The house would need to appraise at the contract price of $312K in order for the deal to move foward. Without that, your mortgage would not be able to go through. Thus, you should be okay unless there is a signed addendum that you agree to purchase the property if it appraises for less which does not really make sense to agree to. If you have further questions, feel free to email us.

Otherwise, good luck with your deal !

As always, the best person to ask these questions to and get advice from is your buyers agent !

Hello Scott!

Okay, I am certain that you have a condition of your offer being the Mortgage Approval, right? Well, if so we can make this really simple...if the home does not appraise for 312 you will not get the loan. If you want the home really bad...I would first talk to your Buyer Agent about pulling comps and proving to you that the home is worth 312 so you do not have to worry about the home appraising in the first place...as an experienced real estate agent, they should be able to give you a great idea about the value of the home within 5,000.00 range. Then you do not have to be so nervous! If you find out that the home is worth 295 then there is no reason to waste YOUR money on the appraisal as you are the one who has to pay for it. ALSO IF THERE is any worries about the appraisal...YOU SHOULD WAIT on the Home Inspection till after the Appraisal is conducted and comes back...since this will also cost you about $400 to 500. You should make sure all your deadlines in the agreement says you are going to do the appraisal first this way you will only be out 350 to 450....REMEMBER YOU ARE THE BOSS! YOU make the offer that fits your NEEDS NOT the seller's....that is what negotiations are for AFTER you make your offer. I do this with my client's when there is an appraisal concern. Also, to double protect you..there is a separate piece of paper your agent can write up that says if the appraisal does not come in at value you get your money back on the deposit. But, with the Mortgage Approval this is already covered.

What ever conditions you make in our offer...as long as these conditions are met you buy the home. If the conditions are NOT met than you do not buy the house and you get your money back. No mortgage No Buy House, Get money back (within the deadline periods of course)

I hope this helps you.

Just have your attorney write an appraisal contingency into the contract - you should be all set from that point forward. There's no need to cross fingers...it should all be spelled out in the purchase & sale agreement. If you're crossing fingers, you need to re-work your contract...that's a scary position to be in.

Hope this was helpful!

Thanks,

Josh

A PAR agreement of sale, filled out properly, would have a contingency regarding the appraisal. I am assuming a FHA deal since the S.A. is 3.8%

Good Luck, Hugh

Scott....

Your Realtor representing you will have the most knowledge of the specifics of your transaction. How do they advise you? You should have ciontngencies in place to protect you.

Hi Scott

Has your lender given you a good estimate of what your closing costs will be? If it is indeed going to be $12K then you want to make sure your purchase and sales agreement includes a contingency for the property appraising for at least $312K, in order to protect your deposit. If the seller indicates he will not accept less than the $300K net after the appraisal and does not agree to that clause in the P&S then you may want to consider another home.

I hope that this is helpful; please let me know if you have any further questions.

I surely hope that you have a buyer's agent assisting you. It would be a shame if you did not. Not being able to actually "see" the agreement, I would not be comfortable giving any legal advise. That being said, I would not sign such an agreement if you would be depending on the seller's assist for some financing and not be able to get out of the contract when a realistic appraisal shows up.

Get with your agent to see how you should continue. If you don't have a buyer's agent, get in touch with an attorney.

Terrence Charest