You've agreed on a price for your home. If the buyer's lender appraisal comes in low, you may be forced to reduce the price or risk losing the sale. AppraisalBackstop pays you the protected shortfall, up to your protection amount.
Built by the team behind 2.6 million home appraisals.
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Protected Price is the highest accepted price we'll protect on this home. It isn't an appraisal, and it isn't the lender's number.
Paid to you separately, in addition to your sale proceeds.
Same home, same low appraisal. One sale is protected and one isn't.
You may need to reduce the price, ask the buyer to bring additional cash, or risk losing the sale.
The purchase price adjusts to $480,000 under the AppraisalBackstop addendum, and the lender approves the loan using the adjusted purchase price and its own appraisal. We pay you the $20,000 separately, in addition to your sale proceeds.
Additional buyer cash required for the protected shortfall: $0. The buyer still has their ordinary down-payment and closing obligations — protection removes the protected shortfall, not the rest of the transaction.
Protection pays up to your protection amount. If the shortfall is larger — say a $460,000 appraisal against a $500,000 accepted offer with $25,000 of protection — the price adjusts down by the full $25,000, we pay you $25,000, and the remaining $15,000 is handled by you and the buyer under the normal purchase contract, exactly as it would be today.
Closing costs that are calculated on the sale price are based on the adjusted purchase price. AppraisalBackstop's payment to you is separate from, and in addition to, your sale proceeds.
The highest accepted price we'll protect on this home. You still set the asking price and can list above it — protection applies to an accepted offer at or below the Protected Price.
The largest shortfall we will pay you. Up to $25,000, $50,000, or $100,000 depending on the home.
The lender still orders its own appraisal. We change who absorbs a shortfall — not how the home gets appraised.
Book the scan. A background-checked Appraisal Backstop Pro visits the home for about 30 minutes. Within 24 hours you get your Protected Price, the protection amounts the home qualifies for with their pricing, and a floor plan and listing content you keep.
Choose a protection amount and activate it before you accept an offer. Your listing carries the AppraisalBackstop Protected badge, and offers at or below your Protected Price include the short AppraisalBackstop addendum.
The lender orders its own appraisal as usual. If it lands below the protected purchase price, the purchase price adjusts by the protected shortfall under the addendum and we pay you that amount — within 5 business days after closing.
The scan includes a floor plan and listing content you keep whether or not you activate protection.
Optional, activated by you after the scan. Every home gets its own price.
Up to $25,000 protected All eligible homes |
$199 – $469 per sale |
Up to $50,000 protected Homes $500K+ |
$479 – $829 per sale |
Up to $100,000 protected Homes $750K+ |
$939 – $1,329 per sale |
Ranges shown are estimates across eligible price ranges. Your exact price comes with your Protected Price, 24 hours after the scan. Protection pays you from the first dollar of shortfall, on offers at or below your Protected Price.
| Trigger | The lender's appraisal comes in below the protected purchase price |
| What happens | The purchase price adjusts down by the protected shortfall under the AppraisalBackstop addendum |
| Who is paid | You, separately from the buyer's closing funds |
| When you're paid | Within 5 business days after closing, once the lender's appraisal and the adjusted purchase price are documented |
| Activate by | Before you accept an offer, and before any lender appraisal is ordered |
| Maximum | $25,000 / $50,000 / $100,000 |
| Your share of it | $0 — we pay from the first dollar |
| Above the maximum | You and the buyer, under the normal purchase contract |
| Pricing | Unique to each home, set after the scan |
| Eligible homes | Single-family & townhomes, financed arm's-length sales at or below the Protected Price |
The protection agreement is between you and AppraisalBackstop, and we pay you directly. The buyer never receives money from us, and we do not provide buyer financing or down-payment funds.
Within 5 business days after closing, once the lender's appraisal and the adjusted purchase price are documented. There is no waiting on the buyer, the lender, or the brokerage.
Your accepted price minus the lender's appraised value, capped at your protection amount. It is arithmetic on two documented numbers — not a negotiation and not an adjuster's judgment.
A sample AppraisalBackstop Protection Agreement and the purchase addendum your buyer would sign are available on request, before you activate anything.
Based on the team's analysis of more than 1 million purchase appraisals since 2023, about 1 in 16 came in below the contract price. That record is what sets your Protected Price and what your protection costs.
AppraisalBackstop provides contractual seller protection tied to the Protected Price of your home. If a qualifying lender appraisal creates a protected shortfall, AppraisalBackstop pays you according to the protection agreement. AppraisalBackstop does not replace the lender's appraisal and does not provide borrower financing.
No, and nothing about the lender's appraisal changes. The mortgage lender still orders its own appraisal from its own appraiser. We separately evaluate the home to decide your Protected Price and how much appraisal protection to offer.
On a protected sale, the addendum reduces the purchase price by the protected shortfall. The lender approves the loan using the adjusted purchase price and its own appraisal. We then pay you that same amount under your separate protection agreement, in addition to your sale proceeds.
Before you accept an offer, and before any lender appraisal is ordered. Protection is a forward-looking agreement — it can't be added once the appraisal outcome is known or likely. That is also why the scan is worth booking while the home is still on the market rather than after an offer arrives.
Within 5 business days after closing, once the lender's appraisal and the adjusted purchase price are documented. The payment comes from AppraisalBackstop directly to you, separately from the buyer's closing funds.
Your protection amount applies first. On a $500,000 accepted offer with $25,000 of protection and a $460,000 appraisal, the price adjusts down by the full $25,000 to $475,000 and we pay you $25,000. The remaining $15,000 is handled by you and the buyer under the normal purchase contract, exactly as it would be today. That's why we say "protected up to $X" and never "no appraisal risk."
Yes — you always control the asking price. Protection applies to an accepted offer at or below your Protected Price. If the home goes under contract above that number, the portion above it isn't protected.
No. We pay you. The buyer's benefit is the adjusted purchase price — the protected part of a shortfall never becomes extra cash they have to bring to closing. We do not provide buyer financing or down-payment funds.
No. It is designed to reduce the financial exposure a low appraisal creates. It doesn't replace the lender's appraisal process, and buyers keep the normal protections in their purchase contract.
An Appraisal Backstop Pro visits the home for a roughly 30-minute interior scan. Within 24 hours you get your Protected Price, the protection amounts the home qualifies for with their pricing, and the floor plan plus listing content — yours to keep and publish whether or not you activate protection. The scan is not the lender's appraisal.
Every home gets its own price. The protection amounts are standard — up to $25,000, $50,000, or $100,000 — but the price comes from our risk models: the scan, how much confidence we have in the Protected Price, the market, and the home itself. Two homes with the same protection amount can be priced differently, because the risk is different.
Single-family homes and townhomes on financed, arm's-length sales in our active markets, with an accepted price at or below the Protected Price. We'll tell you at booking, before you pay anything.
Protection has to be activated before you accept an offer, so the time to start is while the home is on the market. Cancel free before the visit.