Appraisals: Who's to Blame for Low Estimates? Who exactly IS at fault when an appraisal comes to a less-than-desirable valuation? And what IS a home appraisal based on?

Appraisals are typically handled through a title company and appraisers are often selected from a network of appraisers with which the title company is affiliated. They’re an unaffiliated third party. Often times, there’s confusion because the homeowner is informed about the cost of the appraisal by the mortgage company/banker, when actually there is no mutually beneficial relationship.

So if an appraiser sets a value on your home that comes in too low to move forward with the home loan, the mortgage company nor the mortgage banker can benefit in any way.

So Who's to blame? Unfortunately there’s no real person to yell at. The current nationwide trend of decreasing home values is to blame. Right now, home values in some locations are appraising at 40% under the price at which they initially sold.

Have you had an appraisal done on a property you own that you thought was extremely low or off-base? Sound off. Tell us about your experience by using the comment link below. Your email address will never be shared on this site to protect your privacy.