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Don’t Make the Appraiser Catch Up to a Changed Purchase Contract
Purchase contracts change all the time. Inspections uncover issues, buyers and sellers negotiate repairs, and terms are adjusted to keep a deal moving toward closing.
Those changes may feel routine, and often they are. But once an appraisal has been ordered, a revised purchase price or seller-concession amount needs to reach the right people quickly. The appraisal process should be working from the deal the buyer and seller actually agreed to, not an earlier version of it.
That is why every fully executed addendum should go to your processor as soon as it is signed. They can handle the next steps and help keep the lender and appraisal process aligned while there is still time.
Here is a common example. After inspection, the buyer and seller renegotiate the deal. The buyer agrees to increase the purchase price, and the seller agrees to increase concessions to help cover the buyer’s closing costs or prepaid items.
Do not make the appraisal catch up.
The contract gives the appraiser context
The appraiser develops an independent opinion of value based on the property and market data. The purchase contract does not tell the appraiser what the value should be. Nobody gets to negotiate a higher value into existence just because the deal changed.
But the contract does give the appraiser the actual terms of the transaction they are being asked to appraise: the purchase price, seller concessions, financing terms, and other material details.
When those terms change after inspection, the appraisal should not keep moving forward on an outdated version of the deal.
A higher purchase price paired with higher seller concessions is not a small cleanup item. It is a different transaction than the one the appraiser originally received. If that update gets to the appraisal channel while the report is still being completed, the appraiser has the current deal in front of them during the normal process. That is where you want to be.
The value may still work. Do not force it to.
A changed contract does not automatically kill the deal. The property may still appraise at or above the revised purchase price. It happens.
The problem is not that a late amendment guarantees a value issue. The problem is that you have given the file less room for error.
If the appraisal is complete before the updated purchase contract is received, everyone is now trying to line up a finished report with a deal that changed after the fact. You may be looking at:
Questions about the revised price and seller concessions
Additional underwriting review
A request for an appraisal revision or clarification
A new appraisal issue that did not exist under the original contract
Lost time while the file gets sorted out
No one wants to explain to a borrower, agent, or seller that closing moved because an amendment sat in an inbox while the appraisal was being completed. That is just plain preventable.
Send the addendum right away
When inspection negotiations change the terms, get the fully executed documents to your processor immediately. Do not wait until the next status update, and do not assume the lender, AMC, or appraiser already has them.
Send:
The signed amendment changing the purchase price
The updated seller-concession language
Any repair agreement or inspection addendum tied to the change
The fully executed copy, not a draft or unsigned version
Your processor can review what changed, make sure the lender has the correct contract, and route the update through the appropriate appraisal process. Every lender and AMC handles that communication differently, so getting it to your processor early gives the file time for the right process.
They cannot route a change they have not received.
Timing matters more than perfection
Inspection negotiations often happen when people are trying to save a deal and keep everybody moving. The revised terms do not need to wait until every other loose end is tied up before your processor sees them.
Once the amendment is fully executed, send it.
A processor can determine what needs to be updated and where it needs to go. If the appraisal is still in progress, there is a much better chance for the report to be completed with the current transaction terms in view. If it is already complete, at least the team knows the issue early enough to address it before it becomes a last-minute closing problem.
That is the difference between managing a change and reacting to one.
Where we fit
Our job is not to tell you how to renegotiate a purchase contract or whether a revised deal makes sense for your borrower. That is your conversation.
Our job is to keep the file organized once the deal changes. We handle lender and third-party communication, keep detailed notes in the LOS, and make sure material file events like appraisal reviews are handled within one business day. That means when you send us the signed addendum, we can move it into the right hands instead of letting it become a surprise later in the file.
Bottom line
A revised contract can still work. The appraised value can still support the changed purchase price.
But do not wait and hope the finished appraisal happens to fit the new deal. Send the signed amendment to your processor as soon as the terms change, especially when inspection negotiations affect the purchase price or seller concessions.
Do not make the appraisal catch up. Give it the current deal while there is still time.
Want a team that keeps changes from becoming surprises?
Make Sense Processing handles lender and third-party communication, keeps detailed notes in the LOS, and handles major file events like appraisal reviews within one business day. Send us the signed addendum, and we will make sure it gets where it needs to go.
For mortgage professionals only. This is a business-to-business communication for loan originators and brokers. It is not intended for consumers and is not an offer of credit. Make Sense Processing provides contract loan processing services to licensed originators. We do not originate loans, take loan applications, or offer, negotiate, or advise on rates, terms, programs, or qualification. Nothing here is legal or compliance advice, and guidelines vary by lender, program, and state, so verify anything you plan to rely on.Make Sense Processing | NMLS #2351904 | License #MB-2002084
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