AppraisalBackstop protects sellers against a protected appraisal shortfall, and helps reduce the risk that a late appraisal problem turns into a renegotiation or a failed sale. Your seller buys the protection. You bring it to them.
Built by the team behind 2.6 million home appraisals.
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 the seller separately, in addition to their sale proceeds.
It attaches to a property that's already on the market. Nothing about how you list, price, or market the home has to change.
Reduce the financial consequences of a low lender appraisal. If the appraisal comes in below the protected purchase price, AppraisalBackstop pays your seller the protected shortfall, up to their protection amount.
Reduce the chance that an appraisal problem becomes an emergency renegotiation days before closing, or a sale that falls apart and goes back on the market.
Buyers can see that the protected appraisal shortfall doesn't become additional cash they have to produce — so your seller has less reason to discount a financed offer against a cash one.
What you do: about five minutes. Book the scan or send this page to your seller. After that it's a short addendum that goes with the offer.
The lender still orders its own appraisal. AppraisalBackstop changes who absorbs a shortfall — not how the home gets appraised.
You or your seller book the scan. A background-checked Appraisal Backstop Pro visits for about 30 minutes. Within 24 hours: the Protected Price, the protection amounts the home qualifies for with pricing, and a floor plan and listing content you keep either way.
The seller chooses a protection amount and activates it before accepting an offer. The listing carries the AppraisalBackstop Protected badge, and offers at or below the Protected Price include the short AppraisalBackstop addendum.
The purchase price adjusts down by the protected shortfall under the addendum, and the lender approves the loan using the adjusted purchase price and its own appraisal. AppraisalBackstop then pays the seller that same amount within 5 business days after closing, separately from the buyer's closing funds.
Same listing, same low appraisal. One is protected and one isn't.
The buyer finds more cash, you renegotiate the price with your seller, or the sale falls apart and the listing goes back on the market.
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 your seller the $20,000 separately, in addition to their 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 the protection amount on the listing. 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 the seller $25,000, and the remaining $15,000 is handled by buyer and seller under the normal purchase contract, exactly as it would be today.
Costs calculated on the sale price are based on the adjusted purchase price. AppraisalBackstop's payment to the seller is separate from, and in addition to, their sale proceeds. AppraisalBackstop is not a party to any listing agreement and has no role in brokerage compensation.
A buyer agent can see what price is protected and how much of a shortfall the protection pays before they write an offer.
MLS remarksAppraisalBackstop Protected at $500,000 with up to $25,000 of appraisal protection. Addendum available on request.
Nothing about the badge changes how the home is appraised or who appraises it. It states the price AppraisalBackstop is willing to protect and the maximum shortfall it will pay the seller — two facts a buyer agent can price into an offer.
The listing shown here is an illustration, not a real property record.
The scan includes a floor plan and listing content you keep whether or not the seller activates protection.
Optional, and purchased by the seller after the scan. Every property 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. The exact price comes with the Protected Price, 24 hours after the scan. Protection pays the seller from the first dollar of shortfall, on offers at or below the 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 | The seller, separately from the buyer's closing funds |
| When they're paid | Within 5 business days after closing, once the lender's appraisal and the adjusted purchase price are documented |
| Activate by | Before an offer is accepted, and before any lender appraisal is ordered |
| Who buys it | The seller. You may choose to pay for the scan; you never pay for the protection |
| Maximum | $25,000 / $50,000 / $100,000 |
| Above the maximum | Buyer and seller, under the normal purchase contract |
| Eligible homes | Single-family & townhomes, financed arm's-length sales at or below the Protected Price |
The protection agreement is between AppraisalBackstop and the seller, and we pay the seller directly. The buyer never receives money from us, and we do not provide buyer financing or down-payment funds.
The accepted price minus the lender's appraised value, capped at the 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 the buyer would sign are available on request, before your seller activates 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 the Protected Price and what protection costs.
AppraisalBackstop is not a party to your listing agreement, takes no position on brokerage compensation, and never pays or reimburses an agent. Your arrangement with your seller is entirely between the two of you.
Once you've taken a listing through it, protection becomes something you can offer at the listing appointment: a Protected Price for the home and protection the seller can activate, alongside the comparative market analysis and the marketing plan. That is the repeat use — it isn't the reason to start.
AppraisalBackstop provides contractual seller protection tied to the Protected Price of the home. If a qualifying lender appraisal creates a protected shortfall, AppraisalBackstop pays the seller according to the protection agreement. AppraisalBackstop does not replace the lender's appraisal and does not provide borrower financing.
AppraisalBackstop is an agreement between your seller and us. We are not a party to your listing agreement, we take no position on brokerage compensation, and we never pay or reimburse an agent. If a protected shortfall adjusts the purchase price, how that interacts with your agreement is between you and your seller — as it would be with any price change. We deliberately stay out of it.
The seller buys the protection. The scan is a separate $149 fee that either the seller or you can pay — some agents cover it as part of their listing services, but nothing about the product depends on that. You never pay for the protection itself.
Before an offer is accepted, and before any lender appraisal is ordered. It is a forward-looking agreement and can't be added once the appraisal outcome is known or likely. That is why it's worth raising while the listing is still on the market rather than after an offer arrives.
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 the Protected Price and how much appraisal protection to offer.
About five minutes. You book the scan or send your seller the page, and the Pro schedules the visit directly. After that it's a short addendum that goes with the offer. We don't ask you to explain the product, sell it, or handle anything after closing.
The 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 the seller $25,000. The remaining $15,000 is handled by buyer and seller 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."
An Appraisal Backstop Pro visits the home for a roughly 30-minute interior scan. Within 24 hours: the Protected Price, the protection amounts the home qualifies for with their pricing, and the floor plan plus listing content — yours and the seller's to keep and publish whether or not protection is activated. The scan is not the lender's appraisal.
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 anyone pays anything.
Protection has to be activated before an offer is accepted, so the time to raise it is while the home is still on the market.