An appraisal exemption comes with some benefits for buyers. An appraisal exemption will save buyers money. An appraisal exemption can also reduce the amount of time it takes to close a home. An appraisal waiver is an offer to waive an appraisal for an eligible real estate transaction.
The home appraisal exemption helps ensure that the value of the property matches its list price. You should only consider waiving the appraisal contingency if you have spoken to your real estate agent and strongly believe that you will need to give it up for your offer to be accepted, or the appraisal is highly unlikely to be low. As a buyer in a booming housing market, you may be tempted to forgo home appraisal to make your offer appear attractive to the seller. As mentioned, one occurs when you can coordinate with your bank during refinancing so that the home appraisal requirement does not apply.
If you are refinancing, banks will likely want an appraisal done before allowing you to withdraw cash, although there are some properties and circumstances that allow you to waive an appraisal when refinancing. If the buyer needs a mortgage loan and includes a financial contingency in their contract, it wouldn't make sense to waive the appraisal contingency because the appraisal is the way the loan amount is confirmed. They also agree to waive the home appraisal because its current loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is below its 90% threshold.