Wednesday, June 10, 2009

More Trouble In Mortgage Land

The Boston Globe reports today what I have been seeing to be true: property appraisals are coming back at very conservative (read: low) values, and this is having a chilling impact on both sales and refinances of residential properties. A low appraisal may have the impact of reducing the dollar amount the mortgage company will permit you to borrow. Moral: whereas it used to be enough protection for a buyer to include a general mortgage contingency in an Offer to Purchase, these days it is prudent to include a specific additional contingency that the appraisal performed by the bank must indicate a value in at least the amount of the proposed purchase price.

The full text of the Globe article can be found here: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/10/appraisal_discrepancies_put_some_home_sales_at_risk/

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