What Are Your Options After a Low Appraisal?

When you get a low appraisal, the transaction isn’t over. There are a number of ways buyers and sellers can work together to resolve the issue.

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Low appraisals aren’t ideal, but they don’t have to kill a transaction. If you get a low appraisal, we have some tips to share on how you should approach it.

The first option is to cancel the deal outright. This typically doesn’t happen, but it can. A lot of times, the seller will decide to challenge the appraisal by submitting additional comparable properties to the appraiser through their agent in order to justify their price. At that point, it’s up to the appraiser to decide whether to increase the home’s value or not.

Sellers typically take one of two courses of action in our market.

We are in a VA market, so sellers typically take two courses of action when they get a low appraisal. Some will just put the home up for rent, while some will actually end up lowering their price to meet the appraisal. Sometimes, they will negotiate closing costs. There are a lot of different options depending on the type of loan you have.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

Why Home Inspections Are So Important

Why are home inspections so important? How do they differ from appraisals? Who pays for it? These are all crucial questions in the home buying process.

Why should you get a home inspection when buying a home in Clarksville? 

This is a question that we get a lot. We also find that people get home inspections and appraisals mixed up. An appraiser may look at a crawlspace for water, for example, but an inspector is actually going to get in the crawl space to thoroughly make sure everything is OK. It's important to understand the difference between the two and what they do.

How do you choose a home inspector? Usually, your Realtor can recommend several, or you can look in the phonebook. You want to make sure they are a member of the National Association of Home Inspectors. 

Who pays for the home inspector? Typically, the buyer pays. It's important for the buyer to be present during the inspection to learn about how to maintain your home and keep it in good shape for resale value.

Make sure they’re a member of the National Association of Home Inspectors.

People also commonly (and mistakenly) think that the inspector is there to point out every little thing wrong with a home. The inspector is really there to look at heating, plumbing, electrical, and structural aspects of the home, like the roof, the doors, the windows, and other things like that. Cosmetic flaws should be addressed in the initial offer before the inspection.

If you have any other questions about home inspections or about the Clarksville market, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to answer them for you!

How We Helped Joan Sayyah by Assisting the Sale While She Was Away in Florida

The results were more than I ever expected. I became a widow. I had to sell a very large and different kind of house. It was a 4 generation house and I knew I didn’t expect it to sell as quickly as it did. We did all the preparation and I had a contract within 10 days. Unfortunately it was a VA loan and they were very picky on every requirement, the things to repair, and things they wanted to see done. Anything that was major was fixed. We had a particular problem with the well. It was put in by a local person. The VA wanted person certified by the state or higher. They didn’t like the license that this person had. What it did was, it held up my moving. I had given Valerie permission to act in my behalf. And every time something came up they would call me up, they would fax me the papers, and I would sign them and fax them back. I guess the bottom line is I was moving my family to Florida and I couldn’t be in both places at one time, nor did I have the money to run back and forth, and they just made it more comfortable for me and they got it done. I think they went above and beyond for me. The whole team. It was different people that took care of different parts of it.

 Joan Sayyah - Home Seller