Appraisal low on refinance, and I would like a reconsideration

[Jeremy Gengenbach]

My house was appraised for a refinance and the appraisal came back at $160,000, which is significantly under what we expected ($190,000). Our house was built in 2011, in a cookie cutter neighborhood and there is an exact replica of our house under contract after 6 days on the market for $182,500. 

I got comps from 2 separate real estate agents a couple of months ago, and both thought our house would appraise for about $185,000. Our mortgage company expected the home to appraise for $190,000... So I can't help but think that the appraiser may have had an off day. What is the best way to approach this to get a second look from the appraiser? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[John Fifer]

@Jeremy Gengenbach I just went through this and there isn’t much you can do.

1. Have the lender ask the appraiser to look at different comps or revisit their valuation. This is not likely to work as appraisers don’t like to be told they’re wrong. This did not work for us.

2. Get a 2nd appraisal done at your expense. Lenders can’t chose the appraiser they get, but they can get a 2nd appraisal done. My lender said they’d pay for the first appraisal, but not the 2nd.