When the Appraisal is Too Low.....

...What is the buyer to do?

What exactly are your options when you are in contract to buy an apartment and the appraisal comes in too low?

A new appraisal is one option but usually not a viable one as the banks typically wont order a second appraisal.

A better option is to speak with the appraiser. Make sure he knew about all of the amenitites, make sure he got the square feet correct and show some other listings that are currently on the market at the same or a higher price. Bringing some of these "comps" to the appraisal is a pro-active way of avoiding a low appraisal.

At a certain point its comes down to the buyer asking for the seller to reduce his price in order to fall in line with the appraiser. Although seller's dont like this they often realize that they have no choice, unless they can find an all cash buyer.