If you are buying or refinancing with a conventional loan, you may hear early on that your file "might not need an appraisal." That usually lands as good news, and often it is. It also leaves real questions open. Who decides? What does skipping the appraisal actually skip? And on a purchase, who is checking that the price you agreed to is a fair one?
This guide covers how conventional loan appraisal waivers work in 2026, the eligibility limits for purchases and refinances, the version that still sends someone to the house, and how to tell whether a waiver helps your situation or only makes it faster.
What a conventional loan appraisal waiver is
A conventional loan is a mortgage that is not insured or guaranteed by a government agency. Most are written to the guidelines of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac so they can be sold to one of them after closing. Each of those agencies runs an automated underwriting system, and that system is where an appraisal waiver comes from.
When your loan application is submitted, the system compares the value on your file against its own data: millions of past appraisals, public records, and prior sales tied to the address. If it is confident the submitted value holds up, it returns an offer to accept that value without a new appraisal.
Fannie Mae retired the phrase "appraisal waiver" in 2025 and now calls this value acceptance. Freddie Mac's version is called Automated Collateral Evaluation, or ACE. Lenders and borrowers still say "appraisal waiver," and all three terms describe the same idea.
Two points get lost in most explanations.
First, the value is not waived. Only the in-person appraisal is. On a purchase, the value used is your contract price. On a refinance, it is the estimate you or your lender submitted. Your loan is still sized against that number.
Second, the offer belongs to the loan file, not to you. Change the loan amount, the price, the occupancy, or the transaction type, and the system evaluates the file again. An offer can appear on the first run and be gone on the third.
Who decides, and why it is not personal
Nobody at the lender chooses to grant a waiver. Under Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, the lender cannot pick and choose which value acceptance offers to use based on risk, and if the file does not qualify, an appraisal is required.
So you cannot apply for a waiver, and a loan officer cannot negotiate one into existence. A good loan officer can tell you early whether your file is likely to get an offer, and what stands in the way if not.
It also means that a waiver says almost nothing about you as a borrower. It is a statement about how much reliable data exists on the property and how much cushion the loan has. Two owners with identical credit can get different answers because their houses have different histories. Smart people find this confusing every day, because the math is never shown.
Conventional loan appraisal waiver limits for 2026
These are Fannie Mae's published limits for value acceptance, as shown on its eligibility overview updated September 2025. Freddie Mac's ACE sets its own limits, and it also expanded purchase eligibility to 90 percent loan-to-value in February 2025.
Purchase transactions
- Standard value acceptance covers principal residences and second homes up to 90 percent loan-to-value (LTV) and combined LTV (CLTV).
- Value acceptance + property data covers principal residences and second homes up to the program limit, which means up to 97 percent LTV, or 105 percent CLTV with a Community Seconds loan.
- Investment property purchases are not eligible.
Limited cash-out (rate-and-term) refinances
- Principal residences and second homes up to 90 percent LTV/CLTV.
- Investment properties up to 75 percent LTV/CLTV.
Cash-out refinances
- Principal residences up to 70 percent LTV/CLTV.
- Second homes and investment properties up to 60 percent LTV/CLTV.
Every eligible file also needs an Approve/Eligible recommendation from the automated underwriting system.
Treat these numbers as ceilings. A refinance at 88 percent LTV is technically inside the limit and still far less likely to get an offer than one at 55 percent. The more equity between the loan and the home's value, the more room the model has to be wrong without anyone losing money, and the more willing it is to skip the appraisal.
What rules out an appraisal waiver
Even inside those limits, some files are excluded outright. Per Fannie Mae's current guidance, value acceptance is not available for:
- Two- to four-unit properties, co-op units, and manufactured homes
- Purchases or refinances where the price or estimated value is $1,000,000 or more
- Construction and construction-to-permanent loans, and renovation loans
- Leasehold properties, community land trust homes, and other homes with resale price restrictions
- Purchases that use a gift of equity, which is common when buying from a family member
- Files where rental income from the property is used to qualify
- Manually underwritten loans
- Loans where the mortgage insurance provider requires an appraisal
Two more rules catch strong borrowers off guard.
The first is the 120-day rule. The system will not offer value acceptance if any lender uploaded an appraisal for the property to the agencies' shared portal within the prior 120 days. If you started a refinance a few months ago, paid for an appraisal, and walked away, that report blocks the waiver path until the clock runs out.
The second is the four-month expiration. The offer cannot be more than four months old on the day the note is signed. A purchase that drags through a long closing can outlive its waiver.
A lender must also order an appraisal whenever it has reason to believe one is warranted, such as storm damage in the area.
Value acceptance + property data: the middle option
Some files sit between a full waiver and a full appraisal. The system is comfortable with the value but wants current facts about the home. That is what value acceptance + property data is for. Freddie Mac's version is called ACE+ PDR, for property data report.
Here is how it works. A trained, vetted third party, sometimes an appraiser, visits the home and records what is there. The visit covers the interior and exterior, photos, and a floor plan built to a national measurement standard. The data collector does not form an opinion of value. Their job is to report condition, including safety, soundness, or structural problems and any major unfinished work.
That data goes to the agency before closing, and if it checks out, the submitted value is accepted. A property data collection stays valid for 12 months.
For a borrower, the difference is practical. Someone still comes to the house, so plan for an appointment, and ask your lender what the visit costs, since it is a separate fee from an appraisal. On a purchase, this option reaches higher LTVs than standard value acceptance, which is why a buyer putting 5 percent down may see it offered while a pure waiver is not.
On a purchase, think before you celebrate
This is where a conventional loan appraisal waiver needs the most care, and where most coverage stops short.
On a refinance, you already own the home. The value only sizes the loan. On a purchase, the value used for a waiver is your contract price. The model is saying the price is supportable enough for the loan. It is not telling you the price is a good deal for you.
An appraisal does double duty in a typical purchase. It protects the lender, and if your contract includes an appraisal contingency, it also gives you a way to renegotiate or walk away if the home comes in below the price. When there is no appraisal, that contingency has nothing to trigger it. Read your contract with your agent and understand what changes if your loan closes on value acceptance.
None of this means you should turn a waiver down. It means you should do the price homework yourself: look at recent nearby sales, ask your agent how they arrived at the list price, and keep a home inspection in the plan. A waiver replaces the appraisal. It never replaces an inspection, which looks at the systems and condition of the home on your behalf.
How much a waiver actually saves
Fannie Mae estimates that its appraisal alternatives have saved borrowers about $3 billion across 5.34 million loans since 2018. That figure rests on an approximate weighted average appraisal cost of $550, based on its loan delivery data through June 2026.
Faster closings come along with it. Without an appraisal there is nothing to schedule, nothing to review, and no repair list from the appraiser to work through. For someone consolidating high-interest balances into a refinance, a shorter timeline has real value.
Keep it in proportion. A few hundred dollars is one line on your Loan Estimate. Whether a mortgage was worth taking depends on the full picture: total closing costs, any fees rolled into the balance, the term you are resetting to, the blended cost of the debts you are paying off, and what you will have paid by the time the loan is gone. A loan that skips the appraisal but stretches your term or carries heavier costs is the more expensive outcome. It will only feel cheaper for the first month.
You are entitled to see the valuation either way
If an appraisal or other written valuation is done on your conventional loan, the lender must give you a copy. Under the CFPB's rule in Regulation B, section 1002.14, the lender must tell you in writing within three business days of your application that you have this right. It must send the copies promptly once they are complete, and no later than three business days before closing unless you waive the timing. It cannot charge you for the copies themselves.
If an appraisal is ordered and the value comes in lower than you expected, read the report closely. Square footage, bedroom count, or a missed permitted addition are factual errors you can document and ask your loan officer to raise through the lender's reconsideration process.
If your loan needs a full appraisal anyway
Getting an appraisal is not a setback, and sometimes it works in your favor. A model cannot see a renovated kitchen, a new roof, or a finished basement that the public records have not caught up with. An appraiser can.
A few things help:
- Give your lender an honest value estimate. A number that reaches is the surest way to lose a waiver.
- Have permits, receipts, and dates for recent improvements ready.
- Handle small visible repairs where you can, since condition notes can affect value and loan conditions.
Where GoodLoan fits
We will tell you early whether your conventional loan has a realistic shot at value acceptance, and we will tell you plainly when it does not, so you find out in the first conversation instead of at the appraisal invoice. We also say no a fair amount, because a loan that does not improve your total position is not worth closing.
If you want to know where your property sits before committing to anything, a GoodLoan loan officer can walk through your equity, the likely valuation path, and the full cost of the loan in one conversation. You do not need to start an application to have it. GoodLoan.ai is a DBA of OM Mortgage, LLC, NMLS #1972491, and is VA-approved.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ask for an appraisal waiver on my conventional loan?
No. There is no request process. The offer comes from the agency's automated underwriting system when the file and the property meet its criteria. Your loan officer can tell you whether one was issued and, if not, what stood in the way.
Can I get an appraisal waiver on a home purchase?
Yes, on a principal residence or second home. Value acceptance reaches up to 90 percent LTV on purchases, and value acceptance + property data can reach the program limit of 97 percent. Investment property purchases are not eligible, and neither are purchases using a gift of equity.
Can I get a waiver on a cash-out refinance?
Sometimes. On a principal residence, the loan has to be at or below 70 percent of the home's value. Second homes and investment properties are capped at 60 percent.
Should I still get a home inspection if my purchase has no appraisal?
Yes. An appraisal estimates value for the loan. An inspection evaluates the home's condition for you. A waiver removes the first and has nothing to do with the second.
Why did my appraisal waiver disappear before closing?
Usually because something on the file changed, such as the loan amount, price, or occupancy, and the system re-evaluated it. An offer older than four months at signing also cannot be used, and a recent appraisal on the property from any lender in the past 120 days blocks the offer entirely.
