Wondering why buyers are waiting so long to get appraisal done. (negotiation, agent)

[diddlydudette]

I had an offer on my house Aug. 21 that I accepted. On Aug. 28 the inspection was done. I found someone today to do repairs.

I have already traveled to my new town and found a new place. I'm back at my home getting boxes and starting to pack, lining up Two Men and a Truck and starting to do change of address and getting ready to move. Closing is Sept. 26 but I plan to move out Sept. 25.

The thing that is worrying me is that the buyers still have not mentioned anything about an appraisal. Shouldn't that have been scheduled by now? What if it doesn't appraise for the price offered and sale doesn't go thru?

Here I am getting all ready for the move but no appraisal has even been done yet. I'd just be a lot more secure in proceeding with things if I felt there would be no major hiccups....and no appraisal is leaving me feeling very nervous.

Is this normal waiting a little late in the game for an appraisal?

[honeybear1]

I (as a buyer) had no control over when the appraisal was done. It was scheduled by my LO or the UW. It was done about a week after our accepted offer. I have read on different message boards that the appraisal is late, done just a few days before closing.

[bigtexan99]

Late appraisals are pretty common. Sometimes the appraiser just drives by to make sure the house is physically there and does not even go inside.

[jghorton]

If you have a serious concern about the house appraising at/near the sale price, you might want to do some direct follow-up on this yourself. (If the house were to appraise at significantly less than the sale price, you could face a further price negotiation, since the lender might be unwilling to finance the full loan value.) Otherwise, it's pretty much incumbent upon the bank/lender to get the appraisal done prior to closing - and you should not be particularly concerned about the exact timing.

[kww]

what does your contract dictate is the expiration deadline?? it's very common for an appraiser to push things all the way to the end, so make sure your agent is keeping on the loan officer for updates.

[Pfhtex]

Is the buyer using a VA mortgage? Those appraisers take a couple weeks. You have the right to inquire as to buyer's loan type - in fact, it should be on the first page of the contract.

[rational1]

You may not want to hear this, but Things Can Go Wrong even at this stage.

Having said that- the buyers might not need an appraisal, are they paying cash?

[MikePRU]

I've had appraisals happen very late in the game in the past and not cause a problem. This being said . . . I always prefer to have the appraisal completed and out of the way ASAP as it is a potential problem waiting to happen. As others have stated, buyers have no control as to when the appraisal is ordered. If they've already applied for financing then it's in the lender's hands. However, your agent should be keeping on top of the situation and they should be in contact with the buyer's side and perhaps even the lender directly pushing to get the appraisal completed.

[ETex2]

Incompetent appraisal management companies are to blame for 90% of this. Definitely not the buyers since they have no control whatsoever over ordering appraisals.

[jdhall1]

I never tell lients to do the apprasial under the inspection is done. Even if the apprasial came come a couple days after the inspection is done, they can not really complete the report and submit into the bank until formal contracts are fully executed. This is an attorney state, and fully executed contracts take about 3 weeks from the signing of the offer.