Completing Appraisal-Required Repairs
Why this matters
An appraisal-required repair is finished when the re-inspection says it is finished, not when you leave. Every shop has a story about a perfectly good repair that failed the re-inspection because the paint was still wet, the stain was still on the ceiling, the invoice did not say which condition it answered, or the appraiser simply could not get in. Each failed trip costs the deal a fresh re-inspection fee and several days, and the deal usually has none to spare. This is the procedure from the moment the condition arrives to the moment the lender clears it. The companion card explains what triggers a condition and how to read one. See related: Appraisal-Required Repairs.
Step 1: Get the condition in writing, word for word
Ask the agent or the loan officer for the exact condition text from the appraisal, not a summary. Also get four facts and write them on the job: the loan type (FHA, VA or conventional), the closing date, who orders the re-inspection (almost always the lender, through its appraisal management company), and who is paying you.
Why. The re-inspection compares the house against the written words. A summary like "fix the water heater" loses the part that says what about it. The loan type tells you which standard the appraiser was applying, and the closing date sets every other date in this procedure.
What breaks if you skip it. You repair what the agent described, the appraiser reads what the appraiser wrote, and the two differ.
Step 2: Sort each condition into repair or evaluation
Conditions come in two kinds, and they need different deliverables.
- A repair condition says what must be fixed: "install handrail", "repair roof leak and damaged ceiling". The appraiser will look at the result.
- An evaluation condition says what must be examined by a qualified person: "subject to inspection of the heating system by a licensed HVAC contractor". The appraiser cannot judge that, so the lender wants a signed letter from you, and the re-inspection only confirms the letter exists.
Why. An evaluation condition is answered with a document, not a repair, and quoting a replacement on it overreaches. A repair condition answered with a letter alone fails the re-inspection.
What breaks if you skip it. You replace a furnace that only needed a written evaluation, and the seller's agent learns you upsell.
Step 3: Walk it and take the before photos from fixed positions
Visit the property against the condition list. Measure what the condition names, look for everything the wording sweeps in ("all defective paint surfaces" includes the ones nobody pointed at), and photograph each item from a position you can stand in again: corner of the room, foot of the stair, a marked spot on the driveway.
Why. Your before-and-after pair from the same spot is the most persuasive evidence the lender will see, and the walk is when you find the second leak or the third peeling window that would otherwise fail the re-inspection.
What breaks if you skip it. An "after" photo from a different angle reads as a different item, and nobody can tell whether you fixed the thing the appraiser saw.
Step 4: Write the scope against the condition numbers
Quote line by line, one line per condition, using the condition's number and quoting its words: "Condition 2: 'Water heater relief valve has no discharge line.' Install discharge line to code." Add any permit, any certified-firm requirement, and the date each item will be done.
Why. The person clearing the condition at the lender is matching documents to a list. Your quote, and later your invoice, should make that match obvious. It also keeps you to the condition: anything outside it is a separate job the seller can choose.
What breaks if you skip it. The invoice reads "plumbing repairs" and the underwriter asks for a clarification letter, which costs a day.
Step 5: Do the work, in the order that protects the re-inspection date
Sequence by what has to dry, cure or wait on someone else. Roof before ceiling. Utility restoration before any appliance check. Paint and patch early enough to be dry and odor-free on re-inspection day. Pull any permit the work requires before you start, because a closed permit may be part of what the lender asks for.
Why. The re-inspection is one visit for everything. The item with the longest wait sets its earliest date, and an item done last is the one most likely to be wet, tarped or incomplete when the appraiser arrives.
What breaks if you skip it. The stain bleeds through a ceiling painted over a wet patch, two days after you left.
Step 6: Document what the lender will accept
For each condition, send three things.
- After photos from the same positions as the before photos, date-stamped, with one wide shot locating the item.
- An invoice on your letterhead with your license number where your state licenses the trade, the property address, each line tied to its condition number and quoting its words, the date completed, and whether it is paid or to be paid at closing. See related: Getting Paid at Closing Without Getting Stuck.
- For an evaluation condition, a signed letter stating what you examined, how, what you found, the condition you found it in on that date, and your license number. Say what you did not examine. A letter that states "system is in good working order" without that limit reads as a promise about the future; one that states what was tested and what it showed on that date is a report. See related: Liability When a Buyer Relies on Your Estimate.
Why. On some deals the re-inspector looks; on others the underwriter only reads. Either way, the file has to show each condition answered.
Step 7: Order the re-inspection once, for everything
Tell the agent or the loan officer that every condition is complete and documented, and ask for the re-inspection. Confirm the utilities will be on, the house will be unlocked or on a lockbox the appraiser can use, and every repaired item will be visible: no boxes on the stair, no tarp over the patch.
Why. A partial re-inspection still bills as a full trip, and the appraiser who finds one condition incomplete reports the whole set as not complete.
Step 8: Be reachable on re-inspection day, and get the reason in writing if it fails
The appraiser may have a question only you can answer, such as where a discharge line terminates. If it fails, ask the loan officer for the appraiser's written reason, fix exactly that, and re-document.
Why. Lenders route all contact with the appraiser through themselves or their appraisal management company to keep the appraisal independent, as federal appraiser-independence rules (12 CFR 1026.42) require of the lender's side, so you do not call the appraiser to argue the result; your evidence goes through the lender. A written reason is also the only reliable scope for the second attempt.
A worked case: three conditions on a VA purchase
A 1994 two-story house, VA loan, closing in 10 days. The condition list arrives Monday morning, which is day 0:
- Water heater relief valve has no discharge line.
- Water stain at rear bedroom ceiling; evidence of roof leak. Repair source and damaged ceiling.
- Subject to inspection of the forced-air furnace by a licensed HVAC contractor. Unit appears original.
Sorting (step 2). Conditions 1 and 2 are repairs. Condition 3 is an evaluation: the deliverable is a letter, not a furnace.
The walk, day 1. The water heater is gas, in the garage, with a relief valve whose outlet is open to the air. The rear bedroom stain sits under the plumbing vent on the rear slope. In the attic, the decking around the vent pipe is damp and the rubber boot on the vent flashing is cracked. The ceiling drywall reads wet on a moisture meter at the stain and dry at a spot 4 feet away, which becomes the dry reference for later. The furnace is a mid-efficiency gas unit.
The order (step 5). The roof boot has to go first, because the ceiling cannot dry while the leak continues, and the ceiling has to be dry before it is primed. That makes condition 2 the long pole. The plumbing and the furnace letter can go any day.
- Day 2, roof. Replace the cracked vent boot. The rear slope is a two-story eave, well above the 6-foot trigger for fall protection in residential construction at 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13), so the roofer works tied off to an anchor set from the ladder or from a position already protected, not walked up to and installed unprotected. Wet or frosted shingles mean the work waits.
- Day 2, plumbing. Fit a discharge line from the relief valve outlet, full size of the outlet, in pipe rated for the temperature, running down to terminate no more than 6 inches above the floor, as IRC P2804.6.1 requires in the edition the jurisdiction has adopted. The valve can open and discharge near-boiling water at any moment while the heater is hot, so keep face and hands out of line with its outlet while fitting the line.
- Day 3, furnace evaluation. Before opening the burner and blower compartments, switch off the furnace disconnect and prove it dead with a tester checked on a known live source before and after, per NFPA 70E-2021, 120.5, and close the gas valve at the appliance. Inspect the burners, the heat exchanger as far as it is visible, the venting, the filter and the wiring. Then restore gas and power, stand clear of the burner compartment as it lights, and with a combustion analyser and a personal CO monitor running, confirm ignition, flame, venting draft and CO in the flue against the manufacturer's limits. The letter states what was examined and the readings taken, notes that the heat exchanger was inspected only where visible without disassembly, and states the unit was operating on that date.
- Day 6, ceiling. The meter at the stain now reads the same as the dry reference spot. Prime with a stain-blocking primer, then finish-paint to match. Had the reading still been above the reference, the ceiling would have waited, and the re-inspection with it.
Documents (step 6), day 6. Before-and-after photo pairs for conditions 1 and 2; an invoice with three lines tied to conditions 1, 2 and 3; the signed furnace letter. Sent to the agent and the loan officer together.
Re-inspection (step 7). Ordered on day 6, appraiser out on day 8, all three cleared, which leaves 2 days of the 10 in hand for the lender's final review.
What would have broken it. Priming the ceiling on day 3, the day after the boot went on, would have saved three days and very likely failed: a damp patch bleeds through primer, and a stain on re-inspection day reads as an unrepaired leak. The three days were the cheapest part of the schedule.
How to verify you are ready to order the re-inspection
Go down the condition list and confirm each line, in writing, before you call:
- Each repair condition has an after photo from the same spot as its before photo.
- Each condition number appears on the invoice with the condition's own words.
- Each evaluation condition has a signed letter that states what was and was not examined.
- Every permit the work needed is closed or its status is stated in writing.
- Utilities are on, access is arranged, nothing is wet, tarped or blocked.
If any line fails, the call waits.
References
- 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13), fall protection in residential construction
- International Residential Code P2804.6.1, relief valve discharge piping, in the edition your jurisdiction has adopted
- NFPA 70E-2021, 120.5, verifying absence of voltage
- See related: Appraisal-Required Repairs
- See related: Getting Paid at Closing Without Getting Stuck