Home Appraisal Tips

by Eric
(USA)

Home appraisal tips: We are building a house, and in fact were supposed to close on the house last Friday. We got a call from the Mortgage broker saying that the underwriter flagged it because the investor did not like the appraisal. The appraisal came back for more than what we are paying for the house, but there was a huge range of the comps $400,000 to $320,000.

There was an appraisal review and we were informed that they revalued the house lower than what the appraiser had said. The interest rates have gone up since we locked in ours and I do not want to have to put down any more money than we already have.

Do we have a leg to stand one to either back out of the contract or renegotiate with the builder on a lower price?

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Dear Eric,

Search for provisions in your building contract to understand your rights in the event of a low appraised value or in your case, a low appraisal review.

The appraiser does not have the final word on the appraised value as you are experiencing. Since an appraisal is one person's opinion on a given day depending on the data available, it is up to the lender to review that opinion. If you have a Realtor, ask for home appraisal tips to challenging a review.

I'd like to say your unfortunate experience is due to the tight credit market but I've witnessed similar appraisal cut-backs during various economic climates. Occasionally it's an underwriter's way of saying there are mortgage approval hiccups.

You may want to consider asking your mortgage representative if anything detrimental has surfaced during your approval process. At the very least, this could help you rule out other issues and possibly lead to a solution.

On the other hand, as this Reader found out, opportunity could be knocking. Go here to find out why I say this!

I have provided links to more home appraisal tips in the home buying guide below for your convenience. Please let me know if you have more questions.

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Best Wishes,

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