Getting my 1st property!

[Marc S.]

Evening BP,

I am about a week away from closing on my first property, excited, nervous, and sick all at the same time lol. I got back my appraisal and it came back $15K over purchase price. I'm pretty happy about that, being that I was expected it to come back close or just above purchase price. Now, I've heard mix comments about the thoughts on "appraisals".  

I guess what I want to know is, exactly what does that mean in terms of an actual benefit for me moving forward with this property? Sure, someone came in and said it's work 15K more than I paid, but does that mean I can go to a bank and re-finance in 6 months and show them that paperwork to get 15k in equity? Or did all this just mean I can walk around with a piece of paper saying, "hey look this person thinks this house is worth 290 and I got it for 275" and it means nothing more than the paper it's written on?  What good is it, if in 8 months when I decide to do a re-fi I have to get it re appraised anyway by another bank. 

I guess what I'm looking to know from seasoned investors is, what actual benefit am I'm going to be able to get and secure with this return? Let me know if I'm missing the bigger picture. Hopefully this doesn't sound like a ridiculous question as I am still green in the real estate market world and learning! 

Marc