Fannie Mae’s Value Acceptance program lets a qualifying mortgage close without a traditional home appraisal, using Fannie Mae’s own property data and valuation models in place of an appraiser’s opinion of value. It’s the current name for what the industry long called an appraisal waiver, and it can shave roughly $550 off closing costs on an average loan.1Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance + Property Data Fact Sheet Whether a loan gets the offer isn’t something you request. Desktop Underwriter, Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system, decides.
The Three Tracks
Value Acceptance comes in three versions, and the difference matters because it determines whether anyone sets foot on the property.
Standard Value Acceptance is the fully waived version. No appraisal, no visit, no inspection. Fannie Mae’s models are confident enough in the estimated value to close the file without a person looking at the house.
Value Acceptance + Property Data requires a trained third party to visit and collect a standardized dataset: photographs, measurements, and a floor plan. The person doing the collection does not have to be a licensed appraiser, and they are not rendering an opinion of value. They are documenting what’s there so Fannie Mae can confirm the property matches what the model expects.2Fannie Mae. Property Data Collection 101
Rural High-Needs Value Acceptance is a purchase-only track for areas Fannie Mae designates as rural high-needs under its Duty to Serve requirements. Instead of a data collection, this one requires a home inspection by a state-licensed or professionally designated inspector. It’s limited to one-unit principal residences where the borrower’s income is at or below 100% of the area median, with LTV ratios allowed up to 97%.3Fannie Mae. High-Needs Rural Value Acceptance
What Loans and Properties Can Qualify
An offer requires an Approve/Eligible recommendation from DU. The system weighs the property type, occupancy, loan characteristics, and its own confidence in the estimated value before extending one.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance
The program is available for purchase transactions, limited cash-out refinances, and cash-out refinances on one-unit properties, including single-family homes and individual condo units. Principal residences and second homes are both eligible. Investment properties can qualify, though DU issues offers on them less often, and if the borrower is being qualified on rental income from the subject property, Value Acceptance + Property Data is not available.5Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance + Property Data
Fannie Mae does not publish an LTV threshold that guarantees an offer. DU treats LTV as one factor among many. The only bright-line dollar limit: properties with a purchase price or estimated value of $1,000,000 or more are automatically excluded.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance
What’s Excluded
The list of hard stops is long. None of the following can receive a Value Acceptance or Value Acceptance + Property Data offer:
- Two- to four-unit properties
- Co-op units and manufactured homes
- New construction, including proposed construction and construction-to-permanent loans (single-close or two-close)
- HomeStyle Renovation and HomeStyle Refresh mortgages
- Leasehold properties
- Community land trusts and any property with resale price restrictions, including loans using the Affordable LTV feature
- Any transaction where the purchase price or estimated value is $1,000,000 or more
- Transactions where the seller gifts equity to the buyer
- Texas Section 50(a)(6) home equity loans
- Manually underwritten loans
These exclusions cover both the standard track and the property-data track.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance Properties in FEMA-declared disaster areas are also blocked from new offers until Fannie Mae has accepted a post-disaster appraisal for the area.6Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Properties Affected by a Disaster
Separately, Fannie Mae will not purchase loans on certain property types at all, so Value Acceptance is moot for them: vacant land, farms and ranches, timeshares, houseboats, bed-and-breakfast properties, and anything not suitable for year-round occupancy.7Fannie Mae Selling Guide. General Property Eligibility
How the Offer Is Generated
The lender submits the loan into DU as it would any Fannie Mae loan. If the models judge the property value reliable enough to skip an appraisal, DU includes a Value Acceptance offer in its findings. No Approve/Eligible recommendation, no offer.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance
For Value Acceptance + Property Data, the lender enters a Property Data ID that ties the collection report to the loan file. For the standard version, nothing extra is needed. Either way, the offer has to be present on the final DU submission. If a resubmission drops the offer, it’s gone, even if an earlier run showed one.8Fannie Mae. FAQs – Property Valuation
Lenders also can’t pick and choose. Fannie Mae prohibits adverse selection, meaning a lender cannot accept offers only when the value estimate looks generous and order appraisals when it looks tight.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance
How Long the Offer Lasts
A Value Acceptance offer is valid for four months from the date DU issues it, and it must still be active on the date of the note and mortgage. If the four months lapse before closing, the lender has to order a traditional appraisal.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance
Certain changes to the loan file will cause DU to re-evaluate on resubmission, and the offer may not survive:
- Loan amount
- Property value
- Property type
- Loan type
- Property address
- Loan-to-value ratio
For Value Acceptance + Property Data, the offer can also disappear if qualifying loan characteristics change, or if an appraisal is obtained before closing.8Fannie Mae. FAQs – Property Valuation That last point catches lenders off guard. Ordering an appraisal “just in case” permanently kills the offer.
Each DU casefile is evaluated on its own. A different loan on the same property can produce a completely different result.
When a Lender Must Still Order an Appraisal
Even when DU generates an offer, the lender has to set it aside and order a traditional appraisal in specific situations:
- DU failed to detect an ineligible condition, such as a Texas Section 50(a)(6) loan that wasn’t flagged
- Federal or state law requires an appraisal
- The lender is using rental income from the subject property to qualify the borrower
- The lender has reason to believe an appraisal is warranted, for example known structural damage or major renovations
The offer is a tool, not a mandate. Lenders remain responsible for flagging what the algorithm might miss.4Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Value Acceptance
One boundary worth stating plainly: Value Acceptance is not Fannie Mae appraising your home. Lenders are not permitted to tell borrowers or anyone else that Fannie Mae performed an appraisal or valuation of the property.9Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Representations and Warranties on Property Value The program waives the appraisal requirement; it does not replace one with a Fannie Mae stamp of value.