A reconsideration of value, commonly called an ROV, is a request that the appraiser reconsider the opinion of value in a completed report based on information the appraiser did not have or did not address. It is not an appeal, it is not a negotiation, and it is not a second opinion. It is a request supported by evidence.

How the process actually works

For conventional loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both require the lender to have a process for handling borrower-initiated reconsiderations of value, and both require the lender to disclose that process to the borrower when the appraisal is delivered. In July 2024 five federal agencies — the Federal Reserve, CFPB, FDIC, NCUA, and OCC — issued interagency guidance on reconsiderations of value, advising institutions to maintain risk-based ROV policies and to tell consumers in plain language how to raise a valuation concern. That issuance is supervisory guidance rather than a rule, but it moved the industry, and lender ROV processes are now standard.

Several practical points follow from the GSE requirements, and they are worth knowing before you start:

•            The request goes through the lender, not directly to the appraiser. The lender reviews it first and decides whether it contains enough substance to send on.

•            The borrower may submit up to five alternative comparable sales, with the data and the reason each one is relevant.

•            Generally one borrower-initiated ROV per appraisal report.

•            The appraiser must respond with a revised report and commentary explaining the conclusions whether or not the value changes. A well-supported ROV that does not move the number still produces a written explanation of why.

Requirements differ by loan type and change over time — FHA, for example, rescinded its borrower-initiated ROV framework in March 2025. Confirm the applicable process with your lender before relying on any of the above.

What actually works in an ROV

An ROV succeeds on one of three things: a factual error in the report, a relevant comparable sale the appraiser did not consider, or an analysis that is not supported. What does not work is disagreeing with the number, an online estimate, what the neighbors say, or what the property needs to appraise for to make the deal work.

Where we come in

We review the appraisal and tell you which of those three you actually have. Sometimes the answer is that the report has a real, identifiable problem, and the review states it specifically enough to be useful to the lender and the appraiser. Sometimes the answer is that the appraisal is well supported and an ROV would go nowhere. Both are worth knowing before you spend time and money.

What a review will not do is manufacture a case for a different number. Our conclusion follows the evidence in the file and the market data behind it, and it comes out where it comes out. Our fee is for the work and is never contingent on the outcome. That independence is the entire reason a review carries weight when it does support a change.