How to Challenge a VA Appraisal

Don’t believe this VA loan myth. What is it? That you cannot challenge a VA loan appraisal once it is issued. But in reality, you can.

There are two ways to ultimately disagree with a VA loan appraisal. What you use overall is something called the Reconsideration of Value process, or ROV. The two ways you can petition the VA to have the appraisal value changed are:

1.  Disagree with the comparables that were used. For example, you might say, “I don’t agree that you used these three properties to evaluate it. I think you should have used different ones or none of them at all,” or something along those lines.
2.  Disagree with the analysis that was ultimately used. This means you don’t agree with how they analyzed the properties. For instance, they might have missed evaluating a barn on the property, a fence, or some other aspect that you know is there but they didn’t calculate into the appraisal, which could have made a big difference.

If you’re curious, we have templates that can help you through this process. The deal is you want to get together with your real estate agent, potentially working with sellers and listing agents, to ensure you can petition values and go through this Reconsideration of Value process.

However, the ultimate process is that you, as a buyer, have to sign and submit the paperwork for an ROV to the VA. We have a template for that and are happy to share it. Feel free to reach out.

My name is Evan Kaufman, your VA loan originator. Take care.