UAD 3.6: What Realtors and Loan Officers Should Know Before Clients Ask
3.6 Insight | Heatherstone Appraisal Group
Beginning November 2, 2026, appraisals submitted to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must be delivered in a new data format called UAD 3.6. In an ideal transaction, buyers and sellers never notice it. In practice, they may see it in longer appraisal turn times, a different appraisal fee, or a question about timing, and the Realtor or loan officer they are working with is the person they will ask.
The way a property is valued has not changed. The way the results are reported has, and that difference explains most of what follows.
The change is already happening
UAD, the Uniform Appraisal Dataset, is the data standard behind the report. The URAR, the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report, is the form the appraiser delivers. UAD 3.6 replaces the current stack of forms (the 1004, 1073, 1025, 2055, 1007, and others) with a single dynamic URAR that changes based on the property and the loan.
Both the current format and 3.6 are accepted through November 1, and 3.6 becomes mandatory on November 2. What matters is the date the file is submitted to the GSEs by the lender or management company, not the date the report was written. A report in the current format that is submitted after November 2 will be rejected, and the lender would likely need a new appraisal in 3.6. Some management companies plan to send 3.6 orders as early as October 1, and the first orders are already being placed, so a closing near that date should have a buffer built in. FHA allows 3.6 on an optional basis with no mandatory date, and VA and USDA have not announced timelines.
The report requires more granular data
The valuation methodology has not changed, and neither has the appraiser’s judgment. The reporting requirement is set by the client, and in this case the client is the GSEs. What they now require is more data, captured in individual fields and explained in the report.
Listing history shows the difference. Where one sentence once summarized it, each listing and every price reduction is now entered as its own dated record, and the summary is still required. Condition and quality ratings are now given separately for the exterior and interior, with room-level detail for every kitchen and bathroom, and then reconciled into one overall rating. Gross Living Area is retired in favor of Above-Grade Finished Area and Below-Grade Finished Area, and new field groups cover broadband, disaster mitigation, and green features.
With this level of detail, Realtors may be asked for information about a property that they have not been asked for before, and the question may prompt a “why do you need that?” The answer is the report. The new form includes fields that require this information, so the question reflects the data requirement, not a change in how the appraiser works or a doubt about the information the agent has provided.
Expect longer turn times and higher fees
More data and more report-writing requirements mean more time spent on each report, and that added time will be reflected in both turn times and fees. Requests for very short turnarounds are already arriving, and expectations across the industry have not yet caught up to the added time. A typical contract layers several deadlines together: inspection, inspection resolution, loan, appraisal, and appraisal resolution. If the appraisal takes longer than those deadlines assume, every deadline after it is affected, so it is worth allowing extra time for the appraisal when the contract is written.
With more data and more time required for each report, increased appraisal fees are likely as well.
Appraisers are not the only ones adjusting
Underwriters and reviewers have the same learning curve. The report now contains more data for them to review, so some additional questions and back-and-forth are likely while everyone becomes familiar with the new format.
Software is still maturing too. Every major report-writing vendor states that it supports 3.6 submission, but supporting submission is not the same as an efficient workflow. Management companies, lenders, and vendors are all adjusting at once, so longer turn times and higher costs are not a reflection on any one appraiser. We expect the roughest stretch to be the present, with conditions settling by roughly the second quarter of 2027.
When a client asks why the appraisal is taking longer or costing more, an accurate answer is that the reporting requirement changed, the appraisal process did not, and the industry is still adjusting. Setting that expectation early, and allowing extra time in the timeline, does most of the work.
— Heatherstone Appraisal Group
