VA Appraisal Minimum Property Requirements in San Antonio (2026): Which Repairs Fail, Who Pays, and How We Fix Them

LAST UPDATED: OCTOBER 16, 2026 | BY CHRISTOPHER BEAL, U.S. ARMY VETERAN & REALTOR

Update (October 15 and 16, 2026): added sections on move-in readiness, PCS closing timing, and homes on a private well or septic system; corrected the VA seller-concession limit to 4 percent of the home's reasonable value (an earlier version said 4 percent of the price); replaced an unsupported roof-life figure in the cost table; removed a career-total claim from the introduction; and removed two chart images that repeated unsupported figures.

A VA appraisal is two jobs in one visit. The appraiser gives the lender an opinion of value, and at the same time confirms the home meets the VA's Minimum Property Requirements, the health-and-safety and structural standards a home must satisfy before the Department of Veterans Affairs will back the loan. Most San Antonio homes pass clean. The ones that do not fail for a short, predictable list of reasons, and every one of those has a fix if you know the moves. Passing the MPR review also does not make a home move-in ready; it is a safety and soundness floor, not a promise about condition or finishes.

I am Christopher Beal, a U.S. Army veteran, REALTOR (TREC #723559) and the Owner of Veteran Real Estate San Antonio, brokered by eXp Realty (more about me). This guide is written from the agent's side of the repair amendment, not as lender guidance, because how that amendment is written often decides whether a flagged home still closes.

What Are VA Minimum Property Requirements?

MPRs are about protecting the veteran from buying an unsafe or structurally failing home with the government's guarantee behind it. The appraiser is looking for conditions that threaten health, safety, or the long-term soundness of the property. A cracked driveway is cosmetic and gets ignored. An active roof leak, exposed live wiring, or a foundation that is visibly failing is not, and it will show up as a required repair on the appraisal.

It is important to separate two things that get confused constantly. The MPR review is not a home inspection. The appraiser is not crawling the attic or testing every outlet. That is why I tell every VA buyer to order an independent inspection anyway. For the full breakdown of how the two overlap, read my guide on the difference between a VA appraisal and a home inspection in San Antonio.

MPR-Ready Is Not the Same as Move-In Ready

Quick answer: A home that passes the VA's Minimum Property Requirements is safe, structurally sound and sanitary enough for VA to guarantee the loan. It is not promised to be updated, clean or ready for your furniture. Worn carpet, dated kitchens, scuffed paint on a newer home and tired landscaping usually pass, and the VA appraisal will not ask the seller to fix them.

That gap matters most on a PCS move. If you need to live in the house the week you close, budget time and money for the move-in items the appraisal ignores, and ask for them in the contract separately. Anything you want beyond the MPR list is a negotiation with the seller, not a VA requirement.

Pre-offer walk-through: likely MPR flags vs cosmetic items

This is a screening habit I use before writing an offer, not VA's rule list. The appraiser makes the call, and an independent inspection goes deeper than either of us.

• Likely MPR flags: chipping or peeling paint on a home built before 1978; ceiling stains or other signs of an active roof leak; exposed or improper wiring; missing or dead smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; soft or damaged wood that could mean termite activity; standing water or poor drainage against the foundation.
• Usually cosmetic: worn flooring, dated fixtures and finishes, minor driveway or sidewalk cracks, scuffed paint on a home built after 1978, and an overgrown yard.

Which San Antonio MPR Fails Do I See Most?

San Antonio has a lot of housing stock built before 1978, and that single fact drives the most common flag of all. On any home built before 1978, chipping or peeling paint is treated as a potential lead hazard under federal rules, and the appraiser will require it to be scraped and repainted before closing. It is usually a cheap, fast fix, but it has to be documented. You can read the federal standard on the EPA lead-based paint page.

Illustrative planning ranges only, not a quote and not a survey of local prices; get a licensed contractor bid for the actual home. Deal-risk ratings are my judgment, not a VA rating.

Missing or dead smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are the easiest fix on the list and almost never threaten a deal. Standing water against the foundation, active termite galleries, and a roof with little remaining life are the flags that make buyers and sellers nervous, and those are where a steady agent earns the commission.

Which MPR Fails Actually Kill a Deal?

An MPR flag by itself is never the problem. The problem is what happens next. A missing handrail is a Saturday afternoon. A failing roof on a home the seller refuses to touch is a negotiation, and if that negotiation is handled by an agent who does not understand VA rules or Texas contract mechanics, the deal stalls until the option period runs out and the buyer walks.

This is exactly where a generic online explainer stops being useful and a local agent who handles VA contracts takes over. Knowing that a roof failed the MPR review is easy. Knowing which San Antonio sellers will replace it, which will credit it, and how to write the amendment so your lender and the VA both accept it is the part that saves the deal.

Worried a home you love might flag on the appraisal? Christopher Beal walks military buyers through the risk before you ever write the offer.

Who Pays for VA-Required Repairs in Texas?

The most useful thing to understand is that repair cost is a negotiable term like price or closing date. On San Antonio VA deals I see the same handful of paths used over and over: the seller fixes it before closing, the seller gives a credit, the price is reduced to offset the cost, the buyer pays for a non-fee repair item, or the lender approves an escrow holdback so the work is completed just after closing. The right path depends on the repair, the timeline, and how motivated each side is.

Two limits are worth knowing. VA caps seller concessions at 4 percent of the home's reasonable value from the VA Notice of Value, and VA does not limit seller credits toward the buyer's ordinary loan closing costs (VA funding fee and closing costs page). Ask your lender how a proposed repair credit will be classified on your file before you sign the amendment. And on the termite inspection specifically, the VA updated its guidance in 2022 (VA Circular 26-22-11) so that a veteran may now pay for the wood-destroying-insect report where it is required, rather than that cost automatically falling to the seller. Because these allocations shift, confirm the current fee-payer rules with your lender on your specific file. For the official framework, see the VA home loan program at va.gov.

How Do I Get Repairs Done Without Losing the Home?

Speed is the whole game. The moment the appraisal comes back with a required repair, the clock is what matters. Here is the sequence I run: confirm the exact MPR language with the lender, get a licensed contractor bid the same day when possible, and then present the seller a written amendment through the Texas Real Estate Commission forms that spells out who does what and by when. A verbal promise to fix a roof is worthless; a signed amendment is enforceable.

The instrument matters. In Texas, repair agreements ride on the TREC amendment and, where financing terms are involved, the Third-Party Financing Addendum. Writing these correctly, so the lender, the appraiser's reconsideration, and the VA all line up, is the difference between a repair that closes on time and one that drags past your financing deadline. This is the work that a discount or out-of-market agent routinely gets wrong.

And when a home simply cannot be made to pass without the seller sinking money they will not spend, the right answer is to leave. Your VA entitlement is valuable, and there will be another home. I would rather use your option period to walk away clean than watch you inherit a foundation problem. If the issue is value rather than condition, that is a different playbook, covered in my guide on what to do about a low San Antonio appraisal and the appraisal gap.

Does a San Antonio Home Need a Termite Inspection?

Texas is prime termite country, and San Antonio is no exception. Subterranean termites, drywood termites, and other wood-destroying insects are common enough that a WDI report is a standard part of a VA purchase here. If the report finds active infestation or prior damage, the appraiser will require treatment and, where structural damage exists, repair before the loan can close.

The good news is that treatment is routine and rarely the thing that ends a deal on its own. Active infestation gets treated, a licensed report certifies it, and structural repairs are negotiated like any other item on the list. It only becomes a deal-killer when damage is extensive and the seller will not address it, which is exactly the scenario where having me read the report and structure the response protects you.

How an MPR Repair Can Move a PCS Closing Date

Quick answer: A required repair generally has to be finished, and documented the way your lender asks, before the loan can be guaranteed; VA's 2022 pest-inspection circular says this directly for repairs found on a wood-destroying-insect report. On a fixed report date, the risk is not the repair itself but the days it adds: the bid, the work, the proof and any re-inspection. Ask the lender on the day the appraisal arrives exactly what proof it needs and how long its re-inspection takes, then write the amendment around that answer.

On a Texas resale contract the closing date is a contract term. If the repair will run past it, buyer and seller can agree in writing to a new date with a TREC amendment, but neither side is required to agree. When a client's report date leaves no cushion, I ask for the repair work to start inside the option period and for the amendment to name who completes it, by what date, and what proof goes to the lender. If the seller will not commit to a date that works for your orders, using the option period to exit can be safer than gambling on an extension.

Homes on a Private Well or Septic System

Quick answer: VA allows homes on a private well or septic system, but the water and sewage systems must meet the local health authority's requirements. Under VA's Lenders Handbook (Chapter 12, Minimum Property Requirements), private well water has to satisfy the local health authority, or EPA guidelines where there is no local standard, and the sample must be collected and delivered by a disinterested third party, never by the buyer or seller. The handbook treats a well test as valid for 90 days unless the local authority says otherwise, so time it against your closing date.

Septic systems in Texas are on-site sewage facilities regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the local authorized agents it lists by county. VA requires the system to dispose of waste in a sanitary way, and it requires health authority approval of the septic system on proposed construction, when the appraiser notes a problem, or where the area is known for soil percolation problems (VA Lenders Handbook, Chapter 12, Topic 17). Your lender may ask for a septic inspection in other cases, so ask early. For homes outside city utilities, I treat the well test and a septic inspection as items to schedule in the first days of the option period, not after the appraisal comes back.

Ready to start clean with financing already in hand? Read my VA loan pre-approval guide for San Antonio, then request a free consultation and I will help you build your offer to survive the appraisal.

About the Author: Christopher Beal

Christopher Beal is a U.S. Army veteran and the Owner of Veteran Real Estate San Antonio, a Beal Group practice brokered by eXp Realty (TREC License #723559). A Military Relocation Professional (MRP) and VAREP member, he is a 7-time eXp Realty ICON agent, winner of Best Real Estate Agency in the 2026 Best of San Antonio Readers' Choice (San Antonio Current, 100,000+ voters), and a 3x San Antonio Business Journal Top 25 Individual Agent (#13 in 2024, #14 in 2025, #20 in 2026). His recognition also includes 3x Platinum Top 50, 2x RateMyAgent Agent of the Year, 2x Real Producers Top 100, Five Star Professional (2026), and a RealTrends 2026 ranking. He has helped 325+ families, closed more than $125M in career volume, and holds 5.0 stars across 370+ verified reviews, working almost exclusively with military and veteran buyers and sellers across Bexar, Comal, Kendall, Medina, and Bandera counties, with a focus on VA loans, PCS moves, and homebuying near JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Randolph, and Fort Sam Houston. If you have questions about using your VA loan benefit in San Antonio, he offers a no-pressure strategy call before you talk to any lender. He can be reached at (210) 882-8583.

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