08/27/2026
Here's the decision most loan officers never actually make themselves: they let the AUS make it for them. If the system returns an eligible waiver, it gets accepted, no second thought given to whether the borrower or the deal is actually better served by skipping it.
Picture a purchase in a neighborhood where comps are inconsistent, or a borrower who negotiated hard on price and would benefit from an appraisal coming in low enough to renegotiate. Take the waiver automatically in either scenario, and the file closes faster while quietly removing a tool that could have worked in the borrower's favor.
Eligibility from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac also isn't the same as approval from every investor or every loan type. Some overlays still call for a full appraisal regardless of what the AUS returns, which means the decision isn't as automatic as the eligibility flag makes it look.
The fastest path isn't always the best one. Before you accept a waiver by default, ask what the borrower actually needs out of the valuation, not just what the system is willing to skip.
Save this and share it with a loan officer who takes every eligible waiver automatically.
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