What an Appraisal Waiver Means When You Sell Your House

Ask Which Loan Is Paying for Your House

Before you accept an offer, ask the buyer's agent which loan the buyer is using. The answer tells you how an appraisal could reopen your price.

An FHA loan can give the buyer an appraisal exit. HUD's FHA handbook, last updated August 12, 2026, says that if the buyer hasn't received FHA's statement of appraised value before signing, the contract must be amended before closing to add an amendatory clause that carries your sales price. Under that clause, the buyer can walk away and keep the earnest money, unless the appraised value is at least that price. The buyer can still choose to close at any appraised value. HUD lists exceptions, such as sales to buyers who won't live in the home.

A conventional loan may skip the appraisal through Fannie Mae's value acceptance. On a purchase, Fannie Mae can offer it on the buyer's main home or a second home, when total borrowing is no more than 90% of the value. Its system generally has to find a prior appraisal of your home in Fannie Mae's data first. When a loan isn't eligible, the system requires an appraisal.

Your contract may already plan for a valuation that isn't an appraisal. On the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract, the loan contingency covers an appraisal or alternative valuation if the lender requires either, and it has to satisfy the lender and support the loan. Other states use other forms, so find that language in yours.

Our view: if an appraisal does reopen your price, the new number should rest on as-is sold comps you can see. Not on a surprise.

Get Your Home's Facts Ready for a Valuation Without a Visit

Have your home's facts ready before you list. The person valuing it may never come inside.

Fannie Mae allows a desktop appraisal on some purchases. Its Selling Guide section on desktop appraisals, dated December 10, 2025, says the appraiser doesn't have to do a current inspection of the home or the comparable sales. It's limited to one-unit homes the buyer will use as a main home, bought with a loan of no more than 90% of the value. Condo units don't qualify.

That makes your home's facts matter more. The guide lets information from the homeowner help describe the inside and outside of the house, and it requires a floor plan. Photos and floor plans from anyone with a financial stake in the sale can be used only if the appraiser verifies them against a source with no stake. So keep a current floor plan and recent photos on hand, and expect them to be checked.

Skipping the appraisal doesn't always mean skipping the visit. Fannie Mae's value acceptance plus property data skips the appraisal, but a trained and vetted third party or an appraiser still observes the home in person and reports its features, without giving an opinion of value. On the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract, you agree to keep the utilities on and let appraisers and inspectors in, on reasonable notice.

Our view: the facts you hand over should match the house, because buyers walk when the price doesn't fit the condition they see in person.

Pick Your Offer Knowing Who Checks the Price

The win here is knowing who buys your house, what you receive, and what can still change after you sign. Allow 10 to 15 minutes to talk through your options with us.

Cash Flow Deals gives you two offers together: the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose.

With the Fast Cash Offer, you get our as-is number. Our team walks through once, and you have no repairs to make. With the Premium Cash Offer, you sign with us at a number you agree to and give us permission to bring in a buyer in our place. That buyer signs a new contract directly with you. Their lender funds the purchase, so its rules for checking the price apply. Title transfers once, directly from you to your buyer. We're paid as a separate line item on the closing statement.

We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what your buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with repair costs settled from the sale proceeds out of our share. Fast Cash is bought as-is.

For both offers, the number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens.

If your Premium buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours. You can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number, alongside your Premium Cash Offer choice.

The Fast Cash Offer includes 15 business days of inspection. You help pick your closing date. The existing closing timeframe of 45 days or less depends on your chosen offer and its written terms; confirm the applicable inspection and closing schedule before you sign.

Your higher Premium number comes from a pre-approved buyer purchasing directly from you with an FHA or conventional loan.