New Appraisal Form 2026: Myrtle Beach Seller Guide — Hereda Team at Carolina Crafted Homes

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September 04, 2026

TL;DR: A redesigned appraisal report is scheduled to replace the current form for conventional loans on November 2, 2026. It captures far more structured detail about condition, updates, view, and square footage than the form appraisers use today. Sellers who can document what they've done to the property will be in a stronger position than sellers who can't.

The appraisal is usually the quietest step in a Grand Strand transaction — until it isn't. According to the National Association of REALTORS® REALTORS® Confidence Index (February 2026), 8 percent of contracts with delayed settlements ran into appraisal issues, up from 5 percent one month earlier. Locally, according to CCAR MLS (July 2026), single-family sellers received 97.3 percent of list price at a median sales price of $375,000. In a market priced that tightly to asking, a valuation that misses by a few thousand dollars changes the conversation. A significant change to the appraisal report itself is now on the calendar, and our team walked through it in a recent live session.

  
     Watch: What the 2026 appraisal form change means for Grand Strand buyers and sellers

What Is Changing on the Appraisal Report

As covered in the video above, the appraisal report used for most conventional loans is being replaced. The long-standing residential appraisal form retires, and a single, more standardized report takes its place. The stated mandatory date is November 2, 2026, and the change applies to loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Government-backed FHA and VA loans are expected to transition separately and are not covered by this date.

Two things make the new report different. First, it is written in plainer language, so a buyer or seller reading it should have an easier time understanding what the appraiser actually concluded. Second, and more consequential, it collects a much larger volume of structured data — reportedly more than 150 additional data points.

Where the old form left room for narrative comments, the new report asks specific questions. How old is the roof? What is the age of the HVAC system and water heater? Was the kitchen updated, and to what level? What is the view? Are there defects? Anyone who has completed a South Carolina property condition disclosure will recognize the shape of these questions. The practical effect is that the appraisal report starts to look less like a summary and more like a detailed inventory of the property.

Programs and requirements are subject to change; verify current details. Consult with a licensed professional for your specific situation.

What the New Appraisal Form Means for Myrtle Beach Sellers

The short version: documentation stops being optional. If an appraiser is required to report the age and condition of major systems, someone has to supply that information — and the seller is the most likely source.

This is where many Grand Strand sellers get stuck. According to the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, home sellers had owned their homes a record 11 years before selling. Over a decade, receipts get lost, contractors move on, and permits get filed away and forgotten. Sellers who bought a property that was already renovated may never have had the paperwork at all.

A practical response is to build a one-page property record before listing:

Roof replacement year and contractor
HVAC, water heater, and major appliance ages
Kitchen and bath renovation dates, with receipts where possible
Permits pulled and HOA architectural approvals
Energy-efficiency upgrades such as solar, insulation, or window replacement
Any structural or drainage work performed

There's a second point worth understanding. Documentation supports value; it does not guarantee it. An appraiser still has to reconcile the property against comparable sales. Spending well beyond what the surrounding market supports does not automatically convert into appraised value, regardless of what the receipts say. For more on preparing a property before it hits the market, see our guide to what to know before listing your Myrtle Beach home.

Why the Grand Strand May Feel This More Than Other Markets

This is a national change, but its effects are not evenly distributed. Coastal Horry County has an unusually high concentration of properties that are not the owner's primary residence — second homes, investment properties, and inherited or estate sales. In those cases the owner may have never lived in the home and may genuinely not know the age of the roof or what was replaced and when.

The condo segment adds another layer. According to CCAR MLS (July 2026), condos carried 7.6 months of supply against 4.2 months for single-family homes, and condo sellers received 95.9 percent of list price compared with 97.3 percent for single-family. In a segment with more inventory and softer pricing, a report that documents deferred maintenance in structured fields is likely to carry weight.

There may be an upside locally as well. The new report captures site and view characteristics in more detail. Along the Grand Strand, where lots are priced by proximity to the ocean, Intracoastal Waterway, lakes, and golf course frontage, more granular view reporting could help distinctive properties that have historically been difficult to value against generic comparables.

Grand Strand market conditions the July 2026 appraisals were measured against:

Metric	Single-Family	Condo
Median Sales Price	$375,000	$231,000
Percent of List Price Received	97.3%	95.9%
Days on Market Until Sale	117	132
Months Supply of Inventory	4.2	7.6

Source: CCAR MLS Monthly Indicators (July 2026), current as of August 10, 2026.

What Buyers Should Check on the Appraisal

Buyers tend to look at one number on an appraisal: the value. The new report gives them more to work with, and it's worth reading past the bottom line.

Check the factual details. Is the square footage right? Are the bedroom and bathroom counts correct? Did the appraiser capture the renovated bath, or the view your unit actually has? Errors in the underlying data can move the conclusion.

The report also changes how square footage is described, separating above-grade from below-grade finished area. That distinction matters less along the coast, where basements are uncommon, but it will show up on reports here regardless.

If a valuation comes in low, a rebuttal is possible — but it has to be built on facts, not opinion. That generally means identifying comparable sales the appraiser should have used, or explaining why a selected comparable isn't appropriate. Buyers who have toured competing properties sometimes know more about the local comparison set than anyone else in the transaction.

One more consideration. According to the NAR REALTORS® Confidence Index (February 2026), 23 percent of buyers waived the appraisal contingency, up from 15 percent one month earlier. Waiving that contingency means accepting responsibility for any gap between the contract price and the appraised value. Our post on waiving contingencies in Myrtle Beach breaks down what that trade-off involves.

Cash purchases are not affected by lender-ordered appraisals. According to the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 30 percent of repeat buyers paid cash.

If you're planning a sale or purchase that closes after early November, the useful step right now is simply gathering paperwork — permits, receipts, system ages, HOA approvals. That's work you can start today without committing to anything, and it makes the rest of the process easier whenever you decide to move. If you'd like a second set of eyes on what documentation matters for your specific property, or you have questions about how this affects a transaction already underway, reach out to our team and we'll walk through it with you.

FAQ

When does the new appraisal form take effect?
The mandatory date discussed in our live session is November 2, 2026, and it applies to appraisals for conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Appraisers have had access to the new report since earlier in the year, but most have continued using the existing form until the deadline forces the switch. FHA and VA loans are expected to transition on a separate timeline. Because effective dates and requirements can change, confirm current details with your lender before relying on a specific date for your transaction.

Will the new form make appraisals come in lower?
Not automatically. The report collects more structured detail about both condition and quality, which cuts in two directions. A well-maintained property with documented upgrades has more room to have that work reflected. A property with visible defects or deferred maintenance now has those items recorded in specific fields rather than left to a general comment. An appraisal still involves professional judgment, so two appraisers can reach different conclusions on the same property using the same form.

What should I document before selling my Myrtle Beach home?
Start with the ages of major systems — roof, HVAC, water heater — and work outward from there. Collect receipts for renovations, permits pulled, HOA architectural approvals, and any structural, drainage, or energy-efficiency work. Note which contractor performed what, and when. Assemble it into a single page you can hand over. According to the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, sellers had owned their homes a record 11 years before selling, so this often means reconstructing a decade of history.

What if the property is an estate sale or an investment property?
This is a common situation along the Grand Strand and one of the harder cases. An owner who never lived in the property may not know the age of the roof or what was replaced. Available options include pulling permit records, checking prior inspection reports, and reviewing HOA files for approved modifications. Where information genuinely isn't available, it isn't available — but making that effort in advance is better than discovering the gap during a scheduled closing.

Does this affect cash purchases?
No. Lender-ordered appraisals apply to financed transactions, so a cash buyer purchasing without a loan is not subject to this form change. According to the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 30 percent of repeat buyers paid cash. Some cash buyers still order an appraisal independently for their own valuation purposes, but it is not a lender requirement in those cases.

Can I challenge an appraisal I disagree with?
Yes, though a rebuttal has to be built on evidence rather than opinion. That generally means presenting comparable sales the appraiser did not use, or explaining why a selected comparable is not an appropriate match for the subject property. Documentation of improvements, permits, and receipts supports the case. According to the NAR REALTORS® Confidence Index (February 2026), 8 percent of contracts with delayed settlements involved appraisal issues, so this situation does come up.