Heard a lender lowball an appraisal on purpose last Tuesday

I was grabbing coffee near a closing meeting and overheard a mortgage broker tell his client the house needed to appraise $20K under asking or the deal would fall through. He basically talked down the appraiser to protect his commission on a different property. Now I'm wondering if I should bring my own appraiser to my next viewing because that sneaky tactic could blow up a sale. Has anyone else caught wind of lenders pulling this in Edmonton?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper17516d ago

I had this happen to me in Calgary last year, it's totally a real thing. My realtor warned me the bank's appraiser came in $15k under our offer and I was so confused because the comps clearly supported the price. Turned out the lender was pushing for a lower value to match their risk model and protect their own backend deals. I ended up paying for my own independent appraisal through a local firm and it came back exactly at asking. Cost me $400 but saved me from losing the house or having to renegotiate. It's shady as hell but it happens way more than people realize, especially when the market is hot and lenders want to tighten their books.

price.alice16d ago

Oh man, that's basically exactly what happened to me last year too. I fought back by getting my own appraisal done and it came in way higher than the bank's, and they actually ended up accepting it after some back and forth. Definitely worth pushing if you know the numbers are solid.