “I got a notice.” The sale date is on it.
  • Up to 11 days before the sale: you can generally still reinstate the loan by paying the arrears and fees. After that, the full balance is required.
  • Sale date. The trustee auctions the property. Any surplus above what's owed belongs to you and must be claimed.

Your options, in order of how much they preserve

  • Reinstate or modify. Keep the house. Ask the servicer; get the counselor involved.
  • Sell before the sale date. If you have equity, a normal sale pays the loan and you keep the rest. A Notice of Trustee's Sale doesn't stop you from listing — it just starts the clock. We've closed these.
  • Short sale. If you owe more than the house is worth, the lender can agree to take less. We negotiate this with the servicer as part of the listing. Slower, and it needs the lender's approval, but far better for your credit than foreclosure.
  • Deed in lieu. Hand the keys back by agreement. Sometimes better than foreclosure; talk to an attorney.
  • Let it go to sale. The most damaging option, and the one that happens by default when people freeze.
What we do and don't do: we list and sell the property on your behalf, including negotiating a short sale, and we can move fast. We do not buy houses from people in foreclosure and we don't do “creative” deals. If someone offers to take over your payments or buy your house for cash the day after your notice records, be careful.
Guide 5

Buying a fixer with a renovation loan

Move-in-ready houses in Pierce County get multiple offers. The tired ones sit. An FHA 203(k) loan lets you buy the tired one and roll the repair cost into a single mortgage — which means you're competing for houses most buyers can't finance.

We're building this into a core service because the firm already has the contractor side. Ask a broker about current availability.

How it works

  • One loan covers the purchase price plus the renovation budget, based on the after-repair value. Low down payment, like any FHA loan.
  • Limited 203(k) covers cosmetic and non-structural work up to a set cap and is simpler. Standard 203(k) handles bigger scopes, structural work, and requires a HUD-approved 203(k) consultant.
  • The work is done after closing by a licensed contractor, with funds held in escrow and released as the work is inspected.
  • Timeline: longer than a normal purchase — plan on 45–60 days to close, and the renovation typically must be finished within six months.
  • Where it goes wrong: bad contractor bids, scope changes mid-project, and buyers who underestimate living through the work. A realistic scope up front is everything.
When it's the right tool: you have stable income and a modest down payment, you're patient, and the house you can afford in the neighborhood you want needs work. When it's not: you need to move in next month, or the house needs a new roof and a foundation and a kitchen. There's also a conventional version (HomeStyle) and the VA has a renovation option with fewer lenders.

Have a specific house in mind?

Guides answer the general question. A broker can answer yours — and if it needs a contractor's eyes, we have those too.

Talk to a broker