Who is responsible for paying for repairs after a home inspection when selling a home with an FHA loan?
When you’re selling a home that’s being financed with an FHA loan, the repair question gets a little more specific, but it’s not as scary as people think.
Here’s the simple version.
The seller is usually responsible for FHA‑required repairs.
FHA loans come with minimum property standards. If the appraiser flags something as a safety, structural, or habitability issue, it has to be fixed before the loan can close. Since the buyer can’t move forward without those repairs, the responsibility typically falls on the seller.
But not every inspection item is an FHA item.
A home inspection might turn up a long list of things, but FHA only cares about issues that affect health and safety. Think peeling lead‑based paint, missing handrails, broken windows, roof leaks, electrical hazards, or anything that threatens the home’s basic livability.
There’s still room to negotiate.
Buyers and sellers can talk through who handles what. Sometimes the seller makes the repairs. Sometimes the seller offers a credit. Sometimes the buyer takes on minor fixes after closing if the lender allows it. The key is separating “buyer preference repairs” from “FHA must‑fix repairs.”
The Bottom Line
If the FHA appraiser says something needs to be corrected, the seller usually has to take care of it for the deal to move forward. Everything else is negotiable, just like any other sale.