Questions about appraisal costs

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,  I hope someone can answer these questions.

We are pre approved for an FHA loan and recently put in an offfer on a REO fixer.  In our offer we had our agent add "Buyer is only expecting seller to make repairs required for financing, but buyer reserves the right to terminate the agreement based on inspection results beyond their tolerance and comfort level."

The home is a tri level with a finished daylight basement and basement garage.  Most of the main floor needs to be replaced as the kitchen plumbing flooded.  No idea how long it was wet but it was long enough to seriously warp the vinyl and the flooring is bubbled and distorted.  There is a large area of moldy carpet in the dining area off of the kitchen and perhaps some damage in the laundry area.  The house needs the heating system replaced and a couple of handrails installed.  There are numerous cosmetic issues but those are not a concern.

To our surprise, the bank accepted our offer.

We are having our inspection tomorrow.  I believe the inspecter should know what things FHA will need repairing to finance to get us started.  The appraiser is scheduled for Monday and i'm sure they'll finish the list.

My questions are about appraisal costs.  I see that the appraisal is on our GFE, is it paid out of closing or at closing?  If we don't buy this home, will we be billed for the appraisal?   We know we will need a second inspection and appraisal if we proceed further.  Will we be billed for the second appraisal?   I have a message in to my lender with these questions and I'm certain she'll get back to me as soon as she can- but I wanted to ask here in case someone knows.  I would rather have this information before the first inspection if possible.

Thank you

[BrianB_The_Loan_Professor]

You will pay for the appraisal up front

The work will be done the appraiser needs to get paid.

Most wont even go out these days without upfront payment

Just a cost of doing business

If you dont buy it the inspections/appraisal will pay for themselves in the headaches you will have saved

[Anonymous]

I would not even consider buying a home without an inspection, which I understand is optional and not included on the good faith estimate.  

The appraisal fee- Is this the same fee that is listed on the good faith estimate, or do I pay the appraiser and also an appraisal fee?  We've done so much of our paperwork by email, fax and phone that we have many questions there is never time to get them answered.   I thought we brought a lump sum to closing to pay for these costs but now it seems we are paying bits here and there, which I don't mind- but I fear getting to closing and finding out we've got to pay for things I thought we'd just paid for. 

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

You just pay the appraiser, the appraisal fee on the GFE represents an estimate of what the appraiser will charge.  Normally for an FHA appraisal it's $300-450 depending on your market.  California it's usually $450... South Dakota, $300.