My dad told me to skip the appraisal contingency and I almost lost the deal

He said nobody ever uses it on a cash out refi and it just slows things down. Well the appraisal came in 40k lower than I needed and the bank wouldn't budge. I had to scramble to bring cash to closing just to make the numbers work. Has anyone else been burned by bad advice from family on these loans?

3 comments

3 Comments

wright.kevin23d ago

You mean he actually told you to skip the appraisal contingency entirely on a cash out refi? That is wild to me because that contingency is basically the only thing protecting you if the numbers come in short. The bank doesn't care what you need, they only care about what the property is worth right now. I had a similar thing happen with a family friend who insisted the appraisal was a formality, and I ended up paying thousands more than I planned just to keep the deal alive. It's scary how much weight people put on advice that's completely wrong for your specific situation.

derek_ramirez22d ago

@wright.kevin family advice almost cost you too huh crazy how that works.

jason52422d ago

Wait did that family member actually say the appraisal is just a formality? Because that's the exact same bad advice that got my buddy screwed on his refi last year he ended up having to bring like 10 grand to closing just to cover the gap. It's wild how people treat appraisals as if they're guaranteed when really the bank uses them to decide the whole deal.