** If your Arlington condo appraises low, the buyer can void, renegotiate, or cover the gap, depending on the loan type. Here's what the contract says.

The appraisal came in low on your Arlington condo. Now what?

Check the buyer’s financing addendum first, because the appraisal contingency is built into it. If the appraisal is below the contract price, the buyer can generally void the contract, propose a lower price (never below the appraised value), or proceed and make up the difference. Conventional, FHA, and VA addendums handle the details differently. Your best protection starts earlier: a price built on recent comparable sales, and an appraiser packet that puts those comps in front of the appraiser.

The lender’s appraisal lands, and the number is below your contract price. Take a breath. In Northern Virginia, the buyer’s financing addendum already spells out what happens next, and plenty of these deals still close. What decides the outcome is the buyer’s loan type, the exact wording of the addendum, and how prepared you were before the appraiser walked in.

Why Arlington condos appraise low

An appraiser values your unit from recent closed sales, and condos make that harder than houses. A single building may have only a handful of comparable sales in the past several months, and they are rarely identical. A higher floor, a better view, an assigned parking space, or a new kitchen can each move value, and an appraiser working from limited data tends to play it safe.

Market direction matters too. When more condos are competing for buyers, as the NVAR and George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis mid-year forecast projects for Arlington inventory, recent closed sales can lag what a motivated buyer will pay today. Your contract reflects today’s competition. The appraisal reflects what has already closed.

What the buyer’s financing addendum says

In our market the appraisal contingency is not a separate form. It’s built into the financing addendum, and which addendum applies depends on the buyer’s loan. Here’s how the current Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS forms (version 07/26) treat a low appraisal. The deadlines and any gap amount are blanks filled in for each contract, so your own paperwork controls.

  • Conventional (NVAR Conventional Financing and Appraisal Contingency Addendum). If the appraisal is below the price, the buyer can send an Appraisal Contingency Notice with a copy of the appraisal and a proposed lower price, which can’t be lower than the appraised value. You then have a negotiation period to agree on a new price in a signed addendum. If you can’t, the buyer gets an election period to void the contract. If the buyer doesn’t void, the contingency is removed and the contract stands at the original price. There’s also a gap guaranty version, where the buyer agrees up front to pay the difference between the appraisal and the price, up to a stated dollar amount.
  • FHA (NVAR FHA Financing Contingency Addendum). The form tells the parties not to add a separate appraisal contingency, because the federally mandated language is the FHA Amendatory Clause. That clause says the buyer isn’t obligated to complete the purchase, or lose the deposit, unless the buyer has a written statement of an appraised value of at least the contract price. The buyer may still choose to proceed regardless of the appraised value. The addendum then lists the buyer’s choices: void the contract, or propose a new price that isn’t lower than the appraisal and negotiate. If you and the buyer agree to lower the price, no new amendatory clause is needed.
  • VA (NVAR VA Financing Contingency Addendum). The VA Notice of Value paragraph says the buyer won’t be penalized, including by forfeiting earnest money, and isn’t obligated to close if the price exceeds the reasonable value established by the VA. The buyer can proceed anyway. The same procedures follow: void, or negotiate a new price that isn’t below the appraised value.

Notice what’s common to all three. When the appraisal is below the price, the buyer holds three choices: void the contract, negotiate a lower price, or proceed and make up the difference. You hold the middle one only if the buyer wants to negotiate.

Two more details worth knowing. First, a conventional buyer can void even when the appraisal meets the price, if the property doesn’t satisfy the lender’s requirements, the appraisal doesn’t allow for the specified financing, or the property is inadequate collateral. The buyer has to back that up with a written denial from the lender. Second, if the buyer lets the appraisal deadline pass without sending a notice, the contingency continues to settlement, but you can send a notice giving the buyer three days to void or lose the contingency. Ask your agent to track that date.

Lender-required repairs work the same way in all three addendums. The buyer sends you notice of the repairs, you have five days to say whether you’ll make them, and if you won’t, the buyer has five days to decide whether to make them. If neither of you will, the contract becomes void. An appraiser who flags a condition issue can set that clock running.

Your options when the number comes in low

Read the appraisal report first. Your agent can get a copy through the buyer’s side. Then pick a path.

  1. Support a reconsideration of value. A reconsideration of value, or ROV, asks the appraiser to take a second look. Under Fannie Mae’s rules the borrower may request a maximum of one ROV per appraisal report. You can’t file it yourself. Your agent sends the buyer’s lender stronger comparable sales from your building, plus anything the appraiser missed. With only one shot, send everything together.
  2. Meet in the middle. The buyer proposes a price between the appraisal and the contract price, and you counter inside the negotiation period. Many deals settle here. Sometimes a seller credit is a better tool than a price cut, and I cover that tradeoff in price cut or concession.
  3. Let the buyer make up the difference. A buyer with cash can pay the gap at closing, or may have agreed to it already through a gap guaranty. Their lender can confirm what works with their loan.
  4. Accept that the buyer voids, then relist. If neither side moves, the buyer can void under the addendum. Your next buyer’s appraiser will see the same sales, so relisting at the same price can repeat the problem.

One caution: nobody gets to pressure an appraiser toward a number. Appraiser independence rules apply to conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae, so the legitimate route is giving the lender better evidence. Different loan types also bring different condo approval rules, which I explain in FHA and VA condo approval for sellers.

What I do to protect your price

It starts with setting the right price, based on actual market data. Recent comparable sales are the best source, which means closed sales in your own building, adjusted for floor, view, parking, and condition. A portal estimate won’t do that. I go through the approach in how to price your Arlington condo to sell.

Then I prepare an appraiser packet, so the appraiser has the same facts I used. It includes:

  • The comps I used to set your price. The closed sales that support the number.
  • The differences between each comp and your unit. Floor, view, parking, square footage, and condition, laid out side by side.
  • A sheet itemizing anything new. Recent upgrades with dates, receipts, and permits where they exist.
  • Anything else relevant. Building details or recent sales context that help explain the price.

An appraiser still makes the call, and I can’t promise a number. But a packet means the appraisal rests on the full picture instead of only what the appraiser can pull on their own. That matters more now, because the new appraisal report format, UAD 3.6, becomes mandatory for conventional appraisals submitted on or after November 2, 2026, and it asks for more structured detail. I explain the change in Arlington condo appraisals are changing on November 2.

Your specific number depends on what has closed in your building and how your unit compares. That’s the building-level work I do before we ever list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the buyer cancel if my Arlington condo appraises low?

Yes, under the NVAR financing addenda. If the appraisal is below the price, the buyer can void the contract, usually after a negotiation period fails in the conventional form, or propose a new price that isn’t below the appraised value. The deadlines are blanks in your contract, so your agent should check them.

Does a low appraisal mean I have to drop my price?

No. You can support a reconsideration of value, meet the buyer in the middle, or let the buyer cover the gap with cash. If no agreement is reached, the buyer may void, or the contingency may be removed and the contract stays at the original price.

Can a conventional buyer void even if the appraisal meets the price?

Yes, in limited cases. The NVAR conventional addendum lets the buyer void if the property doesn’t satisfy the lender’s requirements, the appraisal doesn’t allow for the specified financing, or the property is inadequate collateral. The buyer must provide a written denial from the lender.

What is a gap guaranty?

It’s an option in the NVAR conventional addendum where the buyer agrees to pay the difference between the appraisal and the sales price, up to a dollar amount written into the contract. If the shortfall is larger than that amount, the buyer can still seek a lower price or void.

What is an appraiser packet?

It’s a package prepared before the appraisal, with the comps used to set your price, how each differs from your unit, an itemized list of new upgrades, and other relevant information. It gives the appraiser the same facts your agent used, in one place.

If you want to know what your unit is actually worth, not a Zestimate but a real building-level analysis, that is what I do. Start your selling plan at ArlingtonCondo.com/sell.

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.