Low appraisal, refusal to review after request

[Alicia Marks]

I have a property in Detroit that was appraised for a refi. When I requested a reevaluation they would not budge on their value. The deal still works at the lower value, and I'm honestly pressed because I need the cash for my next project starting next month. My issue is that they used comps over 6 months old, different finish levels (mine was fully rehabbed and they did an interior appraisal), and expanded as far as 1.64 miles from the subject property.

The kicker is that my contractor flips off-market to investors and had 5 sales the past month all in under 1.5 miles. My appraiser used only MLS and none of the sent comps. The appraisal came in at 65% of the comps I gave. All of these off-market were similar finishes vs minimal or no rehab in the comps.

I don't really have time to go back to use a different lender and hope for the best, but my initial projected value was $27,000 more than the appraisal, but well under the comps I sent.

Anyone ever dealt with something like this? The appraiser is standing firm, but I feel they were not doing much research or thought into their assessment. This lowball comp is the difference of about $30k I should have been able to pull out of the property, which is almost another down payment worth of money potentially left on the table.

[Russell Brazil]

Put pressure on the loan officer to get a new appraisal. Point out that the age of the comps does not actually fit with appraisal requirements. Let them know you will be changing lenders if they cant get an appraisal done with the actual requirements for an appraisal, comps within 6 months.