The Complete Appraisal Repair Checklist: Room by Room, System by System

The Complete Appraisal Repair Checklist: Room by Room, System by System

Everything an appraiser cites on a government-backed loan traces back to three words — safety, soundness, and security. Which means the list is finite, predictable, and almost entirely findable in advance by anybody willing to walk the property carefully.

This is that walk. Organized the way you'd actually move through a house, with costs and the trade you'll need for each item.

Use it before listing, before an appraisal, or the day a condition list lands to make sure you're catching the whole category rather than just the cited instance — which is the most common reason a re-inspection fails.

Before you start

Bring a flashlight, a camera, and a notepad. Take dated photos of anything you find, because if it turns into a cited condition you'll want the before shot.

Two free wins to confirm first:

• Utilities on — gas, electric, water. An appraiser who can't verify the heat generates a condition and a second visit. On vacant property this is the number one avoidable failure.
• Access clear and unlocked — crawl space hatch, attic hatch, basement, mechanical room, every interior room. Move the boxes and trim the shrub over the crawl space door.

Approach, site, and grounds

• [ ] Walkways and steps — heaved, cracked, or broken sections creating trip hazards → $200–$1,500, concrete or masonry
• [ ] Handrail on any exterior stairway with several or more risers → $150–$600, carpenter
• [ ] Guardrails on porches, decks, landings, and balconies above a modest height, with balusters spaced tightly enough a small child can't pass → $400–$3,000, carpenter
• [ ] Deck structure — loose ledger connections, rotted posts and joists, missing fasteners → $500–$5,000, carpenter
• [ ] Grading — soil sloping toward the house instead of away → $400–$2,500, landscaping or excavation
• [ ] Downspouts discharging at the foundation rather than extended away → $150–$600, gutter or handyman
• [ ] Vegetation touching the siding, roof, or crawl space access → $200–$1,000, tree or landscaping
• [ ] Wood, mulch, or debris in contact with the foundation → $100–$500, handyman
• [ ] Retaining walls — leaning, failing, or bulging → $1,000–$15,000+, may need engineer
• [ ] Pool barrier — required fencing, self-closing and self-latching gate → $1,500–$6,000, fencing
• [ ] Unguarded drop-offs, open pits, or window wells without covers → $100–$400 each
• [ ] Driveway — severe deterioration affecting access → $500–$6,000, paving
• [ ] Detached garage and outbuildings — structural condition, and on a pre-1978 property, peeling paint here counts

Exterior walls, trim, and paint

• [ ] Peeling, chipping, or flaking paint on any pre-1978 property — house, detached garage, shed, fence, porch rails, window sills, eaves, soffits. The most commonly underestimated item on any list. Requires an EPA RRP-certified firm when done for compensation → $500–$4,000, certified painter
• [ ] Missing, damaged, or loose siding leaving the structure exposed → $300–$4,000, siding
• [ ] Rotted fascia, soffit, trim, and corner boards → $300–$2,500, carpenter
• [ ] Deteriorated masonry and mortar, spalling brick, rust-jacked lintels → $500–$8,000, mason
• [ ] Foundation cracking visible from outside — stepped or diagonal patterns → evaluation first, $350–$1,000, engineer
• [ ] Broken or missing window glass → $150–$700 each, glazier
• [ ] Exterior doors that don't close, latch, or lock → $150–$900, carpenter or locksmith
• [ ] Missing or damaged foundation vents → $150–$800, handyman
• [ ] Exposed exterior wiring, open boxes, or damaged service entrance → $200–$1,200, licensed electrician
• [ ] Hose bibs leaking or damaged → $150–$400, licensed plumber

Roof, gutters, and chimney

• [ ] Missing, lifted, curled, or damaged shingles → $350–$2,500, licensed roofer
• [ ] Active leaks or interior staining below the roofline → $400–$3,000, licensed roofer
• [ ] Flashing — loose, missing, or improperly terminated at walls, valleys, and penetrations → $300–$1,500, roofer
• [ ] Remaining economic life — an aged roof can be cited even with no leak on FHA and VA loans. Consider a written roofer's statement of remaining serviceable life → $150–$500 for the evaluation; $8,000–$30,000+ for replacement
• [ ] Gutters — detached, damaged, or full → $200–$1,200, gutter
• [ ] Chimney — deteriorated crown, missing cap, spalling brick, leaning, missing flashing → $400–$5,000, mason or chimney specialist
• [ ] Roof penetrations — improperly sealed vents, stacks, or a non-operational roof-mounted evaporative cooler → $200–$1,200
• [ ] Sagging or visibly deflecting roof planes → evaluation first, engineer

Attic

• [ ] Water staining or active leaking at the roof deck → roofer
• [ ] Damaged or cut rafters and trusses → evaluation first, engineer
• [ ] Mold-appearing growth on sheathing → remediation, $500–$5,000
• [ ] Missing or displaced insulation → $300–$2,500, insulation
• [ ] Blocked or missing ventilation → $200–$1,200
• [ ] Evidence of animal or pest intrusion → $300–$2,000, wildlife or pest control
• [ ] Exposed wiring, open junction boxes, or knob-and-tube → licensed electrician
• [ ] Bathroom or dryer exhaust venting into the attic rather than outside → $200–$700
• [ ] Attic hatch accessible for the appraiser

Basement, crawl space, and foundation

• [ ] Standing water or saturated soil → drainage first: $300–$2,000; drain system $4,000–$14,000
• [ ] Missing, torn, or inadequate vapor barrier in a crawl space → $500–$2,500
• [ ] Active seepage, tide lines, or efflorescence on foundation walls → drainage correction, often the actual citation
• [ ] Rotted sills, band boards, rim joists, or floor joists → $1,000–$7,000, carpenter
• [ ] Failing piers or posts → $500–$3,000
• [ ] Wood-decaying fungal growth on framing → treatment plus structural repair
• [ ] Foundation cracking, bowing, or leaning walls → evaluation first, engineer
• [ ] Sump pump — missing where needed, non-functioning, uncovered pit, or discharge terminating at the foundation → $450–$3,000, plumber plus electrician
• [ ] Plumbing leaks discovered below → licensed plumber
• [ ] Debris, organic material, and wood-to-soil contact → $250–$1,000
• [ ] Basement stair handrail and tread condition → $150–$600, carpenter
• [ ] Open floor drains and unguarded pits → $100–$400
• [ ] Crawl space access unlocked and clear

Electrical system

• [ ] Panel cover in place, no exposed conductors, no double-tapped breakers → $150–$800, licensed electrician
• [ ] Obsolete panels — Federal Pacific Stab-Lok, Zinsco. Often an insurance problem more than an appraisal one → $1,800–$5,000, licensed electrician
• [ ] GFCI protection at kitchen, bathroom, garage, laundry, and exterior receptacles → $150–$300 each, licensed electrician
• [ ] Cover plates on every receptacle, switch, and junction box → $25–$75 each
• [ ] Exposed or damaged wiring anywhere → licensed electrician
• [ ] Extension cords serving as permanent wiring → $200–$1,000 for proper circuits
• [ ] Knob-and-tube or unremediated aluminum branch wiring → $1,500–$25,000+, licensed electrician
• [ ] Service capacity — 60-amp service is frequently unacceptable to lenders and insurers → $1,800–$5,000
• [ ] Missing light fixtures or bare bulb sockets in habitable rooms → $100–$400 each
• [ ] Smoke alarms on every required level and location → $30–$80 each
• [ ] Carbon monoxide alarms where required → $40–$100 each

Plumbing system

• [ ] Water heater temperature and pressure relief valve discharge line — proper material, sizing, slope, and termination, not capped → $150–$400, licensed plumber. One of the most-cited items in the country
• [ ] Water heater seismic strapping in California and other Western states → $150–$400
• [ ] Water heater — leaking, improperly vented, inadequate combustion air, missing drain pan, prohibited location → $150–$3,000
• [ ] Every drip and leak — under every sink, at every shutoff, at every trap → $125–$400 each, licensed plumber
• [ ] Toilets — leaking at the base, rocking on the flange → $200–$600
• [ ] Every fixture runs and drains — no dead faucets, no slow drains, adequate pressure → licensed plumber
• [ ] Missing fixtures — a bathroom without a sink or toilet is a habitability issue → $200–$900 each
• [ ] Improper traps and venting — S-traps, gurgling drains → $150–$600
• [ ] Polybutylene supply piping — often the insurance blocker → $6,000–$20,000+ repipe
• [ ] Galvanized steel supply piping with visible corrosion or poor pressure → $1,500–$20,000
• [ ] Well and septic where applicable — order testing and certification at contract, not after the appraisal → $400–$1,250 for testing; replacement far more

Heating and cooling

• [ ] Permanent, code-compliant heat source that operates. Absolute requirement on FHA, VA, and USDA. Space heaters never satisfy it → $3,500–$15,000 replacement, licensed HVAC
• [ ] Every habitable room receives heat — common gap in older homes with additions → $3,000–$8,000 for a mini-split
• [ ] Flue and vent piping — connected, intact, properly sloped and terminated → $250–$1,500
• [ ] Combustion air adequate in closet installations → $250–$1,000
• [ ] Visible rust, scorching, or soot at a combustion appliance → diagnose immediately, licensed HVAC
• [ ] Cooling operates — critical in hot-climate markets → $1,200–$15,000
• [ ] Condensate drain present and functioning → $150–$600
• [ ] Thermostat present and functioning → $150–$450
• [ ] Ductwork — disconnected, damaged, or in poor condition → $300–$2,500
• [ ] Deteriorated asbestos-appearing duct or pipe insulation → specialist abatement
• [ ] Boiler condition in older northern housing → $6,000–$16,000 replacement

Kitchen

• [ ] GFCI protection at countertop receptacles → licensed electrician
• [ ] Cover plates on all devices
• [ ] Sink functioning, no leaks below → licensed plumber
• [ ] Required appliances present and functioning where the program requires a functional kitchen → varies
• [ ] Range hood or exhaust venting properly
• [ ] Cabinets and countertops — severe damage affecting function
• [ ] Flooring — trip hazards from severe damage
• [ ] Peeling paint on a pre-1978 property

Bathrooms

• [ ] GFCI protection at receptacles → licensed electrician
• [ ] Every fixture functions and drains → licensed plumber
• [ ] Toilet secure and not leaking
• [ ] Tub and shower valves not leaking → $300–$1,200
• [ ] Ventilation — fan or operable window
• [ ] Water damage at floors, walls, and around the tub → repair scope varies
• [ ] Deteriorated tile, grout, and surrounds allowing water intrusion → $300–$2,500
• [ ] Fuel-fired appliances are not permitted in bathrooms

Interior — every room

• [ ] Handrails on interior stairways with several or more risers → $150–$600, carpenter
• [ ] Guardrails at open stair sides, lofts, and landings, with proper baluster spacing → $400–$3,000
• [ ] Stair treads and risers — broken, missing, or inconsistent → $300–$2,000
• [ ] Broken window glass; windows that open and latch → $150–$700
• [ ] Egress — bedroom egress requirements in some jurisdictions, particularly finished basements
• [ ] Flooring — severe damage creating trip hazards → $300–$3,000
• [ ] Ceiling and wall staining indicating an active leak → find the source first
• [ ] Peeling paint on a pre-1978 property → certified painter
• [ ] Doors — missing or non-functioning on bathrooms and bedrooms → $150–$500 each
• [ ] Every room accessible to the appraiser, pets secured

The security items — ask, don't just look

These aren't visible on a walk-through, and they're the ones a contractor can't fix.

• [ ] Unpermitted additions or conversions — garage conversions, enclosed porches, finished basements, ADUs. Affects gross living area and can be a genuine obstacle. Ask the seller and check county permit records
• [ ] Legal access to the property, and recorded easements where access is shared
• [ ] Encroachments on or from neighboring property
• [ ] Flood zone status — check it in week one
• [ ] Insurability — call an independent insurance agent in week one. Roof age, panel type, and plumbing material can make a home uninsurable even when the appraiser passes it, and no lender funds without a bound policy
• [ ] Zoning consistency with actual use

The ten items that account for most citations

If you only have an hour, do these:

1. Handrails and guardrails — the most-cited category in the country
2. Peeling paint on pre-1978 properties, including the shed, garage, and fence
3. Water heater relief valve discharge line
4. Water heater strapping in seismic states
5. GFCI protection in wet locations
6. Cover plates and panel cover
7. Smoke and CO alarms
8. Every plumbing drip
9. Roof repairs — missing shingles, loose flashing
10. Downspout extensions and grading

Total: roughly $1,000 to $4,000, most of it paint on an older home. Against a one-to-three-week delay at the worst possible moment, it isn't a close decision.

The three items to escalate immediately

Not fixes — escalations. Each is a same-day phone call.

1. Anything requiring an engineer or professional evaluation. Order it the day you read the report. Nothing can be scoped, quoted, or performed until that report exists, and engineers in busy markets run a week out. It's the single biggest timeline trap in the process.

2. Well and septic on a rural file. Order the water test and septic inspection at contract. Labs and county health departments run on their own clocks and a failed test adds one to two weeks.

3. Anything that looks like a security issue — unpermitted space, access problems, insurability. Call your loan officer. These are measured in weeks to months, and a contractor can't help.

Working the list once conditions land

• Get the verbatim citation language from your loan officer, never a summary. Summaries drift expensive
• Fix the whole category, not just the cited instance. One GFCI cited means check them all
• Use licensed trades on licensed work. Underwriting rejects unlicensed electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and roofing work regardless of quality
• Run trades in parallel, not in sequence. Same work, entirely different closing date
• Document every item — dated before and after photos from matching angles, itemized invoice on letterhead with the license number and language that mirrors the citation, permits, and equipment model and serial numbers
• Utilities on, access clear, repairs visible at re-inspection
• One 1004D visit, everything complete. Partial completion means a second fee and another week

Where these rules come from

• FHA: HUD Handbook 4000.1, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook
• VA: VA Lender's Handbook M26-7, appraisal requirements chapter
• Conventional (Fannie Mae): Fannie Mae Selling Guide, Part B4-1
• Conventional (Freddie Mac): Freddie Mac Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide, Topic 5600
• USDA: USDA Rural Development Handbook HB-1-3555
• Lead paint work practices: EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, 40 CFR Part 745
• Appraisal forms: Form 1004D, Appraisal Update and/or Completion Report

Specific dimensional requirements — riser heights, guard heights, baluster spacing, clearances, and permit thresholds — come from the building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical codes as adopted by your jurisdiction, not from the loan program documents above. Program requirements change, and lender overlays can be stricter than the agency minimum.

How AppraisalFix helps

The repair itself is rarely the bottleneck — sourcing is. A homeowner gets a condition list, then starts cold-calling contractors who don't call back, can't produce an insurance certificate, or can't start for three weeks. Meanwhile the rate lock burns.

AppraisalFix was built for that window. We read the appraisal, isolate the lender-required items, match the file to licensed and insured repair pros already vetted in that market, document completed work with before/after photos and itemized invoices, and coordinate the Form 1004D recertification with the original appraiser. This checklist is essentially our intake process — we read the appraisal, isolate the required items, catch the whole category rather than the cited instance, and get licensed trades moving in parallel with documentation built for underwriting.

Have an appraisal with repair conditions? Submit the report and we'll return a scoped repair plan with vetted local pros — usually within 24 hours.

Frequently asked questions

What do appraisers cite most often?

Missing handrails and guardrails lead the country, followed by peeling paint on pre-1978 properties, the water heater relief valve discharge line, missing GFCI protection, missing cover plates, smoke and CO alarms, plumbing leaks, roof repairs, and drainage items. Together they're roughly $1,000–$4,000 to pre-empt.

Does peeling paint really include the shed and fence?

Yes. On pre-1978 properties, FHA, VA, and USDA require stabilization of defective paint on the whole site — detached garage, shed, fence, porch rails, window sills, and eaves. It's the most commonly underestimated item on any list, and partial stabilization is a frequent re-inspection failure.

What should I do first when a condition list arrives?

Three things the same day: get the verbatim citation language from your loan officer, take dated before photos of every cited item, and order any required engineer or professional evaluation. That evaluation is a gating item — nothing can be scoped until it exists.

Why do I need to fix the whole category instead of just the cited item?

Because the appraiser cited what they happened to see. If one GFCI is cited, have the electrician check them all; if paint is cited on the house, walk the shed and fence. A second re-inspection is the most avoidable cost in the process — another fee and another week.

Can I do the work myself?

On some items, yes — cover plates, downspout extensions, debris removal, alarms. But electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and roofing work generally requires licensed contractors, and underwriting rejects unlicensed work regardless of quality. You'd pay twice and lose a full cycle.

What's the biggest timeline trap on a repair list?

A 'subject to required inspection' condition. Appraisers aren't engineers, so significant structural findings become an evaluation requirement — and you can't scope, quote, or perform a repair until that report exists. Engineers in busy markets run a week out, which is why you order it on day zero.

How much do appraisal repairs usually cost in total?

Most complete lists land between $500 and $5,000, with the majority under $2,500 once you know what was actually cited. The outliers are roofs, structural framing, repipes, HVAC replacement, and septic systems — and those are the ones worth identifying in week one.

The bottom line

The appraisal repair list is finite and predictable, and this walk finds almost all of it. Do the ten highest-frequency items before anyone shows up, escalate the three that can't be fixed by a contractor on day zero, and when a real condition list arrives, get the verbatim wording, fix the whole category with licensed trades running in parallel, and document it well enough to clear the 1004D on one visit.