Duplex appraisal value 11K under contract price...now what?

[Brad E.]

I just received my appraisal back on my first property (duplex).  It came back 11K under the purchase price agreement.  Not really sure what to do now.  Any advice?

I reached out to my agent already.  She unfortunately had a death in the family yesterday so of course I don't want to bother her with this right now.

I know I can go back to the seller and ask for a price reduction to meet market value.  Not sure what to expect from that.  If he does not agree it seems that it would not be wise for me to continue with the purchase.  Unfortunately, I've already paid for the inspection and appraisal (~$1200) so that is going to sting if I have to walk away.  Better that than paying way to much I suppose.

This is surprising to me because the same seller placed 3 duplexes in the same neighborhood on the market at the same time.  All were within $6K selling price.  The one I was able to get the contract on was the cheapest of the 3.  Both of the other duplexes had contracts on them within a week of hitting the market.  I was told by my agent that one paid full ask price and the other was a cash deal, but not sure for how much.

Based on that, my assumption was that these were all priced appropriately so I made an offer.  My first offer was low, which he refused.  After a few back and forths, I finally got an offer accepted, but only got him to come down 1K from asking price.

The seller is out of state now and he is set to close on all 3 of these the same day.  So I feel like he will be willing to move on the price some just not sure how much.

If he wont come down to appraised value is there a scenario in which it would make sense for me to pay more?  

Also what I should have done differently so that I didn't end up in this situation to start? 

On top of all this I feel pretty silly for almost paying way to much for this property.  I thought I was getting the hang of analyzing properties.  Clearly I need more practice.  Ha.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[Brad E.]

I guess this thread should be in the 'deal diaries' forum but I didn't plan for things to turn out this way.

It's been a few days since I've shared an update and I had  some new developments today so I thought it post-worthy.

I mentioned the seller appealing the appraisal and things about that process not making sense to me.  Well it didnt make sense because I didnt have all the info...as suspected.

The way the appeal process works is that the seller can submit additional comps to the lender who takes that information back to the underwriter and appraiser for another review of the original appraisal, including the new data.  This is not a new appraisal as I originally thought/was told.

After that process completed BofA came back today and said they still had the same position on the value.  So I was unfortunately not able to move forward.

I'm persistent so I immediately reached out to other recommended lenders and now it is looking like I am going to have to get another appraisal with a new lender in order to get the LTV I need.

Overall this has been a pretty frustrating first transaction but I'm now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  My lesson learned is to work with local lenders or small banks.  The big guys really cant get it done.  There is just too much red tape.

My credit score is in the highest range so I was totally not expecting the financing to be a problem. Turns out, it was the biggest problem due to the lending policies at BofA.  Specifically the requirements they have for acceptable comparable properties.  Even though they had the cheapest financing they almost cost me the deal.

I've still not closed, but I'm feeling better about it, although I've seen first hand that 'it aint over till its over'. 

I've got an extension on my purchase agreement so things are looking up now.  Hopefully next week I will get new financing in place and can move forward with the purchase.