Appraisal is 10% under sales price

[lucyhoneychurch]

We are buying a home long distance, and it is a rather unique property in that it is over 100 years old and also in a small town where people just don't move around very much. The first appraisal came in at $5000 over the agreed upon sales price, but the comps the guy had to use were in two other towns (just weren't any in our town). Now less than 3 weeks before closing the lender wants to have the appraisal 'verified' and I am terrified it will come in too low...we feel we got a great deal on this house and it is WELL within our budget. The sellers have already come down almost $50000 from list and I just don't know if they would come down anymore for a low appraisal, especially when the first one (done by a local guy) came in fine...

[Tidewater Entrepreneur]

In a past transaction, I ended up with 3 appraisals in a two month period. The house value was around $250,000 and the difference within appraisals was $30,000.

There is new legislation in the works that will affect the entire real estate industry. Read this and sign the petition if you agree. Request For Careful Reconsideration of HVCC Petition

[Annemieke Roell]

Originally Posted by Tidewater Entrepreneur

There is new legislation in the works that will affect the entire real estate industry. Read this and sign the petition if you agree. Request For Careful Reconsideration of HVCC Petition

The HVCC is already in effect (as of May 1) and, in my and other real estate professionals' opinion, the worst thing that could have happened to the consumer.

[frogandtoad]

Originally Posted by newmom2007

It's not really an argument, it's the definition of market value. The house was on the market for such a short period of time, so how would I know if others would be willing to pay the same price? I know that I would not sell it at the appraised value, so I'm definitely not a willing seller at that price. An appraisal is one person's opinion of value.

I could see not appraising at the sales price if warranted, but this appraisal is not even in the ballpark ... (not even in the ballpark of their initial offer before we even settled on a final price).

Not really. When we moved to a new area, we were not familiar with pricing and we would have paid way more than we should for a home we liked. Luckily our realtor helped us navigate. If someone is either new to the area or just not up on pricing in the area, they might be willing to unwittingly overpay.

Several people have said the buyer just needs to come up with the cash, etc. As a buyer I would never pay more than the appraisal, and I doubt many would in this market.