In a mortgage transaction, the borrower pays for the home appraisal. That means the buyer pays during a purchase and the homeowner pays during a refinance. The lender is the one who orders the appraisal, because the report protects the lender’s collateral, but the fee lands on the borrower and runs around $600 for a standard single-family home. Once the appraiser delivers the report, the fee is owed whether or not the loan ever closes.
Who Pays When You’re Buying a Home
When you apply for a purchase mortgage, the lender requires an appraisal to confirm the property is worth enough to secure the loan. The lender arranges it, usually through an appraisal management company, and you pay the fee. Federal valuation independence standards under the Truth in Lending Act prohibit buyers and sellers from choosing the individual appraiser, which keeps anyone with a financial stake in the deal from pressuring the appraiser toward a specific number.1Federal Register. Minimum Requirements for Appraisal Management Companies
Federal rules allow the lender to charge you a reasonable fee to cover the appraisal, but they don’t legally force you to pay it. In practice, refusing means the lender won’t order the appraisal, and without the appraisal your loan doesn’t move forward. The obligation is contractual rather than statutory, but it’s effectively unavoidable if you need financing.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1002 Regulation B – Rules on Providing Appraisals and Other Valuations
You’re paying, but the appraiser works as a neutral third party and the report technically belongs to the lender. You still have a legal right to a free copy of it, covered below.
Who Pays When You’re Refinancing
On a refinance, whether you’re lowering your rate, shortening the term, or pulling out equity, you pay for the appraisal yourself. There’s no seller in the picture, so the whole cost sits with you. The lender needs a current valuation to calculate your loan-to-value ratio and set the terms of the new loan.
Federal banking regulations require a state-certified or licensed appraiser for residential transactions above $400,000.3eCFR. 12 CFR 34.43 – Transactions Requiring a State Certified or Licensed Appraiser Below that threshold, lenders may use alternative valuation methods, though many still require a traditional appraisal under their own risk policies. Either way, if the appraisal comes back low, the lender can reduce how much you can borrow, require mortgage insurance, or decline the refinance altogether. You still owe the fee.
How Much the Appraisal Costs
A traditional appraisal for a standard single-family home averages about $600.4Freddie Mac Single-Family. Property Data Collection: An Overview The actual price varies with location, property size and complexity, and how rural the home is. A simple suburban house on a small lot sits at the low end. Multi-unit properties, large estates, and remote homes cost significantly more.
The VA sets caps on appraisal fees by region, and those numbers are a useful benchmark for the broader market. Single-family VA appraisal fees run from roughly $525 in lower-cost areas to $1,200 or more in parts of Alaska and other remote or high-demand markets.5U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Appraisal Fee Schedules and Timeliness Requirements Conventional appraisals aren’t capped, but they generally track the same range.
Can the Seller Pay Instead
Yes, if you negotiate for it. The purchase contract can shift the appraisal fee to the seller through seller concessions, also called interested party contributions. The seller agrees to cover part of your closing costs, which can include the appraisal, as part of the deal.
Fannie Mae caps total seller concessions based on your loan-to-value ratio:
- Down payment under 10% (LTV above 90%): up to 3% of the sale price or appraised value, whichever is lower
- Down payment of 10–25% (LTV of 75.01–90%): up to 6%
- Down payment above 25% (LTV of 75% or less): up to 9%
- Investment properties: up to 2% regardless of LTV
Those limits cover total financing concessions, not the appraisal fee alone.6Fannie Mae. Interested Party Contributions (IPCs) FHA loans allow seller concessions of up to 6% of the sale price or appraised value, whichever is lower, and the appraisal fee can be included.
Concessions are more realistic in buyer-friendly markets. In a bidding war, asking the seller to cover your appraisal cost can weaken the offer.
FHA and VA Rules
Government-backed loans handle the appraisal fee a bit differently.
On VA loans, the lender or appraisal requestor pays the appraiser directly, then passes that cost through to you as a closing cost. The VA sets maximum allowable fees by region and property type, and any late fees or cancellation penalties cannot be charged to the veteran.5U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Appraisal Fee Schedules and Timeliness Requirements VA re-inspection fees are capped at $150.
On FHA loans, the borrower can be charged the appraisal fee, but if you ask for a reconsideration of value to challenge a low appraisal, none of the costs of that reconsideration can be passed to you.7HUD Archives. Mortgagee Letter 2024-07 – Appraisal Review and Reconsideration of Value Updates
When You Pay and Whether You Can Get It Back
Lenders collect the appraisal fee one of two ways. Many charge it upfront, by card or electronic transfer, when the appraisal is ordered. This protects the lender if you withdraw the application before closing. Other lenders roll the fee into your closing costs and collect it at settlement, where it appears as an itemized line item on the Closing Disclosure.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1026.38 – Content of Disclosures for Certain Mortgage Transactions
Either way, the fee is non-refundable once the appraiser delivers the report. That holds even if the appraisal itself sinks the deal: a value that comes in too low for the lender to approve, a failed inspection, or any other collapse of the transaction. The fee pays for the work, not the outcome.
Your Right to a Free Copy of the Report
The lender ordered the appraisal and technically owns the report, but federal law entitles you to a free copy. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the lender must give you every written appraisal or valuation developed in connection with your loan application, at no extra charge, promptly after completion and no later than three business days before closing.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1691 – Scope of Prohibition You can waive the three-day timing, but you still get the copy.
If the loan doesn’t close because you withdrew or were denied, the lender still has to send you the appraisal, within 30 days of deciding the transaction won’t go through.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1002 Regulation B – Rules on Providing Appraisals and Other Valuations The lender cannot bill you for postage, copying, or any other delivery cost. That right to the copy is separate from the fee you paid for the appraisal itself.
Ways to Avoid the Fee Entirely
Not every mortgage needs a full traditional appraisal. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac run programs that can cut or eliminate the appraisal cost, saving you a few hundred dollars.
Fannie Mae’s Value Acceptance program, formerly called an appraisal waiver, lets eligible transactions skip the appraisal entirely. Your lender’s automated underwriting system decides whether you qualify. For purchase loans on primary residences and second homes, Value Acceptance is available at LTV ratios up to 90%.10Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae Announces Changes to Appraisal Alternatives Requirements Several property types are ineligible, including two-to-four-unit buildings, co-ops, manufactured homes, properties valued at $1,000,000 or more, and, with limited exceptions, new construction.11Fannie Mae. Value Acceptance
Freddie Mac has a similar option, ACE + PDR (Automated Collateral Evaluation plus Property Data Report), where a trained data collector visits the property in place of a licensed appraiser. The property data report averages about $200, roughly $400 less than a traditional appraisal.4Freddie Mac Single-Family. Property Data Collection: An Overview
You can’t request a waiver on your own. Your lender will tell you at application whether the transaction qualifies, and eligibility is set by the automated underwriting system based on the property, loan amount, and borrower profile.
One boundary worth noting: if you’re a seller considering a pre-listing appraisal, you’d pay for that yourself, and it doesn’t replace the appraisal the buyer’s lender will still require. Valuation independence rules keep the lender from relying on a report commissioned by someone with a financial interest in the sale price.