A full interior appraisal on a single-family home usually runs about $500 to $800 ordered through a lender, with national surveys putting the average lower and complex, rural, multi-unit, FHA and VA assignments higher; desktop and hybrid appraisals cost less, and an appraisal waiver costs nothing.
The appraisal is one of the few closing costs with a single knowable number that shows up early and does not move, and it is also one of the few a buyer is not allowed to shop for. What is inside the fee explains both why quoted figures vary so widely and why the one on your loan estimate is what it is.
What the fee covers, and who is in it
Most purchase appraisals are ordered through an appraisal management company rather than direct, because federal appraiser independence rules keep loan production staff out of appraiser selection. The fee on the loan estimate is that company's fee and the appraiser's share of it together, which is why a homeowner ordering a private appraisal is sometimes quoted less for the same work.
Cost tracks work. A three-bedroom tract home with twenty recent sales in the same subdivision is straightforward. An acre in the far valley with no similar sales, a fourplex that needs a rent schedule, a custom home, an unfinished addition, or a property an hour from the nearest appraiser all cost more. A rush order adds roughly $100 to $200, and that buys schedule rather than analysis.
Where it appears and when it is charged
It sits on the loan estimate under services the borrower cannot shop for, alongside the credit report and the tax service fee, and it is quoted as an exact figure rather than a range because the lender knows what the management company charges. Payment is either by card when the order goes out or as a line on the settlement statement at closing, depending on the lender.
Once the appraiser has inspected and delivered, the fee is earned and it does not come back if the deal collapses afterward. It is also one of the costs a seller credit toward closing costs can absorb, where the contract provides one.
The cheaper versions, and the free one
Not every loan gets a full interior appraisal any more. A desktop appraisal has the appraiser value the property from public records, listing data and a floor plan without visiting, typically for a couple of hundred dollars. A hybrid sends a third party out to photograph and measure and leaves the analysis to the appraiser. And on a meaningful share of conventional loans the automated underwriting accepts the lender's value outright, sometimes with a property data collection visit instead, at no appraisal fee at all.
The buyer does not pick among these. The loan program and the automated underwriting response do, and the answer arrives with the approval rather than being something to ask for.
It is not the inspection, and it is not for you
The appraisal and the home inspection are separate purchases with separate purposes, and paying for one does not cover the other. The appraisal runs $500 to $800, is ordered by the lender, protects the lender and produces a value. The inspection runs $300 to $600 for a typical single-family home, is ordered by the buyer, protects the buyer and produces a list of defects. FHA and VA appraisals check safety items too, which is where the confusion starts, but an appraiser does not test a furnace or run a camera down a sewer line.
Questions people ask
Is the appraisal fee refundable?
Not once the appraisal has been performed, since the appraiser did the work and has to be paid. A fee charged to a card before the assignment went out is usually refunded when the loan is cancelled, and lenders differ on exactly where they draw that line.
Why does a VA appraisal cost more?
VA publishes a maximum fee and a turn time for each state, and the assignment carries extra work: the minimum property requirements, the notice of value, and often a return visit to verify repairs. The published VA fee generally sits above the conventional fee for the same house.
Can you choose your own appraiser?
Not for a mortgage. Appraiser independence rules keep the borrower and anyone paid on commission out of the selection, so the lender or its management company assigns one. A privately ordered appraisal is fine for a divorce, an estate or a tax appeal, and useless to a lender.