Polybutylene pipes, Va loans and insurance

[Erica Muller]

Question regarding VA loans. I've never dealt with one before because I work mainly with investors but I am flipping a house I rehabbed and the buyer is getting a VA loan. Here is the issue that I am unfamiliar with, the buyer is requesting a $5000 credit due to the fact that the house (which was built in 1991) was piped with polybutylene pipes. They are saying that most insurance companies won't insure a house with this type of piping and that VA will have issues with it. This sounds a bit extreme to me. Is this accurate or are they just reaching at straws here to get a discount on the home? Other homes in the neighborhood have seemed to have closed just fine and they are all built the same way.