What Does a VA Loan Appraisal Actually Check in Arizona?

A VA appraisal in Arizona does two jobs at once: it establishes the home's fair market value, and it verifies the property meets the VA's Minimum Property Requirements for safety, soundness, and sanitation. Arizona VA appraisers have 7 business days to complete the report after assignment. If the appraiser flags a Minimum Property Requirement deficiency, the repair has to be completed and the property re-inspected before the loan can close, and VA Circular 26-14-5 states the seller or the Veteran may negotiate who pays for the repairs noted in the Notice of Value.

That last point is the one most buyers in Surprise, Avondale, and Goodyear get wrong. A VA appraisal is not a pass or fail test of whether you can buy the house. It is a condition report with a value attached, and almost everything it flags is negotiable between you and the seller.

What the VA Minimum Property Requirements actually are

The Minimum Property Requirements are a set of property standards enforced by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that ensure a home bought with a VA loan is safe, structurally sound, and sanitary enough for year-round occupancy. Conventional appraisals have no equivalent set of requirements. The three-word test is safe, sanitary, structurally sound.

The VA assigns an independent, VA-certified appraiser who performs both functions: determining fair market value and verifying the home meets the Minimum Property Requirements. VA Circular 26-14-5 states that VA requires all properties, including foreclosed properties, to be in a condition that meets VA Minimum Property Requirements or to be repaired to meet them prior to loan guaranty, and that the VA fee appraiser must list on the appraisal report any repairs necessary to meet those requirements and estimate value as if the repairs were completed.

The standards cover the things that make a house livable:

• Free from hazards affecting health or safety
• Adequate heating and a safe, potable water supply available year round for drinking and bathing, plus a reliable supply of hot water
• Sufficient sanitary facilities and effective sewage disposal
• Safe access via roads or streets, including all-weather road access
• Structural soundness in the roof, foundation, and overall integrity
• Working electric, heating, and cooling systems
• Adequate roofing that will last the foreseeable future
• Proper drainage
• Sufficient size for basic living necessities
• No active infestations or wood-destroying insect damage

There is a detail here that trips up buyers looking at vacant homes. All units must have access to safe drinking water, sewer, gas, and electricity, and the utilities must be on and operational at the time of the appraisal. If the utilities are off, the functional checks cannot be completed and the appraisal cannot clear.

Heating has a hard number attached. The VA requires permanent heating capable of maintaining a 50 degree Fahrenheit temperature in areas with plumbing.

What a desert climate changes about the inspection

Air conditioning is the question I get most often from VA buyers in the West Valley, and the answer surprises people. There are no VA Minimum Property Requirements for air conditioning regardless of climate. But if a system is installed, it must be operational, or the appraisal may be made subject to repairs. In practical terms, every home you tour in Surprise has a system installed, so the system has to work on the day the appraiser walks it.

The roof gets examined for needed repairs, and most lenders require roofs to have at least two years of remaining life.

Drainage and grading matter more than buyers expect in a low-rainfall market. The property must have adequate drainage directing water away from the foundation. Standing water near the foundation or poor grading can cause structural problems, and the appraiser looks for proper grading, functional gutters and downspouts, and no evidence of water intrusion. The foundation itself must be stable without significant cracks or settling, and appraisers look for evidence of foundation problems such as doors that do not close properly or sloping floors. Water intrusion gets checked visually: ceilings for roof leaks, the areas around doors and windows for improper sealing, and walls for leaky pipes. Attics, crawl spaces, and bathrooms need proper ventilation to manage moisture and maintain indoor air quality.

Then there is the termite requirement, which is specific to this state. Arizona is listed by the VA as a state requiring a mandatory wood-destroying insect inspection for all VA purchase loans and cash-out refinances, and Arizona sits in the moderate to heavy termite infestation probability zone. If the property is in a required area, the loan cannot close until the pest report is provided and any required treatment or repairs are completed to satisfy the Notice of Value conditions. VA Circular 26-22-11, Pest Inspection Fees and Repair Costs, was issued June 15, 2022.

One rule recently fell away. Non-vented fireplace certification requirements no longer apply for appraisals ordered after May 1, 2026.

What happens when the appraiser calls for repairs

The appraiser assesses the interior and exterior of the home and notes any issues that need repair before the loan can close. If a Minimum Property Requirement deficiency is flagged, the seller or buyer must complete the repairs and the property gets re-inspected before closing. The appraiser must re-inspect and sign off after the work is done.

Who writes the check is open. VA Circular 26-14-5 states that the seller or the Veteran may negotiate who will pay for the required repairs noted in the Notice of Value. The VA does not dictate who pays. Veterans can pay for repairs themselves, sellers can cover them, or both parties can split the cost, and there is no VA rule forcing one side to absorb the expense. VA buyers can pay for repairs needed to close a loan even when the issues relate to the Minimum Property Requirements.

Scope matters. VA appraisers flag health and safety deficiencies, not cosmetic problems like worn carpet or dated fixtures. Worn paint does not hold up a VA loan. A non-functioning air conditioner can.

There is one path that lets a loan fund before the work is done. Escrow hold-backs allow loans to fund prior to fixing VA appraiser-required repairs in applicable cases, and repairs under a hold-back begin after the VA loan funds and closes. Without a hold-back, the VA requires these repairs be fixed before closing.

In Surprise, where single-family homes sold at 99.23 percent of asking price in June 2026, the share of asking price a home sells for, assume a repair conversation is a negotiation and not a demand you can simply hand to the seller. Surprise had 1,268 single-family homes for sale in June 2026 and 337 closed sales, with 3.88 months of supply, meaning it would take just under four months to sell every home currently listed at the current pace. Six months is generally considered balanced. When supply is that thin, going in with a clear position on which repairs you will fund yourself is worth deciding before the appraisal comes back, not after.

Why the appraisal is not a home inspection

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs does not require a standard private home inspection. It mandates a structural and safety evaluation known as a VA appraisal. The VA requires an appraisal on every purchase loan, and the home inspection is entirely optional and paid out of pocket by the buyer.

The two documents answer different questions. A VA appraisal checks the property's basic condition against the Minimum Property Requirements. A separate home inspection is used to find problems with plumbing, electrical systems, foundations, and other parts that may not be easy to see. The appraiser evaluates compliance with the requirements, while a licensed home inspector evaluates overall condition, system lifespan, and maintenance issues outside that scope.

The VA itself tells you to get one. The Notice of Value you receive after the appraisal explicitly recommends the buyer proceed with an independent home inspection.

I tell every veteran I work with to order the inspection. An air conditioner that runs on appraisal day and has two years left in it clears the Minimum Property Requirements and still costs you thousands after you move in. The appraisal will not tell you that. The inspection will.

How long the appraisal takes and where it slips

Arizona's general VA appraisal timeline is 7 business days. Coconino, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave, Yavapai, and Yuma counties are extended beyond that. Maricopa County, which covers Surprise, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Glendale, Peoria, Avondale, and Buckeye, is on the general 7 business day timeline. That change put VA appraisers on pace with local conventional appraisers as of July 1, 2012.

The VA sets these timeliness requirements at the state level through its Regional Loan Centers, and they are the maximum number of business days the appraiser has to deliver the completed report after assignment. The clock starts the day after the assignment, not the day the appraisal was ordered, and weekends and federal holidays are not counted.

The 7 days is one piece of a longer sequence:

1. After you sign a purchase agreement, your lender submits an appraisal request to the VA's WebLGY portal and the VA assigns a certified appraiser from the approved panel in that area. Add 1 to 5 business days for assignment.
2. The appraiser has 7 business days in Arizona to complete and deliver the report.
3. After the report is filed in WebLGY, a VA Staff Appraisal Reviewer reviews it for accuracy and completeness, then the VA issues the Notice of Value. Add another 1 to 5 business days.

The total window from order to Notice of Value in a 7-day state is typically 10 to 17 business days. During high-volume periods such as PCS season from May through August, even 7-day states can see appraisers working right up to the deadline.

Delays happen because of appraiser shortages, property access issues, or required repairs. Repairs are the one you control. A flagged deficiency means work, then a re-inspection, then sign-off, and every one of those steps happens after the original 7 days are gone. If you are writing an offer on a home with an obvious condition issue, build the repair and re-inspection sequence into your closing date rather than assuming the first timeline holds.

Two scheduling notes worth putting on your calendar. The Notice of Value issued by the appraiser is valid for six months. And if the appraiser's opinion of value appears likely to come in under the sales price, the VA requires the appraiser to notify the requester and hold the file open for two business days so additional comparable sales can be submitted before the report is finalized.

The Bottom Line

A VA appraisal in Arizona checks whether the home is safe, sanitary, and structurally sound, and it checks the value. Working utilities on appraisal day, an operational cooling system if one is installed, permanent heat capable of holding 50 degrees Fahrenheit where there is plumbing, a roof with life left in it, grading that moves water away from the foundation, and a clean wood-destroying insect report are the items that decide whether the file clears. When something gets flagged, VA Circular 26-14-5 leaves the cost open to negotiation between the seller and the Veteran, and the repair has to be done and re-inspected before closing. Plan on 7 business days for the appraiser in Arizona and 10 to 17 business days from order to Notice of Value, then order the home inspection anyway, because the appraisal was never designed to tell you what the house will cost you after you own it.

If you are buying with a VA loan in Surprise, Avondale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Glendale, Peoria, or Buckeye, reach out and we will walk your target property through the Minimum Property Requirements before you write the offer.

Written by Saul Perez, part of the Kristan Cole Network team.

Sources

Pages read on October 5, 2026.

• Veterans Benefits Administration Circular 26-14-5 (benefits.va.gov)