A VA appraisal is doing two jobs at once, and confusing them is why VA buyers get told their offer is risky by people who have not read the rules. It sets a value, and it checks the house against a safety standard. Most of the drama comes from the second job.
A VA-assigned appraiser determines what the home is worth and issues a Notice of Value. The VA will not guarantee a loan above that number, so if it comes in under the contract price, something has to give — the seller lowers, the buyer covers the gap in cash, or the deal ends.
Two things protect the veteran here that other buyers do not get:
If value still comes in low, a Reconsideration of Value can be requested with documented support. It is not a formality and it does not always work, but it is a real avenue and it is worth taking seriously.
The VA wants the veteran buying a home that is safe, structurally sound and sanitary. The appraiser flags conditions that fail that standard, and they must be corrected before closing. Commonly flagged in our market:
Notice what is not on that list: cosmetics. Ugly carpet, a dated kitchen, a cracked driveway and a dead lawn are not VA problems. The persistent myth that VA buyers cannot buy a house that needs work is mostly false — the standard is safety, not condition.
Texas sits in a termite risk zone where a wood destroying insect inspection is generally required on VA purchases. Expect one.
The rule about who pays changed and a lot of people have not caught up. Under VA Circular 26-22-11, effective June 2022, the veteran borrower is permitted to pay the termite inspection fee in any state. It used to be prohibited in most cases, and you will still meet agents on the other side of a deal who believe it is. It is not. In practice sellers here often still pay it as part of the negotiation, but the point is that it is now negotiable rather than a rule that can blow up your offer. It is typically a small cost.
I have watched sellers take a weaker offer because someone told them VA is difficult. The two real differences are that MPR repairs have to be done before closing rather than waived, and the veteran has an appraisal escape the other buyer might not.
What sellers are not weighing: VA buyers are frequently putting zero down with no mortgage insurance, which means their qualification is often stronger than it looks, and they are highly motivated. If your house is in decent repair, a VA offer is not a risk. If your house has an open electrical panel and a bad roof, the VA appraiser is going to say out loud what the next three buyers were going to find anyway.
This is the one that costs veterans real money. The VA appraisal is a lender’s tool. The appraiser is checking value and a safety floor — they are not crawling the attic evaluating the HVAC, they are not testing every outlet, and they are not telling you the foundation has movement.
A passing VA appraisal is not a clean bill of health on the house. Hire your own inspector. Every single time, on every single VA purchase. It is a few hundred dollars against the largest purchase of your life, and it is the one expense in this entire process I will argue with you about.
Using your VA benefit in North Texas? I will tell you before we write an offer whether a house is likely to clear MPRs, and I will have comps ready for the appraiser rather than scrambling after the fact.
Talk about my VA purchase
REALTOR® · BHHS PenFed Realty Texas
I help buyers and sellers in Fort Worth, Burleson, Crowley and Keller. I write these because they are the questions I answer on the phone every week, and most people never get a straight answer to them. If you have one I have not covered, ask me — I will probably turn it into the next post.