How Long Does An Appraisal Take in 2026? Here’s What To Expect

The physical inspection can take anywhere between 15 minutes and several hours, depending on the size and condition of the home.

For example, a cleaner home is generally easier for the appraiser to work through and assess than a cluttered one. It will also take more time for an appraiser to walk through each room in a larger home.

The appraiser will look for comparables

Now that the appraiser has a handle on what they call the “subject property” (your house), they’re going to verify data from municipal records about the age of the home and lot size before performing a comparable sales analysis.

While searching for comparable sales, the appraiser is looking for the most recent, most proximate (nearby geographically), and the most similar properties that are sold to get a good grasp of what the home’s value is.

This typically shouldn’t take too long (thanks to appraisal software), but it can be difficult to find comparable properties for more unique homes. For example, a cookie-cutter subdivision home will likely be easier to match than a waterfront home with several bedrooms.

“There’s going to be a range because some are really simple, there’s a lot of data available, but for some unique properties, you’re going to have to search hard — go to other communities, other towns, sometimes different states,” Cullen says.

“It can take anywhere from hours to days to locate truly similar comparables.”

The appraiser will prepare the report

The appraiser will then use all the information gathered from the physical examination and the comparable sales to develop the appraisal report, which is approximately 10 pages long for residential lots.

The report traditionally consists of local comparable properties, the appraised value, how the appraiser determined the value, and what factors the appraiser took into consideration. Cullen says appraisers will use either a cost approach (the price the home was previously listed at), an income approach (how much it can be rented for), a sales comparison analysis (using comps, as described above), or a combination of all three to determine the home’s value.

While shorter forms can be done in as little as six hours, depending on the appraiser’s workload and the complexity of the home, the appraiser should have the report completed in less than a week.

Generally, from the time the lender orders it, you can expect to see an appraisal report anytime between six and 20 days after the process begins. But if the market is particularly busy, it can take up to two weeks for it to end up in the lender’s hands.

Note that the whole appraisal process can take longer for an FHA loan or a VA loan: These are government-backed loans, and they require borrowers and homes alike to meet certain criteria. Therefore, the property must be appraised by an FHA-approved professional as part of the process, which can sometimes add to the timeline.

So you have the appraisal report. Now what?

If the appraised value is about the same as your offer, it’s time to close on your dream home. Congratulations!

But what if the appraisal comes in high or low?

“If it comes in high, it doesn’t change anything,” Raymer explains. “Obviously, the buyer is happy — that’s a nice thing.”

On the other hand, if the appraisal is lower than your offer, it could be an opportunity for you to renegotiate the sales price with the seller — or you may have to make up the difference in cost.

“If the appraisal comes in low, that can create problems because many times the buyer would have to put the difference down in cash,” Raymer says.

Daniels says he sees buyers cover up to $10,000 of the home cost, or meet the seller halfway.

But the specific tenor of this negotiation has to do with the strength of the market, Raymer explains: “In the past, we’ve been able to get the seller to come down to meet the appraised value, now that they know what it is,” she says. In a seller’s market, some people even waive appraisals altogether.

As of November 2025, 20% of buyers waived the appraisal contingency, according to NAR.

If you can’t strike a deal, you, as the buyer, can still back out of the purchase contract and get the earnest money you initially deposited back. This is the function of an appraisal contingency, a common clause in real estate contracts that protects the buyer if the appraisal falls short of the offer amount. Additionally, loans through the VA or FHA have protections that state if the home doesn’t appraise for any reason, the buyer can get their earnest money back, according to Daniels.

“If it doesn’t come to terms, as long as it’s terminated by the appraisal objection date, then the buyer gets their earnest money back, and it’s back to the drawing board.”

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