Has anyone successfully lowered the appraised value with ROV

Question

Has anyone here successfully done an ROV on an appraisal for a DSCR purchase where you intentionally tried to get the appraised value to be lower than what the appraiser came up with? I am under contract on a property and the appraiser used sales and rental comps that are in a different neighborhood than the subject property and if I can get the appraised value lowered I believe that the seller will accept that lower price. I already have 5 comps that I think are more accurate for the subject property.

Subject property in Forest Acres and the appraiser used rental comps in Shandon and Rosewood and sales comps in Olympia and Rosewood

Thank you in advance for the help!

Subject property in Forest Acres and the appraiser used rental comps in Shandon and Rosewood and sales comps in Olympia and Rosewood

Thank you in advance for the help!

Scott Wolf · Answer

If you're already under contract, I'm not sure what the issue is.

Are you trying to retrade with the seller? If so, then why did you make the offer where you made it? If the offer was below asking, I don't see the seller coming down more due to an appraisal.

Erik Estrada · Answer

Why would you even offer a higher price? to secure the purchase? There could have been another buyer that could have offered what the seller initially wanted to begin with. Using an appraisal tactic to negotiate a lower price after the fact, is un fair. I would be very nervous if I was your agent.

Erik Estrada · Answer

This sounds very fishy.

You are basically manipulating your offer by providing a bogus appraisal to the seller to come in with a lower price and see if he'll budge on your original offer. I would not be positing this on a public forum.

Not sure what state this is, but it sounds very fishy and would raise caution.

Qais Attarwala · Answer

Because I was confident that the appraisal would come out lower and even the seller was afraid of that which is why he asked if we would pay an appraisal gap and I said I would not. I was strategically going to use the appraisal to negotiate a lower price. The argument could be made that I should have asked for a lower price up front but I knew the seller would not do that because I got under contract within 8 days of the listing going online because I know it's a good buy for a MTR strategy but obviously as an investor you want to get the best deal.

Gregory Acs · Answer

Hi Qais,

Since you already have five comps that you believe better represent the Forest Acres market, I’d start by presenting those to your lender with a clear explanation of why they’re more appropriate than the ones used in the appraisal.

An ROV can work in either direction if there’s enough evidence to support a different valuation. The key is showing actual differences in location, property condition, and comparable sales rather than simply requesting a lower value to negotiate the purchase price.

I’d also review how a lower appraisal might affect your DSCR loan terms and required down payment before moving forward. Sometimes negotiating directly with the seller using your supporting comps can be a simpler approach.

DM Decision: Hold for now. If Qais mentions needing another lender or comparing DSCR options, he becomes a strong DM candidate.

For reference, appraisal reconsiderations should address genuine valuation issues, and the request generally goes through the lender.

Dan Duenas · Answer

Qais — you're asking the right question, but there's a DSCR nuance that changes the math here.

On a DSCR purchase, the lender uses the LOWER of your purchase price or the appraised value to size the loan. So if you're already under contract below the appraised value, lowering the appraisal doesn't change your loan amount — it only helps you renegotiate the price with the seller. Worth knowing before you spend energy on the ROV, because here the ROV is a negotiation tool, not a financing tool.

On the ROV itself: it goes through your lender, not around them, and the appraiser only moves if you hand them genuinely better comps — same neighborhood, similar size and condition, recent sales. "Different neighborhoods" is actually a legitimate basis: Forest Acres vs. Shandon/Rosewood/Olympia are different submarkets, and a good ROV package leads with exactly that. Five comps is plenty if they're truly comparable; one killer comp beats five stretches.

One more thing to check: on a DSCR the rent side matters as much as the value side. If the appraiser's rent schedule used those same out-of-neighborhood rental comps, the DSCR calculation itself could be off — and that's sometimes the easier fight than the value.

If the seller won't come down to your number, the honest answer is the deal may just be priced for someone else's loan. Happy to sanity-check the comps if you want a second set of eyes — Dan

Brian Cauldwell · Answer

I have disputed 100's of appraisals. Whether you are trying to go higher or lower, it rarely works. Telling an appraiser they are wrong is hard. 1/10 may change and an even smaller percentage change in a meaningful way.

You would be better off getting a new appraisal.

Has anyone successfully lowered the appraised value with ROV

Has anyone successfully lowered the appraised value with ROV

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