Appraisal waiver: What it is, risks, and how to get one

When you buy a home or refinance a mortgage, your lender usually requires an appraisal to make sure the property is worth enough to justify the loan amount.¹ An appraisal waiver lets some borrowers skip the appraisal when the lender’s automated underwriting system finds that existing data supports the home’s value, which can save a borrower money and time. Below, we’ll explain more about who might qualify, what you, as a borrower, give up, and how to decide whether to move forward with the waiver.

Key takeaways:

• Your lender’s automated system decides whether to offer a waiver based on your loan, borrower profile, and property, so it’s something you can ask about but can’t request or demand.
• Waivers are mostly available on conventional loans. On a purchase, the biggest factors tend to be a down payment of at least 10% and a straightforward one-unit home.
• A waiver offer can change as your loan does, so it helps to plan for an appraisal in your budget and timeline until you close.

What is an appraisal waiver?

An appraisal waiver means your lender doesn’t need a traditional in-person home appraisal for your loan because its automated underwriting system has enough data to support the home’s value. Your lender submits your application to the system, and a waiver shows up in the results only when your loan and property meet the program’s rules, which is why it’s offered to you rather than something you can request. Lenders aren’t obligated to offer one, and a lender must still order an appraisal when it has reason to believe one is warranted.

How automated systems decide a home’s value is supported

Most conventional loans run through Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter or Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor, and either system can return an appraisal waiver when its data supports the home’s value. They compare your price with information like public records, historical data, and a large database of past appraisals. On a purchase, they use your contract price, and on a refinance, they use your estimate of the home’s value.

Each company uses its own name for a waiver:

• Fannie Mae. Property inspection waiver (PIW), now called value acceptance
• Freddie Mac. Automated collateral evaluation (ACE)

Appraisal waiver vs. traditional appraisal

The main difference is who forms the opinion of value, since an appraisal waiver relies on available data while a traditional home appraisal relies on a licensed appraiser who visits the property and studies recent nearby sales.

Some loans receive an inspection-based waiver. In that case, a trained professional visits the home to take photos and measurements and note any needed repairs, and your lender uses those details in place of an appraisal. The professional doesn’t decide on a value, so your lender still accepts the price or value estimate already submitted.

Is an appraisal waiver the same as waiving an appraisal contingency?

They’re not the same thing. An appraisal waiver is a lender decision made during underwriting that lets your loan move forward without an appraisal. An appraisal contingency is a clause in your purchase contract that lets you renegotiate or step away if the home appraises for less than the price.

“I understand why clients want to know whether a waiver will help their offer, but we typically can’t confirm one until you have an agreed price,” says Robert Castallano, a Triple Crown Banker at Rocket Mortgage, “so I’d talk with your agent about how to protect yourself in the contract rather than count on a waiver.”

Whether to keep or waive your contingency is a separate choice to make with your agent, and an appraisal gap, which is the difference between the appraised value and the price you agreed to pay, is one of the risks to talk through.

Appraisal waiver requirements and how to get one

Because it’s an automated system making the call, getting a waiver comes down to knowing what it looks at and asking your lender about it early.

Loan, property, and borrower requirements

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set the baseline rules, and lenders can add their own. These are the factors that tend to influence whether or not an appraisal waiver will be offered:

• Loan type. Waivers come from Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s automated systems, so they’re mostly associated with conventional loans rather than government-backed loans.
• Borrower profile. Your credit score, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio (your monthly debts compared with your monthly income), income, and employment all feed into the system’s overall decision, and a waiver is only offered when the system approves your loan and finds it fits the program’s rules.
• Down payment and loan-to-value ratio. On a purchase, waivers are more likely when your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, which compares your loan amount with the home’s value, is 90% or lower. That typically means a down payment of at least 10%. Refinance limits differ and are covered below.
• Property. Waivers are only offered on one-unit homes, including condos, used as a primary residence or second home and priced below $1 million.
• Market data. The systems compare your price with information like existing appraisal data, listing data, and public records, so homes with plenty of that data tend to be easier for them to evaluate.
• Features that can rule one out. New construction, manufactured homes, co-ops, leasehold properties, gift-of-equity purchases, and repairs affecting safety, soundness, or livability noted in the purchase agreement, along with other unusual features. A home that was appraised in the last 120 days may also be ineligible for a waiver.

How to find out whether a waiver was offered

Asking about a waiver at the start of your loan application is one of the more useful steps to take, according to Castallano. “If a waiver doesn’t come back, you haven’t lost anything, and you’ll know to plan for an appraisal in your timeline and budget.”

1. Apply with a lender that runs conventional loans through Fannie Mae’s or Freddie Mac’s automated system.
2. Ask your lender to check for a waiver before an appraisal is ordered, since a loan generally loses eligibility once a report has been received.
3. Ask whether a waiver came back in your results.
4. Review the decision with your lender and real estate agent before accepting.

Benefits of waiving an appraisal

When a waiver is offered, the benefits tend to show up in your overall costs, your closing timeline, and how smoothly your loan moves toward closing, though not every borrower or property will qualify.

You can save money

Appraisal fees vary by property and location, but not needing to pay for an appraisal saves borrowers roughly $600 on average. That money can stay in your pocket or go toward your closing costs.

You may be able to close sooner

Without an appraisal, your closing isn’t relying on an appraiser’s schedule and report delivery. Freddie Mac reports that loans using its waiver closed about 14 days sooner on purchases and 12 days sooner on refinances, on average, as of the second quarter of 2025. Your own timeline for closing on a house will depend on your loan.

Your loan has one less hurdle to clear

Part of an appraisal’s job is to assure the lender that the home is worth the loan amount, so without a traditional appraisal there’s no chance of a low appraisal coming in under your purchase price or refinance request and disrupting your financing.

You might not need to arrange a home visit

A traditional appraisal means finding a time for an appraiser to walk through the home, which can involve coordinating with the seller on a purchase or preparing your own home on a refinance. With a waiver, there’s typically no appraisal visit to schedule.

Risks of using an appraisal waiver

Skipping the appraisal also means skipping an independent opinion of the home’s value, and a waiver comes with some uncertainty of its own, which is why the risks below deserve attention too.

You could overpay for the home

On a purchase, the system starts with the price you’ve agreed to pay and checks whether it lines up with data about the area. That isn’t the same as an appraiser concluding the home is worth that amount, and data can lag in a fast-moving market or miss what sets one home apart from its neighbors, so a waiver doesn’t guarantee your price matches fair market value. A low appraisal can also give you a reason to ask the seller to lower the price, and with a waiver, you won’t have that to point to.

You might miss property issues

An in-person appraiser can spot problems that an automated valuation might miss, such as condition concerns that never show up in public records. An appraisal isn’t a home inspection either, so it’s worth understanding how appraisals and inspections differ and planning for an inspection whether you receive a waiver.

A waiver can change as your loan does

“A waiver isn’t locked in until you close,” says Castallano. “If your loan amount, the home’s value estimate, or your debt-to-income ratio changes along the way, the waiver can go away, so I tell clients to hold off on big financial moves, like opening new credit, while their loan is in process.”

If that happens, your loan may need an appraisal to move forward, which can add time and cost you the fee you expected to save.

Appraisal waivers for refinancing

Appraisal waivers are available on refinances as well as purchases. The main difference is how your home’s value gets set: on a purchase, the lender uses the price you agreed to pay, and on a refinance, it uses an estimate of what your home is worth. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac limit how much you can borrow as a share of the home’s value, while still being considered for a waiver. A refinance appraisal and a purchase appraisal follow similar criteria otherwise.

“With a cash-out refinance you’re borrowing against your equity, so the limits are tighter,” Castallano says. “Before you count on skipping the appraisal, it helps to know that the amount you’re borrowing, compared with your home’s value, is one of the first things the system looks at.”

What should you do if your loan receives an appraisal waiver?

When a waiver comes back, Rocket Mortgage typically doesn’t order an appraisal, and you can opt out in only a few situations, so the most useful question is how to feel confident about your price rather than whether to say yes. If you’d like an independent opinion of value, you can hire your own appraiser outside your loan. If you’d rather have your lender order one, tell your banker early, since ordering one isn’t automatic, it can delay your closing, and there’s no guarantee the waiver will still be available afterward.

If you’re refinancing, the same questions apply, with one difference: a waiver generally keeps your home’s value at the estimate you submitted, so ask your banker how that estimate is used before you decide.

When a waiver can work in your favor:

• Your price lines up with nearby sales. You and your agent compared recent comparable sales, and the price feels consistent with them.
• You’re comfortable with the home’s condition. A home inspection gave you confidence in what you’re buying.
• The home is similar to others nearby. A fairly typical home in an area with plenty of recent sales gives the system more to compare, which tends to make its read on the value more reliable.
• Timing matters. You’re working with a tight closing date and want to avoid appraisal-related delays.
• You have limited cash on hand. If an appraisal came in below your price, you’d typically need to cover the difference out of pocket or ask the seller to lower the price, which can be hard when most of your savings is already going toward your down payment and closing costs. A waiver removes that possibility.

When you may want your own appraisal:

• The price feels high. The price you agreed to is above recent comparable sales, or competition pushed your offer up, and you’d want an appraiser’s opinion of value. A low appraisal can also give you grounds to ask the seller to lower the price, so ask your agent whether your contract would let you use one you order yourself.
• The home inspection raised concerns. You’d like an appraiser’s view of how the issues affect the home’s value. Tell your lender about the concerns, since a lender must order an appraisal when it has reason to believe one is warranted.
• You believe your home is worth more than your estimate. On a refinance, a waiver generally keeps the value at the estimate you submitted, so an appraisal may be the better route if you want a higher value documented – for example, if you’ve made big upgrades. Talk with your banker before you decide.

FAQ

These answers cover the questions that come up most often about appraisal waivers and aren’t fully answered above.

What is a 3-day appraisal waiver?

A 3-day appraisal waiver is another name for an appraisal delivery waiver, and it doesn’t mean you’re waiving the actual appraisal. Instead, it refers to the delivery timeline of your appraisal report. According to the 3-day appraisal delivery rule, your lender must give you a copy promptly after the appraisal is completed, or at least 3 business days before closing, whichever comes first. You can agree to waive the delivery rule and receive the report at or before closing instead, as long as you give permission at least three business days before closing. Some loans don’t allow this waiver, including certain higher-priced mortgage loans.

Can I get a VA appraisal fee waiver?

Not on a home purchase. VA loans require an appraisal by a VA-appointed appraiser, so the appraisal and the VA appraisal fees aren’t something that can be waived.² There are a few situations where you aren’t charged a second time, such as when the first appraisal was deficient or expired because of declining market trends. A VA Streamline refinance is different, since it generally doesn’t need an appraisal when the new loan has a fixed rate.³ Sometimes, the VA funding fee may be waived, but that’s different from the appraisal costs.

Can you get an appraisal waiver on a cash-out refinance?

Sometimes you can, but the limits are lower than for other types of refinances. Your new loan, including the cash you take out, usually can’t be more than 70% of your home’s value on a primary residence or 60% on a second home. Your lender’s system also has to return a waiver in your results, and a home that’s currently being renovated isn’t eligible. Your lender can tell you whether you qualify after reviewing your application.

The bottom line: An appraisal waiver can save time and money

An appraisal waiver can lower your closing costs and move your closing along, and because your lender’s automated system decides whether to offer one, the best way to find out where you stand is to apply and ask what your results show. The trade-off is that an appraiser isn’t providing an independent opinion of the home’s value, so it helps to compare your price with recent nearby sales, plan for a home inspection either way if you’re buying, and decide ahead of time whether you’d rather pay for an appraisal.

When you’re ready to buy or refinance, Rocket Mortgage makes applying for a mortgage fast and easy.

¹Refinancing may increase finance charges over the life of the loan.

²Rocket Mortgage is a VA-approved lender, not endorsed or sponsored by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs or any government agency.

³The VA Streamline program may have stricter requirements in some states. In order to qualify for the VA Streamline program, you must have a VA loan. The VA Streamline is only available on primary residences. Cash-out transactions are not allowed. In order to qualify for a VA Streamline, a 0.5% minimum reduction in interest rate on the previous fixed-rate loan must occur if the new loan will be a fixed rate or a 2% minimum reduction in interest rate on previous adjustable rate mortgage loan must occur; a minimum of 6 months of consecutive mortgage payments must be paid on the current loan at the time of application. Some states may require an appraisal. Additional restrictions/conditions may apply.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, medical, legal, financial, investment, or tax advice. You should consult with a qualified professional for advice specific to your situation. Consumers should independently verify that any services, products, or programs referenced meet their needs and comply with applicable requirements.

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