My appraisal came in low. Now what?

Your appraisal came in below the contract price. Before you do anything else: don't call the appraiser. Here's what actually works.

Why not the appraiser?

On a mortgage, the lender is the appraiser's client, not you or your agent. Confidentiality rules limit what the appraiser can discuss with anyone else, and appraiser independence rules exist so that nobody in the transaction can lean on the person estimating value. A phone call won't change the report. It just uses up time you don't have.

The formal process: Reconsideration of Value

For conventional loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require lenders to offer a Reconsideration of Value, or ROV, on applications dated on or after October 31, 2024. The key rules:

• You get one borrower-initiated ROV per appraisal, so make it count.
• It goes through your lender, who has to tell you how to submit it and how long it should take.
• You can include up to five alternative comparable sales, each with a short explanation of why it's relevant.

FHA loans have a similar lender-run ROV process for case numbers assigned on or after September 2, 2024. Your loan officer can tell you exactly how your lender handles it.

What helps

• Factual errors. A wrong bedroom or bathroom count, missed square footage, an update that wasn't noted, the wrong lot size. These are the most direct fixes.
• Closed comparable sales the appraiser may not have considered. They should be recent, nearby and genuinely similar, with a reason for each. Sales that closed after the appraisal's effective date generally don't help.
• Specific, short, organized information. One page of facts beats five pages of frustration.

What doesn't help

• The list price, or the contract price itself
• Online automated estimates
• What you or the seller paid for upgrades
• The number you need it to be

The honest part

Sometimes a low appraisal is a fixable error. Sometimes it's the market telling you something real about the price. A good ROV request can tell the difference, which is exactly why it should be built from facts and closed sales rather than hope.

If you want help understanding the process before you submit, that's what Ask An Appraiser is for. Julia can't change or second-guess another appraiser's report, but she can explain what makes a request clear and complete.