1Schedule the appraiser's visit
You're done when: The appointment is confirmed and on your calendar.
The buyer's lender orders the appraisal to confirm the home is worth the loan amount. You do not choose the appraiser and you do not control the outcome, but you do control access - and appraisals are a common source of closing delays.
How to do it
- Respond quickly when the lender's appraiser gets in touch.
- Offer flexible timing rather than a single slot.
- Make sure the whole home is accessible: every room, the attic, the crawlspace, the mechanicals.
- Confirm the appointment in writing.
- Put the date on your calendar.
Worth knowing
- The buyer's lender picks the appraiser. You have no say in who comes.
- About 7% of delayed settlements in a recent NAR period were down to the appraisal.
- A cash buyer usually means no appraisal at all.
- What it costs
- The buyer pays, typically $400-700
- Where to check
- Written confirmation of the appointment
2Prep the home and support the appraiser
You're done when: The appraiser has your comp and improvement sheet and full access to the home.
A clean, accessible, well-documented visit gives your value the best support it can have. You cannot argue an appraiser into a number, but you can make sure they have everything.
How to do it
- Present the home clean and accessible, exactly as you would for a showing.
- Prepare a one-page sheet with three to five recent sold comps that support your price.
- List your improvements with dates and costs: roof, HVAC, kitchen, additions.
- Note anything that is not visible - new mechanicals, permitted work behind a wall.
- Hand over the sheet, then give the appraiser space to work.
Worth knowing
- Appraisers weigh sold comps heavily. Local ones they might not have found are genuinely useful.
- Documented improvements matter at the margin, which is often where this lands.
- Following an appraiser around the house does not help. Leave them to it.
- What it costs
- Free
- Where to check
- Your own comp sheet, handed over at the visit
3Review the appraisal result and available next steps
You're done when: You have accepted the value, renegotiated it, or walked away.
The appraisal comes back at, above, or below the contract price. A low appraisal is one of the most common reasons a deal gets renegotiated, and you have several routes from there.
How to do it
- If the value meets or exceeds the price, nothing to do. It moves to underwriting.
- If it comes in low, look at your four options: the buyer pays the difference in cash, you reduce the price, you split the gap, or you challenge the appraisal.
- Check the contract for an appraisal gap clause. The buyer may already have agreed to cover some or all of a shortfall.
- To challenge it, submit a written reconsideration of value with strong comparable sales or clear factual errors. Not opinion.
- If there is no resolution, the buyer's appraisal contingency may let them walk. Decide your floor before that conversation.
Worth knowing
- Splitting the difference is a common resolution.
- Appraisal challenges rarely succeed without concrete errors or genuinely missed sales.
- If the value comes back higher than the contract price, that is not renegotiated upward. The price is the price.
- What it costs
- Free to challenge. A price reduction costs what it costs
- Where to check
- The written appraisal report itself, read in full
4Handle appraisal-required repairs
You're done when: Every required repair is complete, documented, re-inspected, and the compliance certificate is issued.
FHA, VA, and USDA appraisals address value and applicable property standards. If the appraiser requires repairs, the lender will explain what must be completed before that loan can close.
How to do it
- Read the required-repair list carefully. The appraiser specifies exactly what needs fixing.
- Understand the categories: safety hazards, habitability, and functionality of major systems. Cosmetic items are usually not on this list.
- Decide who does the work. Sellers commonly do, because the buyer cannot close without it, though it is negotiable.
- Use licensed contractors where the item requires one - electrical, roofing. Keep receipts and completion documentation.
- Schedule the appraiser's re-inspection as soon as the work is done. They issue a compliance or final inspection confirming it.
Worth knowing
- The requirement comes from federal loan program guidelines - HUD, VA, USDA. No buyer, seller, or loan officer can waive it and still close that loan.
- Escrow holdbacks are generally NOT allowed for FHA, VA, and USDA safety items. The work has to be finished before closing.
- Common calls: peeling paint on a pre-1978 home, missing handrails on stairs with three or more risers, broken windows, exposed wiring, a roof with under two years left, non-functioning HVAC, an unsafe deck, missing GFCI outlets in wet areas.
- VA loans additionally require a termite inspection in most states, usually seller-paid. USDA often requires well-water testing.
- Most FHA and VA appraisals pass without any repair call. This step is for the times they do not.
- What it costs
- Varies by repair. Termite inspection $75-150; well-water test $50-200
- Where to check
- The appraiser's compliance or final inspection certificate