HELP - my appraisal has taken 41 days with no end in sight.

[Account Closed]

I am not sure if this is normal (well, 2021 normal) or a sign of a huge problem.

My lender let me know that because my first home purchase (SF) is in a suburb 45 minutes outside of a hot market (Austin) that appraisers are not willing to take work in my town as it is too far and they can make more money by doing many appraisals in Austin instead of my one in the suburb.

I signed my contract on April 1 with a closing on May 15. On April 15, they were able to schedule an appraiser for May 24th. My realtor moved my closing date to May 31, and, because of the market, had to enter a buyer's leaseback with the owner, so I am paying rent to them currently. May 24th came and went and the lender is thinking the appraiser never went and has no idea when we can expect them to go out and appraise. I am stuck having to further extend my contract and leaseback with no end in site.

Part of me thinks something is not right, as the appraisal is a mandatory part of a conventional loan, and so how can they string people along for months at a time? Does something seem not right here? Is just the way the market is now? Is this an issue with my lender? (I don't know that I could even reasonably shift lenders at this point.)

[Bryan Noth]

@Account Closed this sounds and surely feels like a tough situation.  

@Victor Steffen is spot on, appraisers can opt for picking up more centrally located jobs which typically translates to more income for them (can't blame them really).  Also rural areas can be harder to find comps for.  At the end of the day, the appraiser is contracted by and works for the lender.  They are a 3rd party for a reason to remain distanced from any personal involvement and/or benefit with the RE transaction.  

Ask your lender what they are offering for the appraisal and specifically ask your lender to clarify with their AMC what they are offering the appraiser. If the compensation is fair, then I would ask if there is anyway to cover an additional bonus or rush fee. It can be difficult to get appraisers to take jobs far outside Austin with as hot as the market has been.