So after much work on my credit, I prequalify for a mortgage. I find and put an offer in 6.5K lower than asking price, seller agrees and also agrees to 3% toward closing and agrees to fix minor things found during inspection. I am going through the normal up's and downs of underwriting numerous letter's of explanations, questions and such. Close date is 6/4/13, today the appraisal came in $12,500 lower than my offer, the sellers came down another $6k today, bank will only loan what the appraisal is, trying to either get an appeal for the appraisal or get another appraisal done at a cost to me, if they won't overturn the original appraisal I lose the house because I don't have 6k of my own money to make up the difference. Slowly losing hope, don't know if I can qualify for conventional since that is the only way an fha appraisal won't follow. URGH don't know what to do. Any advice?
Starting Score: 567, 585, 595
This is my worst nightmare. We are waiting for the aprasiasl to be done, and I KNOW this is going to happen 
I'm so sorry. I have no advice. I hope it works out somehow for you!
@stevieswife2011 wrote:I am still waiting on a the appraisal report it was completed last wednesday 5/15 and we still do not have the report. My realtor said that if there was a problem we would know by now but i am still so nervous it will come back less than what we are offering. But i also think that if it does come back lower the sellers will need to make up the difference i just would not want to by a house that is soo far under appraisal
I am hoping the same thing, the comps don't look like they are in my favor. But the house we are buying is SO much nicer than the comps Alot of the homes around this house are old, and in MAJOR need of reno! Do they JUST base it off comps? Or is condition considred?
On my appraisal, condition of the homes surrounding the property was considered... The home I purchased had no deferred maintenance and was move-in ready. Also, foreclosures which sold cheaply were not considered, because they needed repairs.
FICO 9: 
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
2 years ago, I had this same problem. Appraisal came in low...but that was a different market. Then, the comps were inappropriate, partially because of how old they were. Not the houses themselves, but sales up to 18 months prior. It was hard to find houses to compare to that had been sold recently enough close enough to my house. My realtor offered a few more appropriate comps, and the appraiser substituted the oldest (or the furthest?) one for the more-appropriate one. Appraisal went from 140 to 148, when we were originally expecting 165 at the low end. Freddie Mac was the seller, and despite my lender showing too many cards, we came to an agreement where I paid more in to make up the difference, but they came down on the sell price, too.
I hope it works out for you...think about this - an FHA appraisal stays with the house for the next 3 months. If they had a conventional buyer, they probably would have gone with them. FHA buyers are going to be similarly unlikely to make up the difference. ANY FHA buyer would have to use that appraisal.
And as to the condition, they take each comp and judge yours against it and adjust up and down based on things like condition, number of beds / baths, location, etc. If you look at your appraisal, there should be a sheet where you see the itemized list.
Starting Score: EQ 583 TU04 619 EX 592 (lender pull) 2010