Fact Checked
How Long Is a Home Appraisal Good For? A 2026 Guide by Loan Type
A home appraisal doesn't last forever, and how long yours stays valid depends mostly on your loan type. Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans each set their own window, and an appraisal update can often extend it. Here's how long you have, what happens when an appraisal expires, and what you can control.
Key Takeaways
- Most conventional appraisals are considered valid for four months, and an appraisal update can extend that to a full year before a new one is required.
- FHA appraisals are valid for 180 days and can extend to one year with an update, a VA Notice of Value is valid for six months, and USDA appraisals are valid for 180 days with a one-time extension up to a year.
- An appraisal update is not a new appraisal. It's a shorter, cheaper check on whether your home's value has dropped, and it can keep an aging appraisal usable.
- Your appraisal is tied to the transaction and, on government loans, to the property and case file, not to the lender, so an FHA appraisal can transfer to a new lender at your request.
- You have a right to a free copy of every appraisal, and if the value comes in low, you can ask for a reconsideration of value before you close.
The short answer
A is usually good for four months to a year, and where you land in that range depends on the type of loan you're getting. That's what most people came here to find out.
The rest is worth a few minutes, because an expiring appraisal is a common reason a closing gets stressful late in the process, and most of that stress is avoidable. I've spent more than two decades in the mortgage business. Early in my career as a loan officer, I watched plenty of good deals get tangled up over an appraisal that aged out before the loan closed. The borrower did nothing wrong. The closing just slipped, a title issue here, a repair there, and suddenly the appraisal everyone was counting on needed a second look. Knowing the rules ahead of time is what keeps that from turning into a scramble.
What follows is how long your appraisal lasts by loan type, the difference between an appraisal update and a full new appraisal, what happens when it expires, and whether it can follow you if you change lenders. My aim is to hand you the framework and let you apply it to your own situation.
Why appraisals expire, and what can shorten the clock
An appraiser's job is to estimate what your home is worth right now. To do that, they lean heavily on comparable sales, the recent sales of similar homes nearby, usually within the last six months or so. Those comps are the backbone of the value. The catch is that comps go stale. Home values move with the market, sometimes quickly. A value that was accurate in the spring may not hold by the fall if prices in your area shifted. That's the whole reason appraisals carry an expiration date. Your lender, and the agency backing your loan, want reasonable confidence that the number still reflects reality on the day you close.
For you as a home buyer, that expiration date is a form of protection. It's there so you don't borrow against a value that no longer exists. For a homeowner after making improvements, a fresh look can work in your favor, capturing the new roof or the updated kitchen that lifted the home's value. That's part of why, at AmeriSave, our loan officers flag the appraisal timeline early, so a slipping closing date doesn't catch you off guard.
The validity windows I'll walk through are ceilings, not guarantees. A few things can cut an appraisal's usable life short. The biggest is a moving market. When home prices in an area are climbing or falling quickly, lenders are expected to look harder at whether a value still makes sense, and they can require a new appraisal even inside the normal window. Fannie Mae specifically instructs lenders to apply extra scrutiny when a value looks inflated or when a property jumped in price over a short stretch.
The property itself can shorten the clock too. If the home goes through a major renovation, takes on damage, or deteriorates in a way that affects value, the original number may no longer be reliable. And your lender always keeps some discretion. If something about the file raises a question, it can order a fresh appraisal regardless of the calendar. This is the part borrowers can't fully control, and that's fine. What you can control is your timeline and your paperwork, which do more to keep a deal on track than trying to guess where the market goes next.
How long your appraisal lasts, by loan type
Here's where the specifics matter, because there's no single national answer. Your loan type sets the rules. Below is how the four most common loan types handle it, plus a note on jumbo loans.
Conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Most conventional loans follow the guidelines set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the two are aligned here. Your appraisal is fully valid for four months from its effective date. If your closing runs past that four-month mark but stays within twelve months, you don't automatically need a brand new appraisal. The appraiser can perform an appraisal update to confirm the home hasn't lost value. Once the original appraisal passes the twelve-month mark, a new appraisal is required, update or not. In plain terms, that gives you a four-month clean window and a one-year outer limit.
FHA loans
gives you a longer initial window. An is valid for 180 days from its effective date, which is roughly six months. If you need more time, an appraisal update can extend that validity to one year from the original appraisal's effective date. One quirk is worth knowing. An FHA appraisal is tied to the FHA case number assigned to your loan, not to the lender. If a new case number gets assigned, a new appraisal generally has to come with it, even if the old one hasn't expired.
VA loans
For , the value determination shows up on a document called the Notice of Value, and it's valid for six months from the date of the appraisal. The doesn't use the same appraisal update mechanism the and FHA programs do, so if your Notice of Value expires, you're generally looking at a new value determination. The VA can authorize an extension in certain situations, but that's handled case by case rather than as a routine step. If your loan involves a separate inspection report, those carry a shorter shelf life, typically 90 days.
USDA loans
USDA loans, backed by the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program, work much like FHA on timing. The appraisal has to be no older than 180 days at closing. You can extend it one time with an appraisal update, which pushes the outer limit to a year from the original effective date. As with the other programs, that update only checks whether the home's value has dropped. It can't be used to raise the appraised value to a higher number.
Jumbo and non-agency loans
Jumbo loans are the exception to the tidy rules above. Because they aren't backed by Fannie Mae, , or a government agency, there's no single standard for how long the appraisal stays valid. The investor buying the loan, or the lender holding it, sets the window. It's often similar to the conventional four-month framework, but it can be shorter. If you're financing with a , the honest answer is to ask your lender directly what their appraisal validity window is, because it varies. An AmeriSave loan officer can tell you exactly where your specific loan stands.
Appraisal update, recertification, and a new appraisal
These terms get used loosely, and the differences affect your wallet and your timeline, so they're worth pinning down.
An appraisal update is the middle option, and it's the one most people run into. The appraiser does an exterior inspection and reviews current market data to answer a single question: has the home declined in value since the original appraisal? On the conventional side, this is documented on a form known as the 1004D. It's faster and cheaper than starting over, and it can be done by your original appraiser or, if needed, a substitute. The key thing to understand is what an update is not. It isn't a chance to argue the value up. It only tests for a decline.
Recertification is a term you'll hear in the same breath, and in everyday use it usually means the same thing as an update. Under professional appraisal standards, asking for a genuinely new opinion of value is treated as a new assignment rather than a simple extension. The vocabulary matters less than the function. Are you confirming the old value still holds, or getting a fresh one?
A new appraisal is exactly what it sounds like. You'll need one when the original has passed its outer time limit, when an update shows the value has dropped, when the home has changed enough to affect its worth, such as a major renovation or real deterioration, or, on an , when a new case number comes into play.
So what actually happens when your appraisal expires? If you're still inside the outer window for your loan type, the fix is usually simple. Your lender orders an update, and as long as the home hasn't lost value, that update restores the appraisal's usefulness at a fraction of the cost and time of a full report. If the appraisal has passed the outer limit, or an update comes back showing the value dropped, you're looking at a new appraisal, which means a new fee, a new turnaround, and possibly a fresh review from underwriting if the number lands lower. None of this has to derail your loan. The practical move is to watch the calendar, especially if your closing keeps sliding. A good loan officer is doing that math in the background. At AmeriSave, getting ahead of an update before it becomes a problem is part of the job, not an afterthought.
Can your appraisal move with you if you switch lenders?
Often, yes, and this surprises people. Your appraisal is generally tied to the transaction and, on government loans, to the property and its case file, not to the lender who ordered it. So if you start with one lender and switch to another, the appraisal can frequently come along.
FHA has the clearest rule. If you change lenders, your first lender is required to transfer the appraisal to the new one, at your request, within five business days. Two practical caveats come with that. The original lender doesn't have to hand it over until it's been reimbursed for the appraisal cost, and the new lender can't simply have the appraiser re-address the report. If the new lender finds real problems with the appraisal, it will order its own.
appraisals can transfer between lenders too, with the original lender's cooperation, and the new lender then takes on full responsibility for the report. Conventional appraisals are a grayer area. A transfer is allowed when the receiving lender can meet appraiser-independence and guideline requirements, but it's less automatic than the FHA process, and practice varies from lender to lender.
Underneath all of it sits one federal protection worth remembering. No matter who ends up with your loan, you're entitled to a copy of the appraisal you paid for. If you're shopping lenders and want to know whether your existing appraisal can travel, an AmeriSave loan officer can walk you through what applies to your loan.
When you might skip the appraisal entirely
Not every loan needs a traditional appraisal anymore. For certain lower-risk loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will accept the value without sending an appraiser to the property. Fannie Mae calls this value acceptance, and Freddie Mac runs it through a system known as automated evaluation. The lender submits the value, and if the loan qualifies based on data and modeling, there's no appraisal to order, wait on, or worry about expiring.
The eligibility is real but bounded. On many purchase loans for a primary home or second home, both agencies now allow this no-appraisal option up to 90% loan-to-value, with higher limits available when a trained data collector visits the property to document it instead of a full appraiser. There are guardrails. Very high-value properties, , and manufactured homes face tighter limits or fall outside the program. Cash-out on a primary home are held to a tighter loan-to-value limit. And the offer itself stays valid only for a limited window, roughly four months, before it has to be refreshed.
The upside for you is money and time. Skipping the appraisal saves the fee, on the order of $500 to $600, and by Freddie Mac's own estimate closes a purchase loan roughly two weeks faster. You can't request this the way you'd order takeout. It's driven by the loan's risk profile through the lender's automated system. Still, it's worth asking your lender whether your loan qualifies. At AmeriSave, we use these appraisal alternatives wherever a loan is eligible, because a faster, cheaper path that carries the same protections is usually a win for the borrower.
What to do if your value comes in low
Sometimes the appraisal comes back lower than the price you agreed to, or lower than you expected. You have a path here, and it's more formal than it used to be.
It's called a reconsideration of value, or ROV. Federal regulators have issued guidance directing lenders to give borrowers a clear way to request one and to build that process into how they handle appraisals. An ROV is a request for the appraiser to take another look based on information that may have been missed: comparable sales that weren't considered, factual errors in the report, or concerns that the valuation was affected by bias.
If you think your value is off, gather specific, relevant comparable sales and submit them through your lender's ROV process. Two things matter here. Raise it before the loan closes, because that window shuts once you do. And make your case as complete as you can the first time, since your lender sets its own rules on how many times it will revisit a single appraisal. This is one of those protections that only helps if you know it exists and act in time. An AmeriSave loan officer can explain how to file one and what evidence actually moves the needle.
What an appraisal costs and how long it takes
Cost depends on where you live and what you're buying. There's no single national price, but a few reference points help. The Department of Veterans Affairs caps what a VA appraisal can cost, and for a those caps run from roughly $650 to about $1,500 depending on your state and county. Most states sit in the lower part of that range, with the highest caps in remote, hard-to-reach areas. Conventional and FHA appraisal fees aren't capped the same way, but they tend to land in a similar neighborhood, with complex or rural properties costing more.
Timing varies too. A straightforward appraisal often comes back within about one to two weeks from the time it's ordered, though a busy market or a hard-to-reach property can stretch that out. Your lender usually orders the appraisal soon after you're under contract, so the report and the review that follows are done well before your closing date.
One more thing you're owed, and it's easy to overlook. You have a right to a free copy of every appraisal and written valuation done on your loan. The lender has to get it to you promptly once it's complete, and no later than three business days before you close, whichever comes first. You can't be charged for the copy itself. Read it when it arrives. It's your best early warning if something looks off, and your starting point if you decide to ask for a reconsideration of value.
What's actually in your control
An appraisal's shelf life comes down to three things: your loan type, how much time has passed since the appraisal's effective date, and whether values in your area have moved. The first is set by the loan you choose. The second and third are where a little attention pays off.
You can't control the market, and I'd be skeptical of anyone who claims they can time it for you. What you can control is your timeline, keeping your closing on track so your appraisal doesn't age out, and your paperwork, so an update or a transfer goes smoothly if you need one. Those are the levers that actually matter, and they matter more than the headlines about where rates or prices are headed next.
If you're getting ready to buy or refinance, the most useful move is to ask your lender, upfront, how long your appraisal will be good for and what happens if your timeline slips. A good loan officer will have a straight answer. At AmeriSave, that's exactly the question we want you asking early, because understanding the process upfront is what keeps the surprises out of it.
Carl leads sales operations at AmeriSave, where he has served since August 2015. He holds a BBA in Business Administration & Management from the University of Kentucky and previously served as Director of Sales at Discover Financial Services. Based in Louisville, KY with his family, Carl brings a practical, solution-focused approach to mortgage sales that emphasizes transparency and reducing buyer anxiety.
Frequently Asked Questions
A conventional appraisal is fully valid for four months from its effective date. If your closing runs past four months but stays under twelve, an appraisal update can keep it usable. Past twelve months, you'll need a new appraisal.
Yes. Every appraisal has a validity period because it's based on comparable sales that go stale as the market moves. Depending on your loan type, that window runs from six months to a year, and an update can sometimes extend it.
Often, yes. On an FHA loan, your original lender must transfer the appraisal to your new lender at your request within five business days. Conventional transfers are allowed but less automatic, and the new lender can order its own appraisal if it finds problems with the existing one.
An appraisal update is a shorter, cheaper check on whether your home has lost value since the original appraisal, and it can extend an aging appraisal's validity. A new appraisal is a full report from scratch, required when the original has passed its outer time limit or the value has dropped.
It depends on your location and property type. For VA loans, single-family appraisal fees are capped at roughly $650 to $1,500 by state and county, and conventional and FHA fees generally land in a similar range. Complex or rural properties cost more.
Yes, and it's free. Your lender must give you a copy of every appraisal on your loan promptly after it's completed, and no later than three business days before closing. You can't be charged for the copy.
You can request a reconsideration of value, or ROV. Gather specific comparable sales or point out factual errors, then submit them through your lender before closing. Make your strongest case the first time, since lenders set their own limits on revisiting a single appraisal.