My amazing wife has dealt with all the red tape for us to buy the Baltimore rowhouse we've been renting for the past two years at a steal (and a previously agreed-upon price) and we've got our earnest money in escrow, agreement signed, etc. Our lender had her do a walkthrough, where he was asking her a lot of questions, at the end of which, he decided to route us through FHA financing, got the appraisal fee waived, and ordered the appraisal.

Due to COVID, an exterior-only appraisal has been ordered as of this past Saturday. Landlord/seller thinks the house won't pass an FHA appraisal, though they seemed to be operating under the assumption that it'll be an interior/exterior appraisal. We've lived here for almost two years, love the house and the area, and know what's wrong with the place and what we need to do to it both to make it pass an FHA appraisal in the future, and to improve the resale value.

Should the fact that it's an exterior-only appraisal give us peace of mind? Has anyone here gotten one done? If so, what were your experiences? Was it basically just a rubber stamp? There are no MPR issues, and certainly nothing concerning visible from the street, as outlined in the HUD memo. And importantly, from the order date, how long did it take to get your appraisal results? I understand the market is busy, but I figure since it's exterior-only, it should be quick, and no interaction with the appraiser will be necessary.

We're planning to close on June 7th. The FHA addendum also says the property is not HUD/FHA approved. Do we need to worry about the appraisal results? If the appraisal doesn't happen before that date, do we need to delay our closing? Our seller also kind of wants to keep/renovate/resell the house, and said as much before signing the purchase agreement (which does entitle us without limit to specific performance), so would needing to delay the close end up giving him a way to weasel out of the contract? Similarly, would we be able to get a different loan if for some ungodly reason it doesn't appraise well? Thanks!