You can waive a home appraisal on many conventional mortgages, but only if your loan qualifies for what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac call “value acceptance” — the newer name for what the industry still calls an appraisal waiver.1Fannie Mae. FAQs: Property Valuation You don’t request the waiver yourself. Your lender runs your file through an automated underwriting system, and if the system has enough historical data on the property and your financial profile looks strong, it offers to accept the submitted value without sending an appraiser out. If you’re using an FHA, VA, or USDA loan, a full in-person appraisal is almost always required and there is no equivalent waiver.
Who Qualifies for an Appraisal Waiver
Value acceptance is only available on conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Within that pool, eligibility turns on four things: how much equity you have, what kind of property it is, how you’ll use it, and whether the address has enough prior valuation data in the agency’s database.
For Fannie Mae, the loan-to-value ceilings are:
- Purchase of a principal residence or second home: up to 90% LTV, meaning at least 10% down.
- Limited cash-out (rate-and-term) refinance of a principal residence or second home: up to 90% LTV.
- Limited cash-out refinance of an investment property: up to 75% LTV.
The property has to be a single-unit home valued below $1,000,000 based on either the purchase price or the estimated value your lender submits.3Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance Investment properties can’t get a waiver on a purchase transaction, only on a limited cash-out refinance.
Neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac publishes a credit-score cutoff, but a stronger credit profile, lower debt-to-income ratio, and healthier reserves all improve the odds that the automated system will make the offer. The property side matters just as much: Fannie Mae generally needs to find a prior appraisal for the address in its Collateral Underwriter database. A home that has never been appraised, or hasn’t been appraised in some time, will usually trigger a traditional appraisal regardless of how clean your financials look.3Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance
Loans and Properties That Can’t Skip the Appraisal
Several categories are shut out of value acceptance entirely, no matter how much equity or income you have.
Government-Backed Loans
FHA, VA, and USDA loans almost always require a full in-person appraisal. These agencies use the appraisal to confirm the home meets minimum safety and habitability standards, not just to pin down market value. USDA, for instance, requires an appraiser to use standard residential appraisal forms, and the lender has to verify the property is free of health and safety hazards.4Rural Development – USDA. HB-1-3555, Chapters 12 and 13 – Property and Appraisal Requirements If you’re financing with any of these programs, plan on paying for and scheduling an appraisal.
Standard Cash-Out Refinances
If you’re pulling equity out of your home in a traditional cash-out refinance on a Fannie Mae loan, you’re not eligible for a waiver.2Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance Freddie Mac does allow cash-out refinances through its hybrid program (primary residences up to 70% LTV and second homes up to 60% LTV), but those still require someone to visit the property and collect data rather than a full waiver.5Freddie Mac Single-Family. ACE+ PDR
Property Types the System Won’t Touch
Fannie Mae’s ineligible list for value acceptance includes:
- Multi-unit properties (duplexes, triplexes, four-unit buildings).
- Manufactured homes and co-op units.
- Proposed construction and construction-to-permanent loans.
- HomeStyle Renovation and HomeStyle Refresh loans.
- Leasehold properties and community land trusts with resale price restrictions.
- Homes valued at $1,000,000 or more.
- Transactions involving a gift of equity.
Recently flipped homes are a softer exclusion. FHA won’t insure a loan if the sales contract is signed within 90 days of the seller’s own purchase, and multiple title transfers inside 12 months draw scrutiny.6HUD Exchange. Waiver of Requirements of 24 CFR 203.37a(b)(2) On the conventional side, a thin ownership history reduces the automated system’s confidence in the property’s value and makes a waiver offer less likely.
The Hybrid Alternative When a Full Waiver Isn’t Offered
If your loan doesn’t get a standard value acceptance offer, there’s a middle path that still skips the licensed appraiser. Fannie Mae calls it “value acceptance + property data,” and Freddie Mac calls it “ACE + PDR” (Automated Collateral Evaluation plus Property Data Report).7Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance + Property Data5Freddie Mac Single-Family. ACE+ PDR
A trained data collector visits the property, observes the interior and exterior, takes photographs, and produces a floor plan that meets ANSI measurement standards. The collector doesn’t give a value opinion; the automated system still handles that. The collector only confirms the home’s physical condition and layout match what the database expects.7Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance + Property Data
Eligibility is broader than a full waiver. On Fannie Mae purchases, the hybrid option can go up to 97% LTV (and up to 105% combined LTV with Community Seconds).2Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance Data collectors don’t have to be licensed appraisers, though licensed appraisers and trainees can serve in the role. They must complete training on the Uniform Property Dataset, pass an annual background check, and have no financial interest in the transaction.8Freddie Mac Single-Family. Property Data Collection: An Overview The fee is typically well below a full appraisal.
Should You Waive the Appraisal?
A waiver saves time and money, but it strips out protections worth understanding before you accept.
You Could Overpay
A traditional appraisal gives you an independent professional opinion of market value based on a physical inspection and recent comparable sales. Without one, you’re relying entirely on the automated valuation model. The algorithm can’t see deferred maintenance, poor renovation work, or neighborhood shifts that affect value. If it overshoots, you borrow more than the home is worth, and that position becomes painful if prices soften or you need to sell quickly.
Nobody Sees the House
An appraiser’s visit isn’t a home inspection, but it does catch obvious problems: cracked foundations, water damage, a failing roof. Under a full waiver, nobody with valuation training ever sets foot inside. Fannie Mae’s guidelines still require the lender to represent that the property has no safety, soundness, or structural integrity problems, but that warranty rests on data rather than observation.7Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance + Property Data If you want someone to actually look at the house, hiring your own home inspector becomes more important, not less.
You Lose Negotiation Leverage
When an appraisal comes in below the agreed price, you have concrete grounds to go back to the seller. Without one, that lever is gone. And if you’ve separately waived the appraisal contingency in your purchase contract (a different decision from the lender’s value acceptance), you may owe the gap between the loan amount and the purchase price out of pocket.
You Can Say No to the Waiver
A value acceptance offer is an offer. You and your lender can decline it and order a traditional appraisal anyway. Lenders also apply their own overlays and sometimes insist on an appraisal even when the automated system doesn’t require one, especially on higher-value properties or in fast-moving markets.
The main reason to accept is speed. A traditional appraisal typically adds one to three weeks to closing. In a competitive purchase, that time can matter. Weigh it against the protection you give up.
How Long the Offer Lasts
A Fannie Mae value acceptance offer expires if it’s more than four months old on the date of the note and mortgage.3Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance If closing slips past that window, your lender has to resubmit the loan, and the second run may not produce the same answer. Changes in market data or your financial profile can cost you the waiver.
For the hybrid option, the property data collection visit is valid for 12 months from the date it was performed, but it has to happen before the note date.9Fannie Mae. href=”https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/sel/b4-1.4-11/value-acceptance-property-data” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Value Acceptance + Property Data Changes to the loan amount, property type, or occupancy status after the initial submission can also void the offer, so tell your lender right away if anything about your transaction shifts.
What You’d Pay for an Appraisal Instead
When a waiver isn’t available, the appraisal lands in your closing costs. For a standard single-family home, fees generally run roughly $500 to $800 in most markets. Complex properties, rural locations, and high-cost areas can push the bill past $1,000. Multi-family units and government-backed loans (VA and USDA in particular) tend to run higher because of extra inspection requirements. The hybrid property data collection visit, when it’s an option, typically costs less than half of a full appraisal.