Overcoming the appraisal hurdle
Appraisals have been a controversial issue of late, and low appraisals have come under scrutiny for a couple of different reasons. It could be due to a lack of information or, of course, the quality of your appraiser.
A lender will probably reject a loan application if the appraisal of the property you are selling comes back lower than the asking price. But there are ways to challenge a low-ball appraisal:
- Get a copy of the appraiser’s report. You can successfully argue to raise the estimated value if you show that the report overlooks a valuable feature of the home or failed to consider the recent sale of comparable property for a higher price.
- Take your case to the loan representative. The lender may be able to override the estimate or order a new report from a different appraiser.
If the appraisal comes in low again, there’s not much more you can do to change their mind.
This may not be an answer you want to hear but you might want to try to renegotiate. If you can come to an amicable agreement for a lower figure, it may be worth your while to avoid the time and cost required to cancel the sale and put the house back on the market. And if the buyer can actually increase their down payment some, the lender may be willing to overlook a low appraisal.
Finally, ask the lender, or get the buyer to ask their lender, for the names of appraisers they know, trust and have on their list of approved appraisers.
You also can check with one of several national appraisal organizations, like ASHI for names of local appraisers who are members in good standing. Look for an appraiser who can do it in a timely manner and who has experience in the area you want to buy. This can help speed things along, and get you a better chance of an accurate appraisal.
Take your case to the loan representative. The lender may be able to override the estimate or order a new report from a different appraiser.
Do you have a real estate question you’d like us to address on Real Estate Today? Drop us a comment!
Do you think we are helping society with giving these
Federal Credits….on FHA loans/USDA loans…where some
of down payments are less then the credits….are we teaching our lst Time Home Owners…how to justify the Real
world of Real Estate…we bail them out with our Bankrupcy
laws….and then the consumer pays for it…who would of
thought depreciation would be such a factor nationwide ?
We have been a hand out America…to people that may not be ready for the responsibility of homeownership? Taxes & Insurance are another concern….are they ready for that piece of the equation…Deliquency rates are up too!
Sales may have increase recently however, the volume of dollar by unit has gone down….and the Move-Up buyers are
on the side lines….What is your take on a 7 year cycle…
we have another 5 years before we can breath again….
And the new home builders….starts? Construction…the population is still growing…and the unemployment factor
is another nationwide concern….I sold new homes from
1996-2007….my husband passed away in 2007…I am in Re-sale currently…short sales…REO’s…Bankrupcy’s…Defaults..it is not pretty and
home values….are unreal…Why did the government look the other way???? Greed? Sincerely, Jan Peeples… God love our
America….
I am a home owner I bought my home almost 2.5 years ago for $330′000 I have put about $30,000 thousand Dollars to make it livable.
My property taxes is $2500 a year since it lost value I wen to to the city and gave my all kind of information that I could not understand because I requested that my property taxes lowered they said due to prop. 50 that passed in 1997 my taxes where based on $188,000 and regardless of the the market value my home taxes will go up 3% a year I think is unfair, my income is very limited
Can you help??