Inconclusive Appraisal / Lack of Comps

[Nevin Lesnoski]

Hi everyone,

It's nice to join the Bigger Pockets forum world! am just starting out my REI career in Youngstown, Ohio. I recently signed a purchase contract for a property for $124,000. The property was built as a single family residence in the front, with a detached two car garage in the back. An investor had turned the back garage into a full separate single family residence from the front home. So, there are now two residences being rented out on this one property. My plan was to put down 20% on a conventional loan and keep both properties as rentals.

USAA was my first approved lender. After a lot of back and forth, they let me know that they might not be able to provide the loan after the Appraisal due to the situation of the property. So, I decided to go with a local mortgage company who said they for sure could do the loan on this type of property and get it done more quickly. I gave this lender $450 for the Appraisal, and had to ask for a closing extension. After the Appraisal was done, this lender decided that he could not provide the loan because there were no comps for this type of property in my area. 

I understand now that the loan was declined because this lender had to go through the Secondary Market for approval. My question at this point is; can I request a refund of that $450 for the Appraisal? Do I have any legitimate ground to stand on?

Any information/help on this situation is greatly appreciated!

Nevin Lesnoski