Need advice on appraisal/home purchase!

courtneyhindo

My fiance and I are in the middle of purchasing a home. We offered the asking price and it was accepted. However, the bank appraised the house at $5K less than the asking price. Our Realtor spoke with the seller and he is not willing to take the appraisal price. Our Realtor thinks he might meet us halfway, but then won't contribute to the closing costs anymore like we previously agreed to. I love the house, but I feel like the seller has been a bit difficult about a few things during this process (repairs, letting us in to see it, etc) and I don't want to just roll over and give him all my money. 

I do know the sellers already have packed the house, purchased a new one and are moving this week. I don't know if I believe he would really play hard ball and then risk us backing out. He would have to go through the whole process again..I just don't know what we should do! Fiance says he will do whatever I want to do.

Suggestions/advice?

musictchr25

If the bank appraised the home at lower than asking price, the seller is going to have a very difficult time selling the home for what he or she is asking. If the bank appraises the house at less than the agreed price with the seller, you have the option to pay the difference in cash. 

I think you should go back to the seller and give him or her that information. If you don't have the cash to cover the difference, then you may need to back out of the deal. 

Bubblegum5586

I posted this same thing last month except ours appraised for $15K less!!!

Our seller challenged the appraisal and while we waited to hear back we kept looking at other houses quickly realizing how BAD we wanted this house. The thing was we had no more cash to offer so it made our decision easier. We offered the most we could which was the appraised price but didn't ask for the $3K back at closing that we had previously. So that is now dropping the price $12K for the seller, or we had to walk away, there really was no other option for us.

As PP said, if that is what the bank says its worth then anyone that is financing a home will have the same issue, and the seller would need someone with a cash offer. But most people wont have that much cash AND if they do they likely know they shouldn't buy a house for more then it is worth.

I decided to write the seller a heartfelt letter, about us being a young newly married couple looking forward to starting a family and raising our kids there and creating lasting memories. I picked out specifics of the house we loved and made it as personal as I could.

Both agents (buyer's and seller's) were so moved by my letter the both lowered their commission to help sway the seller to finally accept.

I can't imagine your seller possibly pulling out of the offer now, and knowing what the value is you shouldn't pay more then what it is worth. I am sooooooo grateful it worked out so great for, us but I don't want to suggest this way, have it not work out and your forever cursing me!

So my suggestion is writing a letter, explaining your maxed out, your at the mercy of the bank and your love for the house....

GOOD LUCK!!!!

ETA: http://forums.thenest.com/discussion/12016569/appraisal-came-back-low#latest

emily1004

Same thing happened to us. Our seller met us in the middle and we had to bring more money to the table. 

OP, I've read a few of your other post and you kept saying you don't have the money to make repairs etc. Are you SURE you can afford this house? Do you have an E-fund in place? Do you have extra cash for things that may pop up after taking possession of the house?  If not you need to walk away and wait until you have saved more money. A new home can quickly become a nightmare if you don't have the money to do any unexpected repairs that WILL come up. 

After we moved in we had to rip apart our deck and redo it because it was rotted. That was $2K with doing the work ourselves. We also had to pay another $250 to repair the sprinkler system when it sprung a leak.