VA Appraisal

A VA appraisal is an appraisal performed by an appraiser on VA's fee panel — an independent, VA-approved professional assigned by VA, not chosen by your lender or the seller. It does two jobs at once: it estimates the home's market value, and it confirms the property meets VA's Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs).

The lender cannot close your loan for more than the appraised value (formally, the Notice of Value). That protects you as much as it protects VA — it's the mechanism that keeps a VA buyer from overpaying.

One thing the appraisal is not: a home inspection. The appraiser checks for obvious habitability problems, not the condition of every system. VA does not require an inspection, but hiring your own inspector is still money well spent.

VA's standard is that the home must be safe, structurally sound, and sanitary. In practice, appraisers flag issues like:

• Working heating, electricity, and water — including safe water supply and sewage disposal.
• A roof in serviceable condition with reasonable remaining life.
• No peeling or chipping paint in homes built before 1978 (a lead-paint hazard).
• Safe, year-round access from a public or maintained private road.
• No safety hazards: broken stairs, missing handrails, exposed wiring, or active leaks.
• Adequate living space, ventilation, and crawl-space access where applicable.
• Wood-destroying insect inspection in states where VA requires it.

MPR issues don't automatically kill the deal. Most can be repaired before closing, and the appraiser notes the condition as "subject to" the repair. What MPRs do rule out is buying a true fixer-upper with a standard VA purchase loan.

This is also why people search for "VA inspection requirements" — the MPR check is the closest thing to a required inspection in the VA process.

VA publishes a timeliness standard for every state — and many individual counties — in its appraisal fee and timeliness table. Most states run 6 to 15 business days from the day the appraiser is assigned; rural areas and states like Alaska can run longer.

The clock starts when VA assigns the order, which happens after your lender requests it — so order early. Your lender can check the appraisal's status in VA's portal at any time; if it's running past the published standard for your county, ask them to escalate.

Unlike conventional appraisals, VA appraisal fees are capped by a published fee schedule, set by state and property type. On the schedule effective May 2026, a single-family appraisal runs roughly $700 in most states, up to about $1,500 in high-cost or remote areas, with condos, manufactured homes, and 2–4 unit properties priced separately.

The buyer customarily pays the appraisal fee, and it's one of the standard line items in your VA closing costs. If the deal falls through after the appraisal is completed, the fee is still owed — it pays for the appraiser's work, not the outcome.