7 Tongue-in-Cheek Reasons a Real Estate Appraiser Might Come in with a Low Appraisal

The market value of a home is determined by how much a buyer is willing and able to pay, and the seller is willing to accept. Well, unless the appraiser decides to put the kibosh on it!

Whether you’re the buyer, the seller, or one of the agents involved in the sale, a low appraisal is frustrating. The deal you worked so hard to secure now hangs in the balance, as the bank may only lend based on that lower number.

The truth is, appraisers are human. Sure, they rely on data and market analysis, but at the end of the day, their assessment is still an opinion. And when that opinion doesn’t match the agreed-upon price, it can take a lot of time, stress, and work to resolve, or it can even kill a deal everyone was completely happy with.

Dealing with a low appraisal is never fun, but perhaps a little laughter might be just the right thing to help you get through it. So here are some tongue-in-cheek reasons an appraiser might undervalue a house—none of which (hopefully!) have ever actually been the real cause for a low appraisal:

1) They got cut off by a driver on the way to the appraisal…

A total jerk cut in front of the appraiser while driving to the house, only to then drive 10 miles under the speed limit taking every single road and turn the appraiser needed to drive on to get to the house. Then, as luck would have it, the very last turn the driver took was into the garage of the house the appraiser was about to value.

2) They liked the house a little too much…

An appraiser walked in and realized it was their dream home. The layout, the decor, the curb appeal—it was everything they could want in a house. If only they’d seen it before someone else scooped it up! So the appraiser decided to put a wedge between the buyer and seller by lowballing the appraisal, and then swooped in and scooped it up for themselves when the deal fell apart.

3) The stars were not aligned that day…

An appraiser checked their horoscope and saw that Mercury’s in retrograde, and Jupiter’s doing something funky, so naturally, the house’s value must be affected. It was out of their hands, really. Blame the planets.

4) Divided by political differences…

The political divide is pretty wide nowadays, so when an appraiser pulled up to a house with a political sign for the opposite party they support, they decided to divide the value of the house by two.

5) They were uninspired by the decor…

The appraiser saw the motivational saying, “Live, Laugh, Love” stenciled on the wall of the owner’s kitchen and took $20,000 off of the value for outdated decor.

6) They were “hangry”…

A homeowner thought baking a fresh batch of cookies right before the appraiser came over would sway their opinion of value by making the home smell scrumptious. What they didn’t realize is that the appraiser was on the latest gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb fad diet, and all it did was make them angry about how hungry they were… and that the owner thought they’d fall for the oldest trick in the book.

7) The listing agent was their high school nemesis…

The appraiser pulled up and saw the listing agent’s name on the for sale sign just happened to be their high school nemesis who spread rumors about them, stole the person they had a crush on, and made gym class a living nightmare. A low appraisal on their listing wasn’t the revenge they envisioned back in high school, but it was a long time coming, and sweet nonetheless.