The VA appraisal is required and checks value plus basic condition. The home inspection is optional and works for you alone. Confusing the two is the most expensive misunderstanding in a VA purchase.
Two different jobs
A VA appraisal is required by the lender and answers two questions for the lender: what is the home worth, and does it meet the VA's minimum property requirements. The appraiser works for the lender and the VA, not for you.
A home inspection is ordered by you and works entirely on your behalf. It evaluates the condition of the home in far more detail — the roof, foundation, mechanical systems, electrical, plumbing, and appliances — and tells you what is likely to need repair or replacement in the years ahead.
The VA is explicit that the appraisal is not a substitute for a home inspection. The agency recommends every buyer order an independent inspection.
What the VA appraisal checks
The appraiser establishes market value using comparable sales, and certifies that the property meets minimum property requirements: safe, structurally sound, and sanitary. Common flags are peeling paint on pre-1978 homes, missing handrails, non-functioning systems, active roof leaks, and unsafe utilities.
The standard is habitability, not quality. A home with worn carpet and a dated kitchen can pass the MPR review. The appraiser is not telling you the home is in good condition — only that it meets a baseline for safe occupancy.
What the home inspection checks
An inspector examines the home from roof to foundation and reports on the remaining life of major systems, safety concerns, deferred maintenance, and items that are functional today but likely to fail. A good inspection report prioritizes findings so you can decide what to negotiate, what to accept, and what to walk away from.
Inspectors routinely find issues the appraisal never surfaces: a furnace near end of life, a cracked foundation behind finished walls, improper electrical modifications, or a roof with three years left that an appraiser noted only as functional.
Who orders, who pays
The lender orders the VA appraisal through the VA's portal and assigns a VA-approved appraiser. The appraisal fee is a closing cost, and the VA sets the fee by region and property type.
You order the home inspection yourself, typically during the inspection contingency period in your contract. The fee is paid at the time of inspection and is not a closing cost — it is a cost of doing your own due diligence.
What happens when they disagree
The appraisal can come in clean on MPRs while the inspection surfaces thousands in near-term repairs. That is not a contradiction — the two reviews measure different things.
When the inspection finds issues, your leverage is the inspection contingency in the contract, not the appraisal. You can negotiate repairs, a price reduction, a credit at closing, or walk away within the contingency window. The VA's amendatory clause protects you on value; the inspection contingency protects you on condition.
The order that protects you
Get both, and get the inspection early. Order the inspection as soon as you are under contract so findings are in hand before the appraisal contingency window closes. Use the inspection report to negotiate, and use the appraisal to confirm the value supports the price.
Skipping the inspection to save a few hundred dollars is the single most common regret among first-time VA buyers. The appraisal protects the lender; the inspection protects you.
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Jonathan Mullins
Mortgage Loan Officer · Army Veteran
Jonathan Mullins is an Army Veteran and Mortgage Loan Officer at Military Mortgage, specializing in VA home loans for Veterans, active-duty service members, and military families. He writes this learning center to make VA loan rules, entitlement, and the home-buying process easier to understand.
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