Number Two Complaint - Low Appraised Value

One of the most frustrating things that could happen when you are in the process of getting a mortgage is when the appraisal comes in less than you and your loan officer expected. It can leave you feeling helpless, angry, and confused because it will most likely change the entire loan and worst case scenario, it will kill the deal.

Number Two Complaint

The Appraisal Came in Too Low

I don’t know what to tell you on this one. The market is having trouble. Back in the days of never ending appreciation, underwriters didn’t have to spend very much time on the appraisal.

Now, they are going over the appraisal with a fine tooth comb and feeling pressure from their investors to be overly conservative with value. This means you could get your appraised value cut by the underwriter if they feel a comparable is not strong enough or the appraiser was too generous giving value to things like landscaping etc.

This is very frustrating because your whole loan approval depends on your house appraising for a certain amount and then you get that amount from the appraiser…but the underwriter does not agree.

Note: Read Our Top Five Mortgage Complaints!

The flip side to that is the appraiser is too conservative. They also feel pressure to not over-value property these days. This means they may not give you full appreciation for things like landscaping or renovations and may use foreclosed properties as comparables instead of better valued ones.

If you don’t understand the language or the process in general, I wrote a tutorial on appraisals so anyone can understand how they work so click here to read more.

You may also want to read, Can the borrower pick the appraiser?

What can you do if this happens?

Well you can try another mortgage company. Some are being more conservative than others. You may get lucky and you may not. Either way you will have to pay for each additional appraisal if you move to another company.

Click Here for Complaint Number Three

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Author: The Mortgage Insider