On February 27, 2026, USMilitary.org reported that the VA issued Change 46 to its Lender's Handbook, VA Pamphlet 26-7, and stripped five Minimum Property Requirements out of the appraisal process for any purchase where the appraisal was ordered on or after May 1. Detached sheds and garages no longer have to meet VA standards. Exterior paint defects on homes built after 1978 stopped being an automatic repair item. Radon-resistant construction certification for new builds disappeared. So did certification rules for non-vented gas fireplaces and prior restrictions on ventless units.
That is a real loosening of the rules, and if you are buying new construction in Mascoutah this fall, it applies to you. If you are buying a home near downtown Main Street that predates 1978, almost none of it does. The VA left the core standard untouched: safe, sanitary, structurally sound. And two of the items that most often slow down a VA file in Illinois, a termite inspection and lead paint repairs on older homes, were never on the list of things Change 46 touched.
What the VA Actually Loosened, and When
The timing rule matters more than the list itself. The new standards apply based on when the appraisal was ordered, not when the appraiser walks the property and not when you close. An appraisal ordered April 30 fell under the old rules even if the inspection happened the first week of May. Since we're now well past that date, every VA appraisal ordered on a Mascoutah property today runs under Change 46. That's simply the operating baseline for anyone house hunting right now.
For a buyer looking at a newer build in Silver Creek or Lakeside Estates, that baseline is genuinely lighter. The appraiser is no longer required to flag a detached workshop that doesn't meet MPR standards, or a scuff on the exterior trim, or missing radon certification paperwork on a home that was built after the rule required it. Those were common points where a file used to stall for a reinspection.
None of that changes what the VA appraisal actually is. It confirms value and checks the property against Minimum Property Requirements. It does not evaluate the roof, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical systems in the way a private home inspector does. A VA appraisal has never been a substitute for an inspection, and Change 46 didn't make it one.
The Two Things Change 46 Left Alone
According to Veteran.com, Illinois sits in the VA's "moderate to heavy" termite infestation probability zone, one of roughly thirty states where a wood-destroying insect inspection is required statewide on VA purchase loans, not left to the appraiser's discretion. That requirement comes from a different part of the handbook than the five items Change 46 removed, and nothing about the May update touched it. Whether you're buying a nine-year-old home in Silver Creek or a cottage two blocks from the Mascoutah Heritage Museum, the termite report is still coming.
According to VA Loan Network, an NPMA-33 report is generally valid for 90 days from the inspection date, and since VA Circular 26-22-11 took effect in 2022, veterans have been allowed to pay the inspection fee themselves rather than requiring the seller to cover it, though it's still negotiable in the contract. Locally, that inspection typically runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 to $200 depending on the property, and firms like Barnett Pest Solutions, which has served the Metro East for more than 40 years and runs a Sentricon termite elimination program across Mascoutah and the surrounding towns, or Fred's Termite & Pest Control, which has worked the Mascoutah area for over two decades, handle the bulk of that work locally. If the inspection finds active infestation or existing damage, treatment can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on severity.
The second item Change 46 left alone is more specific to the older half of Mascoutah's housing stock. Lead-based paint remediation requirements on homes built before 1978 were explicitly carved out of the deregulation. The exterior paint exemption only applies to homes built after that year. A downtown home with peeling exterior paint still faces the same repair requirement it did before May 1.
Mascoutah Is Actually Two Housing Stocks
Mascoutah was founded in 1837, and its downtown along Main Street still carries buildings that reflect that. The city's own historical preservation work, including the Mascoutah Heritage Museum on West Main Street and reference points like the Berger-Kiel Log House dating to the 1860s, points to a downtown that has been treated as worth preserving rather than replacing. The 2020 Great Streets Initiative, a planning effort run with the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, specifically targeted the Main Street corridor between 6th Street and Mine Road for pedestrian and streetscape improvements, which tells you the city is investing in that older core rather than writing it off.
At the same time, Mascoutah's population grew from 5,659 in 2000 to 8,754 by 2020, a 55 percent increase driven in large part by spillover from the St. Louis metro area and military-related employment tied to Scott Air Force Base. That growth shows up as newer subdivisions: Silver Creek, Lakeside Estates, Brickyard Lake Estates, and Townsend Square all sit on the newer end of the city's housing timeline, built well after 1978 and mostly well after 2000.
That split matters for anyone comparing two houses at similar price points. A newer subdivision home and a downtown cottage can carry the same list price and the same VA loan terms and still face two different appraisal paths, because the home's construction date determines whether the exterior-paint rule applies.
| Housing type | Termite inspection | Exterior paint rule | Detached structures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newer subdivisions (Silver Creek, Lakeside Estates, Brickyard Lake Estates, Townsend Square) | Still required statewide | Exempt if built after 1978 | No longer subject to MPR |
| Historic downtown (pre-1978, Main Street area) | Still required statewide | Repair required if paint is defective | No longer subject to MPR |
The detached structure exemption applies regardless of build year, so a downtown home with an old garage in rough shape gets the same relief a newer subdivision home does there. But the paint line splits by construction date, while the termite inspection applies statewide, and that's the part of the May rule change that a lot of general VA loan explainers gloss over.
What a Repair Conversation Looks Like Now
When a VA appraisal comes back with an issue, it's marked "subject to" repair. Each separate MPR issue can require its own reinspection at a flat $150 fee, so a file with three unrelated problems can mean three separate reinspection charges stacking up before closing.
For a buyer under contract on a newer subdivision home, that conversation is shorter than it used to be. The appraiser isn't flagging the shed or a paint scuff anymore, so the repair list, if there is one, is more likely to be about something that actually threatens safety or structure, which was always the VA's real intent.
For a buyer under contract on a downtown home built before 1978, the conversation still has two fixed items to plan around from day one: the termite report, which needs to be ordered early enough to leave time for treatment if something turns up, and any lead paint repair the appraiser notes, which has to be resolved and documented before the loan funds. Total VA appraisal fees for a single-family home in 2026 generally run between $400 and $1,200 depending on the region and property type, and it's worth budgeting an additional $250 to $600 on top of that for the kind of add-ons, termite reports, reinspections, that are more likely to show up on an older property.
Building the Timeline Around It
A few sequencing choices make a real difference regardless of which housing stock you're buying into:
- Order the termite inspection the same week the appraisal is ordered, since it's required statewide and won't get skipped by waiting.
- If you're buying a pre-1978 home, ask early whether the seller has any prior lead paint disclosure or remediation history, so you're not discovering the issue for the first time at the appraisal.
- Build reinspection time into your contract timeline. A single $150 reinspection is manageable. Three of them stacked back to back is a scheduling problem if your PCS report date isn't moving.
- If you're buying new construction, confirm with your builder or listing agent that the appraisal was in fact ordered after May 1, since anything ordered before that date, even if closing happens later, falls under the old MPR list.
A Few Straight Answers
Does the May 2026 rule change mean I can skip a home inspection? No. The VA appraisal was never a home inspection and Change 46 didn't turn it into one. It checks value and baseline safety standards. A private inspector still checks the roof, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems in the kind of detail a VA appraiser doesn't provide.
Do the newer subdivisions in Mascoutah still need a termite inspection even though they're not old homes? Yes. The termite requirement is tied to Illinois being in the VA's moderate to heavy infestation zone, not to the age of the individual house. A two-year-old build in Lakeside Estates faces the same requirement as a century-old home downtown.
Who actually pays for the termite inspection? Since VA Circular 26-22-11 took effect in 2022, the veteran is allowed to pay it directly, but it's still a negotiable line item in the purchase contract, and sellers frequently agree to cover it as part of the deal.
Buying with a VA loan in Mascoutah means knowing which of these two appraisal paths your specific address is on before you write an offer, not after the Notice of Value comes back. Veterans PCS Group matches PCS and veteran buyers with agents who work this market regularly and can walk the termite and lead paint timeline with you from the first showing, whether you're looking at a new build in Silver Creek or a home two blocks off Main Street. Find an Agent to start the conversation before your report date gets any closer.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
