My lender caught a $450 appraisal mistake I almost made

I was getting a cash out refi on my place in Denver and the appraiser initially valued it at $385k. My loan officer called me and said the comps they used were all from 6 months ago and the market had moved. She made me ask for a revised appraisal with newer sales from the same neighborhood. It came back at $412k and that changed my whole cash out amount by about $18k. I almost left that money on the table because I didn't question the first number. Has anyone else had a lender push back on an appraisal for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

graceprice1mo ago

Good for you that it worked out, but I'm not sure lenders should be pushing appraisers to change numbers. That feels like it could get into some shaky territory if the market shifts the other way.

charlie_allen1mo ago

Exactly. @graceprice you're totally right to flag that. It's one thing to get a lucky number when the market's hot, but if we ever hit a downturn, lenders who pushed for those adjustments are gonna have a lot of explaining to do. That kind of pressure can mess with the whole system. I've seen it happen before where appraisers get bullied into hitting a number and then the whole deal falls apart later. It feels like everyone's just crossing their fingers instead of being honest. The whole point of an appraisal is to have a clear picture, not a wishful one. You nailed the worry here.