Bought a house to rehab and rent but appraisal came in low.

[Andrew Sampino]

My brother recently bought a house in Conroe, Texas. Single family rental in nice condition, it only needed about $6000 in repairs. He got a hard money loan for 152k to finance the property and repairs. The original appraisal during the due diligence period, which was "subject to repairs" came in at 197k, but the appraisal after repairs dropped to 187k. The second appraiser said the first appraisal wasn't legitimate because the comps were in an HOA and this house is not. Now the bank that my brother is trying to refi through says they need $8000 upfront (includes closing costs) to give him a 80% LTV loan. He doesn't have $8000 laying around, me and my dad may lend it to him if it comes to that but we're trying to find other options first. The only things I can think of is selling now, but this was supposed to be a long term rental so we'd like to avoid that, and putting a little more money into the house so it will appraise for more. The issue with the second one is if it doesn't work as planned then he just digs himself into a deeper hole. Does anyone have any ideas on some other options my brother may have?