What’s Changing With Arlington Condo Appraisals on November 2, 2026?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are retiring the appraisal forms lenders have used for decades and replacing them with a single dynamic report called UAD 3.6, mandatory for any conventional loan appraisal submitted on or after November 2, 2026. Instead of an appraiser writing a paragraph of narrative commentary, the new form requires structured, room-by-room condition and quality ratings and a list of every comparable property the appraiser considered but didn’t use. Short term, expect some turnaround friction as lenders and appraisers adjust. FHA hasn’t mandated it yet, and VA hasn’t announced a timeline at all.
If you’re under contract or about to be, on either side of the transaction, this is worth twenty minutes of your attention before the deadline, not after.
Why This Is the Biggest Appraisal Change in Decades
For as long as most Arlington buyers and sellers have been transacting, appraisers have worked from one of about a dozen different forms depending on the loan and property type — the 1004 for a single-family home, the 1073 for a condo, the 2055 for a drive-by, and so on. All of them leaned heavily on narrative commentary: a paragraph at the end where the appraiser explained, in their own words, how they arrived at a value.
UAD 3.6 replaces all of it with one dynamic Uniform Residential Appraisal Report that adapts to the property and loan type in front of it. The forms Arlington agents have filed appraisal contingencies around for years — 1004, 1073, 2055, 442, 465, 70, and their hybrid and exterior-only variants — are gone as of the mandatory date.
The bigger shift is structural. Instead of a paragraph of commentary, the appraiser works through structured fields: a specific condition and quality rating for the kitchen, for each bathroom, for the overall interior — not just “average condition” as a single line item. The form also requires the appraiser to list comparable sales they reviewed and chose not to use, along with why. That second part matters more than it sounds like it should. A lot of appraisal disputes start with “why didn’t they use this comp,” and this format puts the answer on the page instead of leaving it to a phone call.
The Timeline (and Why Your Contract’s Dates Matter)
UAD 3.6 has been in a broad production period since January 26, 2026, during which lenders can choose either the legacy format or the new one. That flexibility ends November 2, 2026. After that date, an appraisal submitted to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Uniform Collateral Data Portal in the old format gets rejected outright.
Here’s the detail that’s easy to get wrong: the deadline runs off the date the appraisal is submitted to that portal — not your loan application date, and not the date the appraiser physically inspects the unit. If your purchase or listing is closing anywhere near early November, ask your lender directly where your appraisal sits in that pipeline rather than assuming your contract date settles the question.
This mandate is specific to conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. If you’re financing with FHA, the agency has only made the new format optional starting spring 2026 — it hasn’t set a mandatory date. VA hasn’t announced an adoption timeline at all. Given how many Arlington condo buyers use VA financing, that distinction is worth confirming with your lender rather than assuming every loan type moves on the same clock.
What This Means If You’re Buying
The upside is a report that’s harder to dispute on vague grounds. If an appraiser rates your target unit’s kitchen or bathrooms below what you’d expect, the new form requires them to say specifically why — dated finishes, deferred maintenance, whatever it is — instead of a single subjective condition line. That specificity gives you and your lender something concrete to push back on if the number comes in low.
The friction is timing. Appraisers and appraisal management companies are still building familiarity with a form this different, and that unfamiliarity tends to show up as slower turnarounds and, in some cases, higher fees while the industry adjusts. If your financing contingency has a tight deadline and your appraisal is likely to land close to or after November 2, build in a little extra runway rather than assuming the same turnaround you’d have gotten this summer.
What This Means If You’re Selling
The new form asks an appraiser to document your unit at a level of detail the old one never did — condition and quality, room by room, plus any permits tied to renovations. If you’ve updated a kitchen or bathroom, replaced flooring, or done any work that should have had a permit pulled, have that documentation ready before the appraiser shows up. A renovation the appraiser can verify and date supports your value; one they can’t creates a question mark instead.
This is the same building-level and unit-level documentation discipline that already matters for FHA and VA condo approval — the more you can hand an appraiser or a lender in writing, the less room there is for a low number to stick. If you’re listing this fall, ask your agent whether your closing timeline puts your appraisal before or after the November 2 cutover, and prepare your documentation either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is UAD 3.6, and how is it different from the current appraisal form?
UAD 3.6 is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s redesigned appraisal dataset and report format. It replaces roughly a dozen separate legacy forms with one dynamic Uniform Residential Appraisal Report that adapts to the property and loan type, and it swaps free-form narrative commentary for structured, room-by-room condition and quality ratings.
When exactly does the new appraisal form become mandatory?
November 2, 2026, for any appraisal submitted to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s Uniform Collateral Data Portal on a conventional loan. The determining factor is the submission date to that portal, not your loan application date or the appraiser’s inspection date.
Does this affect FHA or VA loans in Arlington?
Not yet, at least not on the same firm timeline. FHA has only made UAD 3.6 optional starting spring 2026 and hasn’t announced a mandatory date. VA hasn’t announced an adoption timeline at all. If you’re using either program, confirm with your lender which format applies to your specific transaction.
Will appraisals take longer or cost more because of this change?
Possibly, in the short term. Appraisers and appraisal management companies are still building familiarity with the new format, and that learning curve can show up as slower turnarounds or modestly higher fees while the industry adjusts. Most people following this expect it to normalize over time as the new format becomes routine.
How can sellers prepare for the new, more detailed appraisal report?
Pull together documentation on any renovations, upgrades, or permits tied to work in your unit before the appraiser’s visit. The new form requires a specific, room-by-room condition and quality rating rather than one general condition line, so a renovation you can document and date supports your value more directly than it used to.
If you’re buying or selling an Arlington condo this fall, this is exactly the kind of timing detail worth building into your plan. Start your buying plan or start your selling plan at ArlingtonCondo.com.
About Rick Bosl
Rick Bosl is Arlington’s condo specialist — with 23+ years of experience, 325+ transactions closed, and $165M+ in sales volume focused almost exclusively on Arlington’s condo market. As the founder of ArlingtonCondo.com and Managing Broker at KW Metro Center, Rick knows every building, every floor plan, and what buyers in each neighborhood are willing to pay. He holds the CRS and GRI designations and brings an electrical engineering degree and MBA to every transaction — because condo decisions should be driven by data, not guesswork. Licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and DC.