Tom Answers You Appraisal Waiver Questions – Monday Mortgage and Real Estate Matters with Tom Heath

Tom Answers You Appraisal Waiver Questions - Monday Mortgage and Real Estate Matters
Tom Answers You Appraisal Waiver Questions - Monday Mortgage and Real Estate Matters

Good morning, Tom Heath with the Heath Team at Nova Home Loans. Today is Monday September 21st and this is our weekly installment of Mortgage and Real Estate Matters.

Today’s topic is the appraisal waiver, getting a lot of questions on this. It’s a hot market and we’re all looking for ways to save a little bit of time and make the offers more competitive. So we’re getting calls about appraisal waivers and how much of a down payment would be required to get a waiver. And a few other questions along those lines, so just want to explain that the waiver is not the lenders decision.

The waiver is calculated through an algorithm designed by both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They have their own calculations and based upon the overall risk of the file, they will issue an acceptance of the value as submitted which means we don’t need to do an appraisal. We don’t know this until we input all the information into their systems. And that waiver will depend on whether it’s a primary residence, a second home, an investment property; how much of a down payment and other factors.

Right now, we’re seeing a lot of offers going in above the asking price and people are wanting to see if we can get a waiver and we’re not, and I think probably because the value is not there. It’s probably going to come in below the sales price because of the nature of the market right now and therefore we’re not getting waivers. So don’t expect that if you put 10 15, 20 30, even 40 or 50 percent down, you’re guaranteed to get an appraisal waiver. It’s all based upon an algorithm. And unfortunately, if that algorithm says we need to do an appraisal, we don’t have a choice in the matter.

If you have any questions in this head over to TheHeathTeam.com, give us a call or shoot us an email. We’re always here for you. Have a fantastic week, and we’ll talk to you next Monday. Bye.