Well, it's certainly not my intention to resell it, my intention was to find a place I would be happy and comfortable in for a long, long time and I think this is a good bet for that. There's always the unexpected but you can't make decisions based on a zillion random things that might (or might never) happen.

A lot of people do not leave their house because of "what if."

Agreed...going by the 'reduced' additional cost I'd still go for it if that is the one you are happy with.

TBH you are taking me back 27 years and I'm glad I never have to go down this route again...too set in ones ways...the kids will get the property but I don't intend leaving many pennies.

At this point I would be happy if the owner agreed to split the difference and come down to halfway between the contracted price and the appraisal value. I'd hate not being able to do the 20% downpayment I planned, it would suck not getting the lower interest rate, but the monthly payment wouldn't be that much more even with the required mortgage insurance figured into it. That seems like the most equitable solution unless the owner is just dead set on not budging at all.

But we'll wait to see what the other side decides to do, if they give up on the appraisal issue and propose another amount themselves. Sure I'd love to get the best deal possible for myself but I'd hate to have it happen when it means someone in a difficult situation gets screwed over so bad. At $65k she'd be taking a HUGE loss on what she paid for the place, almost 50% if memory serves. And it's not like she's selling because she took out a mortgage she couldn't afford, or something else of an irresponsible nature. She had to move to take care of an elderly parent, and needs to sell, and here's someone who really wants to buy and the stoopid bank is ruining it for everybody. :stare:

I know they have to protect their interests as well, after all they'd be ponying up the bulk of the money - but COME ON. That appraisal is not right, if that's the industry standard then the standard is crap.

Depends on the scrap value of die-cast. :D

If you don't want them to be melted down then I know a grateful recipient a hundred and some miles south.

Yes, the lesser of 20% down would screw up having to pay the mortgage insurance. A fee that I think is a utter rip off. In the end, it might be in your best interest to pull out of the deal. I would hope any earnest money would be returned to you as well as inspection costs. Was there a plan B home? Is the agent you are using willing to drop some of their commission? It would seem you would be doing more of the bending than the other parties involved. Like I said, these folks are not your friends. You are a paycheck. Their best interest is themselves. You are not really hard pressed to purchase this home. The owner looks to be hard pressed to sell it.

My agent feels the same way, she thinks that splitting the difference is actually the worst case scenario we should be considering and we may end up coming out with a better deal than that if we sit tight for now. If the appraisal sticks, which it seems likely to do, nobody else is going to get financing for anything more than that either. The owner will be stuck waiting 90 days for the appraisal to expire unless her listing agent can pull something out of his hat to justify a reevaluation and if he could do that I think we'd be seeing it already.

So it's kinda up to the owner right now. But all things considered I think I would be willing to split the difference if it comes to that. I could probably still manage the 20% that way, but it will leave me with a lot less money for things I was hoping to do sooner rather than later. Like, none, depending on what my share of the closing costs turn out to be. :O:

Not having to pay the MI over the long haul will pay off. Yep, it sucks not having that money up front(if you meet half way and still come up with the 20%) for things you wanted to do, however, the nice tidy tax write off of interested next year will make it a distant memory. You are still clear of the MI payment. :up:

Just got an email from my agent which had appended to it a series of emails sent back and forth between the loan officer and the owner's agent regarding the appraisal.

The other agent keeps asking about why there was no adjustment for differences in size, the bank says there was an adjustment of $20 per square foot and gives the numbers used.

The agent points out the obvious discrepancy: the adjustments are only about 25% of what they should be at $20 per sq foot, meaning the subject property was undervalued.

The loan officer then says the $20 per sq ft number came from him and could be wrong. Gee, you think? He says he'll check on it, but... the adjustments were done and will not be changed. In that case I hope the appraiser, at least, got his numbers straight. :88)

One day...you just never know :03:

Well I was finally able to sit down and screw both my eyes up to a point and read all the tiny tiny print in the appraisal report, and the adjustments for size are consistent at $5 per sq ft so unless the owner wants to dispute the amount used for calculations they're out of luck there.

They haven't come up with any additional comps to present to the bank's appraiser either, apparently. I did a search and there are other comparable properties for sale in that complex, some listed at up to $25K more than this one... but of course they aren't being SOLD for that. And if any other prospective buyer on them gets the same kind of appraisal we did, which seems likely given the excellent condition and size of this property... well, they're not going to be sold for that much in the near future.

Last word from my agent is that the owner wants a second appraisal, which her agent agrees she should pay for herself. I figure I got nothing to lose there, if it comes back low again she'll have to accept that she's not going to get the purchase price she wants anytime soon which is more motivation to sell now while she's got an eager buyer. If it comes back higher then the difference that has to be made up to satisfy the bank (should they accept the new valuation) will be less if and when we try to work out a new deal.

Good plan of action.

Gah haven't heard anything more today at all.

I did do the numbers though for a possible "split the difference" deal, the difference in question is $9500 so I'd have to make up $4750 of that if she agrees. I could do that and still pay 20% on the appraisal value and probably keep my lower interest rate and not have to pay the mortgage insurance. I would not have as much of a cushion after closing costs and other expenses, but probably enough to keep me happy and let me do the few things I really want to do right away.

I'd also be financing a smaller amount, presumably on the same terms offered originally, which I assume would end up making my monthly payment smaller than I thought it would be going in... which means I could make up for some of the padding taken out of my cushion a bit more quickly, lol.

I asked the bank to shoot me some numbers on that so if that's how it ends up working out I'll be prepared to say yeah or nay on it.

For every $1000.00 put down the difference in payment per month is $6-$10. You might be already on to that. Not having to pay the PMI will save you much more over 15-30 year on the loan. For me, I took the no PMI option with 20% down. That is money just lost to some non-entity. I would prefer to put the money into the home via larger down payment. I'm only paying myself back and not giving it to this guy...

http://www.parade.com/images/-v5/cel...an-winters.jpg

YES!!!!! :woot:

It appears the owner has agreed to split the difference, agents are working on an addendum to the contract for the new purchase price.

This means I'll still be able to do 20%, not pay mortgage insurance, get the better rate, and on a smaller loan at that.

The figures I got from the bank yesterday on this scenario were for a monthly payment of about $432 including taxes and insurance. :rock:

Good grief send me that addendum to sign and let's DO THIS THING. :sunny: