Monica Breckenridge

The Buyers Appraisal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The buyer’s lender will require an appraisal on the home to verify they are not lending more than the current value. This appraisal is for the buyer and lender’s use only. They do not share this information with sellers. After seeing the appraisal, the lender may also require items be fixed. This means both the buyer and their lender can ask for repairs to be made. The lender rarely makes demands to have items fixed in the home but when they do, the repairs are typically the seller’s responsibility. If the repairs are not done, the buyer will not be able to get their loan. Sometimes the buyer may be willing to make repairs to the home as well. The lender does charge a fee to either the buyer or seller for a re-trip fee to verify the work is completed. This is around $100 for the re-trip fee. This isn’t specific on who pays this fee. We try to get the buyer to pay, but they may argue that it wouldn’t have been needed if the work was done. So it may come down to just paying it for the buyer to get the house sold versus losing a deal.

 

If this is a flip property for an investor and the buyer is getting an FHA loan. The lender WILL require another appraisal if it’s been less than 90 days for the re-sale. This is based on the date the contract was written. FHA guidelines state that the 2nd appraisal must be paid by the seller.

 

The buyer’s lender can order several appraisals as well. I’ve seen sometimes up to 3 appraisals get ordered on a property and the lender compares all the appraisals. This is usually done when significant repairs are done to the home or the home is bought and being resold rather quickly. This is normal, but it may happen.