How do you go about challenging a low appraisal? While you might feel frustrated beyond belief, it’s important to not make an emotional argument, but rather share facts and market data in a systematic way to support your case. The following document is a format I developed for my investor clients who kept asking me what they can do to deal with bad appraisals.
Before launching into a rebuttal, you first ought to make sure to ask the lender what their process is for challening an appraisal so you know you are spending your time wisely. Additionally, read through some of my tips for challening a low appraisal.
Check out the document below or VIEW OR DOWNLOAD HERE. Feel free to use or adapt according to your needs. If you need a Word document of this file, contact me.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.
UPDATE: I wrote a helpful piece on BiggerPockets.com about how to challenge a low appraisal. I included a downloadable format to use that evolves the format above just a bit. It’s free. Go get it HERE.
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Appraisal #1: This appraisal came in at $192,000. The appraiser made an adjustment for a declining market and a hefty adjustment downward for being located on a feeder street too. These adjustments essentially knocked off about $10,000 in value (and they weren’t supported in my opinion). All things considered, this appraisal looked low, especially in light of a pending sale the appraiser used in the report that subsequently closed at $195,000 (and was 200 square feet smaller with less upgrades – located on the same street).
Appraisal #2: After the first buyer moved on, a second buyer came along. The contract price was $213,000 and the appraisal came in right at contract. All things considered, it just seemed the appraiser was maybe reaching for the contract price on this one. Still, it’s amazing to see a $21,000 difference between the first two appraisals.
Appraisal #3: This was a review appraisal from the second buyer’s lender, and the value came in at $185,000. The reviewer did an exterior inspection of the property and the “comps” were simply not comparable. There is nothing similar about dirty distressed sales and the subject as a clean and upgraded home. Just because something has sold nearby does not mean it is a “comp”. This appraisal was 
Yes. If the appraiser has deliberately met the sales price in an attempt to make the deal work, it is suspect and you should be concerned. If the house is really worth more or less, it’s not fair to have the appraisal hastily completed to help make a transaction move forward.
1) Price is too high: Sometimes the agreed-upon price on a home is too high. If one buyer and seller agree to accept a certain amount for a property, the agreed upon price is not always consistent with market value. There is a real difference between price and market value because market value would gauge what a typical buyer would pay for a property, not just what one specific buyer is willing to pay. As appraiser Patrick Egger says, if you lined up 100 buyers to purchase a particular home, what would the majority of these buyers pay for the specific property? The answer to this question would probably produce a pretty good number for what the home is worth. But you might have a small pool of buyers who would be willing to pay far above asking price, right? Maybe it’s a “honey, buy this house at any cost” situation, friends or family live next door, or simply a high offer is presented to beat out all other offers. 
2) Really bad appraisal: Let’s face it, there has been some very warranted scrutiny of the appraisal industry over the years, and especially since May 2009 when 
3) Strict Lending Guidelines: 
4) Counter-offer to “No Man’s Land”: Sellers sometimes counter the buyer with a higher price despite the buyer offering at asking price. At times this counter offer works out very well, but other times it might push the property into “no man’s land” (above market value). Many experienced local real estate agents are careful about this scenario as they work with their clients. In these instances, if the appraisal “comes in low” (below the higher accepted contract price), the value might not really be low, but rather indicative of where the sales price should have been. Of course sometimes properties are marketed at lower prices in order to get multiple offers quickly, and it’s not too surprising to see that market value ends up being above the original list price in many of these cases. Ultimately, it’s nice to be able to boost up the sales price and try to fit concessions or credits in a higher sales prices, but sometimes there might not always be room to do that.