How long does an appraisal take?

How long does an appraisal take? In general, it takes 5-7 business days to get an appraisal during the mortgage process. Although, there can be extenuating factors that make getting an official appraisal take more time. The location of the home, availability of appraisers, and unique features of the property can cause delays.

An appraisal of the current fair market value of your home is scheduled, conducted, and reported by a licensed appraiser. Let’s take a look at the factors involved in answering this question.

How long does an appraisal take?

Scheduling the Appraisal

Time Estimate (48 hours to schedule)

Your mortgage lender will reach out to you with information on how to schedule your appraisal within 2 business days after you have signed your initial loan estimate. The appraisal will be conducted by a 3rd party licensed appraiser. This is one of the up-front costs of buying a home or refinancing a mortgage, so be prepared to pay for your appraisal at the time you schedule this service.

An appraisal can be scheduled in a few days if a licensed appraiser is available in your area. Some delays in scheduling can occur if you live in a remote rural area, if there is a high demand in the market for appraisal services, or if the property requires special consideration.

Learn more about the timing of each step of the mortgage process in one of our previous articles.

Property Appraisal

Time Estimate (1 hour or more)

On the scheduled day of the appraisal, plan for the property evaluation to take about an hour. Please make sure that you, your realtor, or the seller is available at the appointment time to open the door and be present for the appraisal.  

If the property being appraised has unique features like additional buildings on the property, non-typical architecture for the area, or other outstanding considerations, the appraisal can take longer.

The Appraisal Report

Time Estimate (2 to 5 days)

The licensed appraiser will be documenting the size, layout, and condition of the home to make  an assessment of comparable homes recently sold on the market. This evaluation of the fair market value of the property will be documented in an appraisal report that will be given to you and should be sent to your mortgage lender.

The appraisal report is usually ready in 2 to 5 days after the property evaluation is completed. Depending on the complexity of the observations made in the evaluation of the property and the comparable properties available in your area, writing this report can take more time.

An appraisal is a key part of a mortgage transaction. Determining the current fair market value of your home or the property you are looking to buy is the starting point of writing your mortgage loan. Read more about why you need an appraisal in this linked article.

The answer to the question "how long does an appraisal take?" has a few variables. You can communicate with your mortgage consultant about the specifics of your loan. Our team is here to answer your questions and help to guide you through the mortgage process. Reach out to us any time with your mortgage questions.