You put in an offer on a house and it was accepted. Everything was going smoothly… until the appraisal came in significantly lower than expected.
A low appraisal can be a stressful situation. But there are ways to deal with it, and not all of them necessarily mean walking away from the house.
A recent article from realtor.com outlined different ways to deal if your appraisal comes in low, including:
- Order an additional appraisal. If you (or your agent) aren’t convinced that your first appraisal is accurate, you can order a second (or even a third!) appraisal. Just keep in mind that, as the buyer, you’re on the hook for paying for all appraisals, which can run anywhere from a few hundred to $1000+ each.
- Negotiate with the seller. If the home appraises for less than you were anticipating, another option is to negotiate with the seller and ask them to lower the price. While they’re not obligated to do so, they may be willing to work with you and bring down the price rather than starting from scratch and having to find a new buyer.
- Walk away. If an additional home appraisal comes in low, and/or the sellers aren’t willing to budge on price, as long as you have an appraisal contingency in your contract, you always have the option to walk away and still get your deposit back.
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