Advice on Appraisal Appeal Process for TD Bank?

Since the issue here is the condition of the house it's going to be hard to get the appraisal changed. He rated it as average. Maybe he's dealt with quite a few deals where the houses were in better shape than the one you want to buy. The problem here is that the rating is subjective. What he may have taken into account is the age of the windows, heating system, plumbing, things like that. Years ago, when I sold my first house the bank did the same thing to my buyers but they were able to get the additional $40,000 needed for the down payment. Good luck.

Trust should have as little as possible to do with this transaction; the broker works for the seller.

I think many people love the slope, and are able to buy there without working about appraisals because their mortgages is a small portion of the purchase price.

Those who don't live in the Slope have just decided we could get more space elsewhere for the same amount of $.

Thankfully, we live in a time where the ability to live in a neighborhood is largely based on being able to afford to live there.

...good luck.

We bought a year ago. We were warned by our attorney (you should have a good, experienced attorney for this) before the appraisal that it would likely come in under the sale price. According to our atty, that's been happening a lot since the crash. We just upped our down payment, but luckily we had that ability. You could go for another loan I guess, but I know the trouble it is to go through the process. Every situation is different, though. If you really feel the price is too high, you should talk with your atty about how to procede.

Btw, our loan process was all kinds of hell, but we got an amazing rate with Astoria (on a 5 year ARM) and we have already floated it down as rates have gone down.

I am a mortgage broker so I am familiar with the problems you are having.

You have a few options, the first one is to ask TD Bank to get another appraisal done. There is a huge variance in the two appraisals in a market that is seeing higher prices every quarter to justify this request. Make sure your broker is ready to provide the new appraiser with 4-6 good and accurate comps - that is recently closed sales that are similar to the property you are buying.

You can contest the appraisal, but in my experience that usually doesn't work, they make a few minor changes but not enough to make your deal work. The appraiser has been paid, his management company has passed the report thru their QC review, no one is going to budge and admit any errors.

Another option if you have enough cash is to ask TD Bank to average out the two appraisals and lend 80% of the average.

Another one is to ask your attorney to ask for an extension on your mortgage contingency date and apply to another lender. Even though most banks are totally backed up because of refi's, purchase transactions will usually get priority, but getting anything done in two weeks is highly unlikely. Your attorney should point out that you are proven to be creditworthy, but the appraisal not your personal finances was the deal killer with TD Bank.

And to everyone that says the original poster should go and get another appraisal on his/her own, the market does not work that way anymore. Since 2008 the ability to order an appraisal directly has been taken away from banks and brokers under the HVCC legislation. This legislation means that every order must go through a third party vendor who randomly assigns people to the job. This was to prevent influence from brokers and banks on the appraisers to bring in value in return for future business.

Unfortunately for sellers and buyers, it has meant a race to the bottom, since the appraisal management companies (AMC) are limited by the bank as to what they can charge, so the AMC's farm out the jobs to whoever will take the job for the least amount of money to keep most of the fee in the AMC's pocket. The appraiser that takes the job may not have any familiarity with the market and will use a comp on 3rd ave to price a house on PPW because it's within one mile which is fine in the suburbs but can make a world of difference in an urban setting.

Also think about that the banks are allowed to own the AMC they give business to and you have a recipe for disaster which happens frequently.

Astoria Federal was one of the few holdouts because they lend from their own money (they had their own panel of local but conservative appraisers) but as of 8/11 they have required the use of AMC's. To give you an example of what you are up against, I was ordering an appraisal last week and the person on the other end of the phone could not grab the concept that Brooklyn was Kings County.

Good luck to you. Try to make your attorney and your real estate broker your advocates with the seller to give you more time to line something else up.

Vic