As a homeowner who wants to sell, one part of the process that could cause problems for you after finding a buyer is the appraisal. The appraisal is required to find out the value of your house at the time you are selling it, and a low appraisal could create problems that could potentially stop the deal from falling through. If this issue happens to you, here are several things you should know about the options you have for handling it.
Consider getting another appraisal
One thing to understand is that appraisals are highly subjective. You could hire 10 appraisers to complete appraisals of your home and end up with 10 different amounts. Every appraiser is likely to come up with a slightly different amount, because each one may view the house a little bit differently. Each one might also use different homes to compare yours with, and this, too, can result in a different amount for each. If your appraisal is lower than you hoped for, you could always ask for another one. While you would have to pay for this service, it could be worthwhile, as a second appraisal could save the deal.
Lower the price for the buyer of the house
The main problem you face when the appraisal is lower than expected is that the buyer could walk away from buying your house as this is a normal contingency with a real estate deal. The best thing you could do as a seller is to lower the price to make the deal go through. While the buyer does not have to continue with the deal just because you lowered the price, the buyer might decide to as he or she is already working on closing on this house.
Let the buyer back out and make some upgrades to your home
If the buyer walks away or if you do not want to compromise on your price, another option you have is to let the deal fall through and then work on upgrading your home. With the right upgrades, you might be able to bump the value up and make more money on the deal.
There is really nothing you can do as a seller of a house to avoid having an appraisal completed during this process, but you could always consider getting an appraisal before you list, just to get an idea about the value of your home. To learn more, talk to a real estate agent like one at Yakut today.
