How Long Does It Take to Get an Appraisal Back?
Get clear insights into how long it takes to receive a property appraisal report and the various factors at play.
A real estate appraisal is a professional, unbiased assessment of a property’s market value, playing a significant role in various transactions such as buying, selling, or refinancing. This independent valuation helps ensure that all parties involved, especially lenders, have confidence in the financial investment and the property’s collateral value. Understanding the typical timeline for an appraisal is essential for effective planning and managing expectations throughout the real estate process.
Typical Appraisal Timelines
A home appraisal can take a few days to several weeks to complete, depending on the specific property and prevailing market conditions. From the time a lender orders the appraisal, you can anticipate receiving the comprehensive report anywhere between 6 to 20 business days. While the on-site inspection itself is often brief, lasting from 30 minutes to a few hours, the subsequent detailed analysis and report compilation require substantial additional time.
Factors Influencing Appraisal Completion
Several elements can influence how quickly an appraisal is completed and delivered. A primary factor is the appraiser’s availability and current workload, as the appraisal industry has experienced a decline in the number of active professionals, which can lead to significant backlogs and longer wait times for scheduling the physical inspection. The inherent complexity and unique characteristics of a property, such as an exceptionally large size, an unusual architectural style requiring specialized knowledge, or a rural location with limited recent comparable sales, can significantly extend the timeline because they demand more intricate analysis and extensive data gathering. Delays can also arise from challenges in coordinating schedules or gaining timely access to the property for the essential physical inspection, which halts the progress until resolved.
The ease of finding relevant comparable sales data in the specific market area directly impacts the appraiser’s research phase; a scarcity of recent, similar transactions means a more extensive and time-consuming market analysis is required to accurately determine value. Specific client or lender requirements, including requests for additional information, a more granular analysis of specific property features, or multiple layers of internal review by an appraisal management company, can introduce further processing time. External conditions like major market shifts, such as rapid changes in interest rates that spur refinance activity, or seasonal surges in real estate transactions during peak buying seasons, can increase overall demand for appraisals.
Key Stages of the Appraisal Process
The appraisal process involves several distinct stages, each contributing to the overall timeline of report delivery. It begins with the order placement and assignment, typically initiated by the lender after a loan application is submitted and an offer on a property is accepted. This initial step ensures that a qualified, state-licensed appraiser is assigned to the specific property and receives the necessary instructions and documentation. Following the assignment, the appraiser contacts the property owner or their designated agent to schedule the on-site inspection, a crucial step that can take several days depending on the appraiser’s and property owner’s availability.
The physical property inspection is where the appraiser personally examines the interior and exterior of the home, noting its condition, features, amenities, and taking measurements and photographs. After completing the on-site visit, the appraiser conducts extensive data research and analysis, gathering information on recent comparable sales, broader market trends, and public property records to establish a well-supported valuation. This comprehensive research is followed by the report writing and compilation phase, where the appraiser synthesizes all findings into a comprehensive report, which can take between two to seven days. Finally, the completed report undergoes quality control and review, either internally by the appraisal firm for accuracy or externally by the lender for compliance with regulatory guidelines, before its delivery to the client.
Receiving and Reviewing the Appraisal Report
Once the appraisal report is completed by the appraiser, it is typically delivered electronically to the ordering party, which is primarily the lender in a mortgage transaction. Borrowers, however, possess a legal right to receive a copy of this appraisal report.
Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) Valuations Rule, lenders are mandated to provide mortgage applicants with a free copy of all appraisal reports and other property valuations promptly after their completion. This report must be provided to the borrower no later than three business days before the scheduled loan closing date. Upon receiving the report, it is advisable for the borrower to carefully review its contents for accuracy, verify property details, and address any potential discrepancies or errors directly with their lender.