The Six-Month Clock On Your VA Notice Of Value For New Construction
The Clock Starts Before You Break Ground
Most people focused on VA construction financing already know the appraisal doesn't require a finished home. What catches builders and veterans off guard is the six month clock that starts ticking the moment the Notice of Value is issued off the plans, not when construction wraps.
Kimberly, a veteran planning a ground-up build in Charleston, learned this the way most people do: by asking the wrong question first. She wanted to know how an appraiser could value a house that didn't exist. The better question, once you're past that, is how long that value stays good once you have it.
What The 26-1852 Actually Locks In
VA Form 26-1852, Description of Materials, is the detailed material and specification breakdown the appraiser uses to value a not-yet-built home; the resulting Notice of Value is valid for six months.
That form is where the real work happens. The builder documents roofing type, flooring, foundation, insulation, every material and method planned for the build, and hands it to the appraiser alongside the construction plans. The appraiser isn't guessing, they're valuing a documented spec, and the Notice of Value that results is treated the same as one from a completed home appraisal, with one difference: it has an expiration date.
Why The Six Months Matters More Than People Think
If a build runs long, past that six month window, the Notice of Value can lapse before the home is finished, which can mean re-verifying value depending on how the lender and timeline line up. That's not a reason to panic, it's a reason to plan the 26-1852 submission and the construction schedule together from day one, not as two separate conversations.
For Kimberly, that meant getting her builder to complete the 26-1852 early enough that her Notice of Value landed with plenty of runway before groundbreaking, so the six month window covered the bulk of her build schedule rather than starting late and creating a gap.
Where Overlays Complicate The Timeline
Some lenders add requirements on top of the VA baseline, like extra builder documentation or reserve requirements that have nothing to do with the 26-1852 or the Notice of Value process itself. Those overlays can eat into the six month window before construction even starts, since the file gets held up on requirements VA never imposed.
Working as a broker rather than a single-lender loan officer means I can route a veteran's file to a lender who handles VA new construction cleanly, without extra steps stacked on top of the guideline.
What To Check Before You Submit
If you're mapping out a VA new construction timeline, confirm three things before you submit the 26-1852: your builder has the specs finalized enough to document accurately, your lender's construction process doesn't add extra approval steps beyond VA's requirements, and your expected build timeline fits inside a six month window from the date the Notice of Value is likely to issue.
Get those three lined up, and the appraisal step stops being the mystery it looks like from the outside.