My appraisal came back much lower than the comparable properties in my area. Is there anything I can do?

You can dispute the appraisal.. No one will stop you. You will have to have your own ammunition such as supporting documentation and / or additional comparables to support your estimated value. Keep in mind that an appraisal is an experts "Opinion of Value"...Also understand that there's a lot of education and work experience necessary to become an appraiser.. in most cases he has 150 Hours of initial education, has to continually take educational classes each year, worked as an apprentice for another appraiser for a minimum of 2 years, 2000 hours, and that's if he's straight out of appraiser school. Even a newbie fresh out of school is 100 times more qualified to do an appraisal then you or I.. Also note the appraiser has access to multiple sources to help find the most recently sold comparables.. Sources you and I don't have access to.. Rarely if ever will an appraiser change his value.. Especially these days when the housing crisis was partially blamed on the appraisers. So, can you dispute the apprisal?.. "Yes, But Not Really!!" I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com

Technically there is a potential process... But unless you point out true errors, you might as well bang your head against the wall. Almost every time I have a client dispute it... We end up seeing no change. More often an not, what you consider comparable properties, are not really good comparables at all. Talk to your loan officer about the process, and good luck.

Most reputable firms have a review process. One of the things to keep in mind is that an appraiser is charged with the responsibility of establishing a fair market valuation of the subject property. One of the big issues I see has to do with homes in areas where there has been a lot of sales activity, both arms length transactions (regular sales) and distressed transactions (bank foreclosure and short sales) As an example, If there are eight homes in the community that are comparable to yours and 3 of them are foreclosure sales at discounted prices and five of them are regular transactions at fairly negotiated prices, you cannot assume the appraiser is going to disregard the three low price sales. They will impact the value. Why? The argument would be that if the values were really as high as the other five, their price would reflect it. Make sure you proved ALL of the additional data you have and ask that the appraiser review it and if appropriate, include it. I have had many appraisals revised upwards simply because a recent sale was not available in the public records on the day the appraiser researched, but a week later it was. ~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z team of NOVA Home Loans ~ NMLS 40586 ~ Licensed in California and Arizona ~ www.LoansA2z.com 888-889-9950

Yes if you have proof that their are similar homes to yours, most importantly bed count , bath count , square footage and same school district, then you can do a rebuttal. You need to find out the process through the lender you are working with.Call us or email us at 201-962-3555 or Team@BestMortgageOption.com for ano cost no obligation analysis of your situation.Ask for Michelle or Benny We will find the Best Mortgage Option to suit your needs!You can check us out at www.BestMortgageOption.com

Ask your lender for an appraisal rebuttal form, and follow the directions on it. Your loan officer should be able to help you with this.

First contact the lender, Have them file a review request with the appraiser, second , have a real estate agent look at the report and compare it to comps that are closer to your home or have sold more recent to the current date. If the agent finds such homes exist ask them to give you copies of those closed listings. Then give those to the lender, so she/he can send them to the AMC. Good Luck . Peter Savino

Good points from those first responses. If you would like help from someone that lives in Pennsylvania near Souderton call me Mark 302-449-7373

Inclusively if this doest not resolve the issue, order a 2nd appraisal and/or file a complaint with the appraisal division of your state. Unfortuneately a valuation is an opinion of an appraiser of the value and opinions change.

There is much more to disputing an appraisal that can be solved on this forum. You have to look at the page on the appraisal and check the appraised value on each of the comps and if they all sold higher, then check the adjustments. Why is the appraiser adjusting downward? Is it square footage, condition?? There can be many variables. You have to read the appraisal carefully, and back up your claim with solid information to get the appraised value adjusted. A good loan officer can help you with this and it shouldn't be resting on your shoulders. Good luck!