cash offer wants appraisal AFTER contract signed.

[Rick Harmon]

We have a cash offer on our house and we have met all of the contingencies set forth in the contract.  Now the buyers wants an appraisal for his "personal" use.  We are very hesitant to let him do it, for prices have gone up faster in our area than the appraisers can grasp and we got a good offer.

Does the buyer, by law, have the right to get an appraisal now that all contractual obligations have been met?  We think it is a back out clause for them if it does not appraise.  Of course we may get to keep the earnest money but we really want to close.  All contingencies have been signed off and this is a new out of the blue request.

[Rick Harmon]

I am responding to all of the above in one reply. 

 We close in 2 weeks so I doubt that a lender can get financing locked in and completed in 2 weeks, the housing market is in a boom and everyone is pushed to the limits. Plus the home owner is paying for the appraisal so it is not a lenders appraiser.  

The house is not an investment house, it is an estate valued at well over a million so they are not searching for their next big score.  

The house is a "special" case with two huge out buildings one being a massive modernized gambrel style dairy barn and the other is a custom build shop/rv garage and many inspectors to not give a fair value to out buildings so it may not appraise at the agreed upon price. The COVID bounce is real and many homes across the country are not appraising at sale price causing buyers to bring extra cash to the table to cover the difference between the asking price and the appraisal price.  

We don't want to be combative but these buyers have been flaky since the beginning with low communication and response times. And feel they are just looking for an excuse to back out or ask for a lower price.  We had an offer of $75,000 more that was a financing offer but we took this one because it was cash and would not to meet the appraisal standards.