“Hey Gary. Question. What if when you’re buying a house the appraisal comes in low? Does the seller have to sell for that price?”
***ANSWER:
Great question. It’s important to remember that a residential appraisal is really the appraiser’s opinion and may or may not be “correct.”
If the appraisal comes in low, one of several things may happen:
1. The appraiser may be shown comparable sales data or other information causing him or her to raise the appraisal to the sales price or higher.
2. The buyer may agree to put additional money down to cover the gap between the appraisal and the sales price.
3. The seller may be convinced to lower the sales price to the appraised value. (The seller is not required to do this.)
4. Buyer and seller agree to adjust the price to a figure between the appraisal and the sales price. The buyer would still likely have to bring in additional funds to cover the difference. This is a compromise between #2 and #3.
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