Explain your appraisal report
Your report, explained. The facts checked against published rules and common review thresholds. Your reconsideration request, built.
One file: the PDF your lender sent, every page including photos and addenda; up to 15 MB and 80 pages. A JPG or PNG holds a single page, so it cannot carry a whole report. The file is read in memory by Google Cloud Vertex AI and is not stored by HomeTurf. The figures, dates and ratings are kept for 30 days without your name, the address, the appraiser's name or any photo; your name, the address, the appraiser's name and license number, the lender's name, file and loan numbers, the comparable sales' addresses and the appraiser's commentary paragraphs come back to this browser only, so the request can be built.
Google does not use your appraisal report to train or fine-tune AI models, and neither does HomeTurf. Google keeps it only as long as it needs to read it, though it may hold a temporary cached copy for up to 24 hours. If Google's automated safety checks flag a request as possible misuse, Google may log that request, including your appraisal report, for up to 90 days, and authorized Google employees may review it.
What this does and does not do
It does
- Read the report back in plain words: the figure and its condition, the comparable sales and their adjustments, and what the report says about your home, with the UAD ratings explained.
- Check the facts and the grid arithmetic against published Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules and the review thresholds lenders and appraisal management companies commonly apply, naming the source on each point.
- Assemble your reconsideration request in the format your lender must process, with up to five sourced sales and the documents you cite.
It does not
- Say what your home is worth or propose a figure: HomeTurf is not a licensed appraiser and the request asks for reconsideration, not a number.
- Grade, rate or contact the appraiser. The request goes to your lender, which decides whether to forward it.
- Promise a different value, a second appraisal or a deadline extension. The appraiser answers in a revised report, whatever the outcome.
The words on the report
C1 (condition rating)
New or very recently built and never occupied; no physical depreciation and no repairs needed.
C2 (condition rating)
No deferred maintenance and little or no physical depreciation; nearly all components are new or recently repaired, refinished or rehabilitated.
C3 (condition rating)
Well maintained with limited physical depreciation from normal wear and tear; some components may have been updated, not every major one.
C4 (condition rating)
Normal wear and tear with some minor deferred maintenance; adequately maintained, needing only minimal repairs to components or systems and cosmetic repairs.
C5 (condition rating)
Obvious deferred maintenance and in need of some significant repairs; some components are at the end of their life, but the home is still livable.
C6 (condition rating)
Substantial damage or deferred maintenance with defects that affect safety, soundness or structural integrity; may not be livable without major repairs.
Q1 (quality rating)
Unique, individually designed by an architect, with exceptionally high-quality materials and workmanship throughout.
Q2 (quality rating)
Custom design with high-quality materials and finishes, often built from individual plans or substantially upgraded tract plans.
Q3 (quality rating)
Above-standard quality: higher-quality tract homes or semi-custom builds with upgraded finishes and more design detail.
Q4 (quality rating)
Standard tract construction that meets or exceeds code, built from stock plans with standard-grade materials and finishes.
Q5 (quality rating)
Basic economy quality: stock materials, limited architectural detail and plain or inexpensive finishes.
Q6 (quality rating)
Basic quality and lower cost; often built from simple plans or none, by unskilled builders, with the lowest-grade materials; some may not be suitable for year-round occupancy.
Gross living area (GLA)
The finished, above-grade, heated living space measured from the outside walls. Basements and garages are counted separately, which is why a finished basement appears on its own grid line.
Effective date
The date the appraised value applies to, usually the day of the inspection. Comparable sale ages and the age of the report are counted from it.
Intended use and intended user
What the report may be used for (the lender's mortgage decision) and who may rely on it (the lender or client named on the report). The borrower receives a copy under 12 CFR 1002.14 but is not the intended user.
Extraordinary assumption
Something the appraiser took as true without verifying it, such as an unseen area being in the same condition as the rest. If it turns out to be untrue, the value may change.
Hypothetical condition
Something the appraiser knows is contrary to fact on the effective date but uses for the analysis, such as treating planned repairs as complete.
As is, or subject to
An "as is" value applies to the home in its current state. A value "subject to" completion, repairs or an inspection applies only once that condition is met, and the lender usually needs a completion certification (Form 1004D) before closing.
Comparable sale
A recently closed sale of a similar home nearby that the appraiser adjusts to show what your home would have sold for. Fannie Mae expects at least three closed sales, normally within 12 months.
Adjustment
A dollar change to a comparable's sale price for one way it differs from your home. A comparable with a feature yours lacks is adjusted down; one lacking a feature yours has is adjusted up.
Net and gross adjustment
Net adds the adjustments with their signs; gross adds their absolute values. Both are shown as a percent of the sale price. Fannie Mae sets no cap, but net over 15 percent or gross over 25 percent are common review triggers.
Adjusted price
A comparable's sale price plus its net adjustment: what that sale suggests for your home. The appraiser reconciles the adjusted prices into one figure.
Time (date of sale) adjustment
An adjustment for market change between a comparable's sale date and the effective date. Fannie Mae requires it to be supported by evidence; a report that describes values as increasing is expected to consider one on older sales.
Sales or financing concessions
Costs a seller paid for the buyer (closing costs, rate buydowns, repairs). A comparable sold with concessions is adjusted downward for them; a positive concessions adjustment is not acceptable under Fannie Mae B4-1.3-09.
Reconciliation
The step where the appraiser weighs the comparables and the approaches used and states the final appraised value, with commentary on which sales carried the most weight.
Cost approach
What it would cost to buy the land and build the home today, less depreciation. Used alongside the sales comparison approach when it adds support, and required for some loan programs.
Exterior-only and desktop reports
Reports where the appraiser did not enter the home (Forms 2055 and 1075) or did not visit at all. Interior condition then comes from records, listings and photos.
UAD and the URAR
The Uniform Appraisal Dataset is the standard format Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require; the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR) is the form. Legacy forms (1004 and its relatives) are giving way to the UAD 3.6 dynamic URAR, mandatory from November 2026 with a legacy exception into 2027.
Reconsideration of value (ROV)
The lender-run process by which a borrower asks the appraiser, through the lender, to reconsider the report based on specific concerns and up to five additional sales. One per appraisal, before closing, answered in a revised report with commentary.
Appraisal management company (AMC)
A firm the lender uses to order and manage appraisals, keeping loan staff away from appraiser selection as the independence rules require. Many lenders route reconsideration requests through their AMC.
Appraiser independence
Rules (12 CFR 1026.42 and the GSEs' Appraiser Independence Requirements) that bar the lender and the others involved in the transaction, the covered persons of 12 CFR 1026.42, from influencing the appraiser. Asking the appraiser to consider additional information or to correct errors is allowed; that is what a reconsideration request does, and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac process routes it through the lender.
Common questions
What does the explainer read?
The appraisal report your lender gave you for a home in the United States, as one PDF of up to 15 MB and 80 pages (a JPG or PNG is also accepted, but it holds a single page): the legacy Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (Form 1004 and its condo, 2 to 4 unit and exterior-only relatives) and the UAD 3.6 dynamic URAR. It reads the appraised value and its condition, the effective date, the contract section, the neighborhood trend, the description of your home with its UAD condition and quality ratings, every comparable sale in the grid with its adjustments, the approaches used and the reconciliation. Photos, sketches and maps are not read.
What does the explainer keep?
The figures, dates, ratings and yes or no answers from the report, the form family, the two-letter state and short condensed notes from the reconciliation, the adjustment explanations and the listing history, stripped of names, plus a note of which ad or link brought you to the site, which is how we measure what each campaign costs. They are kept for 30 days so you can email the explainer to yourself, then deleted. Never kept: your name, the address, the appraiser's name or license number, the lender's name, file or loan numbers, the comparable sales' addresses or the appraiser's commentary paragraphs. Those reach your browser only, so the request can be built, and live only for this session. Photos, sketches and maps are never read. The file itself is read in memory by Google Cloud Vertex AI and is not stored by HomeTurf; Google keeps it only as long as it needs to read it, though it may hold a temporary cached copy for up to 24 hours, and if its automated safety checks flag a request it may log the file for up to 90 days.
Can HomeTurf tell me what my home is worth?
No. HomeTurf is not a licensed appraiser and does not produce or suggest a figure for any home. The explainer reads your own report back to you, checks the facts and arithmetic in it against published rules and common review thresholds, and helps you assemble a reconsideration request. The request asks the appraiser, through your lender, to reconsider specific points; it does not propose a number, and neither does this page.
What is a reconsideration of value, and will it change the number?
A reconsideration of value (ROV) is the lender-run process by which a borrower asks the appraiser, through the lender, to reconsider the report based on specific concerns and up to five additional sales with their data sources. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-12 and Freddie Mac Guide 5604.4 set the required fields, allow one request per appraisal before closing, and require the appraiser to answer in a revised report with commentary whatever the outcome. Neither guide addresses fees, so ask your lender whether any charge applies. The appraiser decides whether the figure changes; HomeTurf cannot promise a different value, a second appraisal or a deadline extension.
Is this an appraisal, or legal advice?
No. It is general information about what is written in your own appraisal report and about the published rules lenders follow. It is not an appraisal, not an appraisal review, not an estimate of value, and not legal or financial advice. The AI reader can misread or miss a figure, so check each item against your copy of the report before you rely on it. Questions about your loan go to your lender; questions about your rights go to an attorney licensed in the property's state.
More in our guides to closing costs and switching lenders before closing.
This page describes what is written in your own appraisal report and the published rules lenders follow. It is general information, not an appraisal, not an appraisal review, not an estimate of your home's value, and not legal or financial advice. HomeTurf is not a licensed appraiser and does not rate appraisers. Your lender decides whether to forward a reconsideration request; HomeTurf cannot promise a different value, a second appraisal or a deadline extension.