A house appraisal typically lasts anywhere from 150 days to 12 months, depending on your loan type. Conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac allow up to 12 months from the appraiser’s inspection date, though an update is required once the report is more than four months old at closing. FHA appraisals are valid for 180 days, VA appraisals for six months on existing homes, and USDA appraisals for 150 days. An appraisal can also expire early if the property is damaged, undergoes major renovation, or the local market shifts sharply.
Conventional Loans: 12 Months, With a 4-Month Catch
Fannie Mae’s selling guide sets the outer limit at 12 months. The effective date of the appraisal — the day the appraiser inspected the property — must fall within 12 months of the date on your mortgage note. Past that, a completely new appraisal is required, and no update can save it.1Fannie Mae. Appraisal Age and Use Requirements
The four-month mark is what most borrowers actually run into. When the original appraisal is more than four months old but less than 12 months old at closing, the lender must order an appraisal update. The appraiser re-inspects the exterior, reviews recent comparable sales, and confirms the property hasn’t lost value. If the update shows a decline, the lender has to order a new full appraisal instead.1Fannie Mae. Appraisal Age and Use Requirements
Freddie Mac follows the same structure: up to 12 months at the note date with an update after the initial period, and a required new appraisal if the update shows the value has dropped.2Freddie Mac. Age of Appraisal Reports, Appraisal Update Requirements, Re-Use of an Appraisal Report for a Subsequent Transaction and Age of PDRs
Older guidance still floating around the internet says conventional appraisals expire at 90 or 120 days. That’s out of date. The exception worth knowing about is desktop appraisals, where the appraiser works remotely from photos and data instead of visiting the property. Those expire at four months under Fannie Mae’s rules with no option to update — you need a full new report.1Fannie Mae. Appraisal Age and Use Requirements Freddie Mac uses the same 120-day cutoff for desktops.2Freddie Mac. Age of Appraisal Reports, Appraisal Update Requirements, Re-Use of an Appraisal Report for a Subsequent Transaction and Age of PDRs
FHA Loans: 180 Days, Tied to Your Case Number
FHA appraisals are valid for 180 days from the effective date of the report. HUD extended this from 120 days in 2022, so older articles referencing a four-month window no longer apply.3Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mortgagee Letter 2022-11 Revised Appraisal Validity Periods
If your FHA loan won’t close within 180 days, an appraisal update can extend the validity to a full year from the original effective date. The 30-day courtesy extension that once existed has been eliminated.4Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Implements Revised Appraisal Validity Period Guidance and Appraisal Logging Changes in FHA Connection
One FHA rule catches borrowers off guard. Every FHA appraisal is tied to a specific case number. If your original transaction collapses and you start over with a new case number, you cannot reuse the old appraisal, no matter how recent it is. A new case number means a new appraisal.3Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mortgagee Letter 2022-11 Revised Appraisal Validity Periods
VA Loans: Six Months, or 12 for New Construction
For existing homes, a VA appraisal is valid for six months from the date of the Notice of Value (NOV). Proposed new construction gets 12 months from the NOV date.5VA Home Loans. Credit Standards The NOV is the VA’s formal determination of the property’s value, and it sets the ceiling on what the VA will guarantee. Miss that window and your lender needs a new appraisal and a new NOV before the loan can proceed.
USDA Loans: 150 Days, Extendable to 240
USDA Rural Development loans use a 150-day validity period measured from the effective date. If you can’t close inside that window, your lender can request a one-time appraisal update report that extends validity to 240 days from the original effective date. That’s the only extension allowed. Once 240 days passes, a new appraisal is required.6USDA Rural Development. Appraisals – Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Notes
If you switch USDA lenders during the process, the transferred appraisal must be no older than 150 days at closing. The extension option doesn’t survive a lender change.6USDA Rural Development. Appraisals – Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Notes
How an Appraisal Update Works
When closing gets pushed past the initial validity window, an update is what keeps you from paying for a full new report. The original appraiser typically inspects the exterior, reviews new comparable sales, and confirms the property hasn’t deteriorated or lost market value.7Fannie Mae. Requirements for Verifying Completion and Postponed Improvements
An update runs roughly $150 to $350 depending on the market, versus $400 to $800 or more for a full new appraisal. But an update isn’t guaranteed to save your deal. If the appraiser concludes the value has dropped, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require the lender to order a new full appraisal instead.2Freddie Mac. Age of Appraisal Reports, Appraisal Update Requirements, Re-Use of an Appraisal Report for a Subsequent Transaction and Age of PDRs In a cooling market, delays get expensive.
When an Appraisal Expires Early
The calendar isn’t the only thing that can kill an appraisal. Underwriters have to confirm the report still reflects reality at closing, and several situations force a new one even inside the validity window.
Damage to the Property
A fire, flood, or major storm makes the existing appraisal unreliable. Freddie Mac’s guidance is explicit: after catastrophic damage, the appraiser must value the property as-is, not on assumptions about future repairs or insurance payouts.8Freddie Mac. Appraisal Guidance – Catastrophic Damage Expect the lender to require a fresh inspection before funding.
A Rapid Market Shift
Federal banking regulators expect lenders to reassess an appraisal when local conditions change significantly. Interagency guidelines list local market volatility as a specific factor that warrants ordering a new appraisal or evaluation, even if the existing one hasn’t technically expired.9National Credit Union Administration. Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines If prices in your area drop sharply after the appraisal date, the underwriter may reject the report because it no longer supports the loan-to-value ratio needed for approval.
Major Renovations Mid-Process
Starting a significant renovation during closing can invalidate the appraisal. Fannie Mae requires that the property not have undergone remodeling, renovation, or deterioration to the extent that market value would be materially affected since the appraisal was performed.1Fannie Mae. Appraisal Age and Use Requirements Tearing out a kitchen or adding a room changes the characteristics the appraiser evaluated, and the original report no longer describes the same house.
Get Your Copy and Check It
Federal law requires your lender to give you a copy of every appraisal and written valuation performed on the property. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act’s implementing regulation, the copy must be delivered promptly upon completion or at least three business days before closing, whichever comes first.10eCFR. 12 CFR 1002.14 – Rules on Providing Appraisals and Other Valuations You can waive the timing and receive it at closing, but the waiver itself has to be obtained at least three business days out. If the loan falls through, the lender still owes you the copy within 30 days of that decision.
Reading the appraisal matters. Square footage errors, wrong room counts, or a poor selection of comparable sales can drag the valuation down. If you spot a factual mistake, you can ask your lender to request a reconsideration of value from the appraiser. That’s often the fastest way to fix a low appraisal that threatens a purchase, and worth doing before the clock runs out and you’re paying for a new report anyway.