What is a reconsideration of value?

A written request to the lender asking that the appraised value be revisited, on the basis of comparable sales the appraiser did not use or facts the report got wrong. It is not an appeal and there is no adjudicator: the appraiser reviews what you send and decides whether to revise. Most are declined in minutes, because most are sent as an argument about what the borrower needs rather than as evidence about what the property is worth.

Why are sales that closed after the effective date rejected?

Because the appraiser could not have considered a transaction that had not happened. The effective date is the date the opinion of value speaks as of, and everything in the report is judged against it. Offering a sale that closed a week later asks the appraiser to concede an error they did not make, and it tells them the rest of your package has not been checked either. This tool strikes those sales through rather than hiding them, so you can see why your best comparable is not usable.

Why won't the tool ask for the value I need?

Because a request above what the evidence supports is declined, and it spends credibility you will need for the resubmission. If the comparables support $406,000 and you need $410,000, the letter asks for $406,000 and tells you about the gap. Capping the request is the single most valuable thing this tool does — an underwriter reads the number you are asking for before anything else, and a number nothing in the package reaches is the reason they stop.

What happens after I submit it?

It goes to your lender, not to the appraiser directly — contacting the appraiser yourself can be treated as undue influence and is the one move that turns a fixable problem into a dead file. Expect a few days to two weeks. The common outcomes are a revised report, a written response explaining why each of your sales was set aside, or the original value standing. A partial move is normal and often enough.

Should I pay for a second appraisal if this is declined?

Only where you have a specific, documented error to cite rather than a difference of opinion, and only where your loan programme permits it — many do not, and the cost is usually yours. If the disagreement is about which comparables are better, a second appraiser is roughly as likely to land near the first. At that point the honest conversation is about the deal rather than the value: more money down, a different structure, or renegotiating with the seller on the strength of the appraisal you now hold.

Does InvestorLabs submit this for me, or talk to my lender?

No. The package is yours, it goes out under your name, and this tool never contacts a lender or an appraiser. It works identically whoever your loan is with, and it names no lender anywhere in the letter. Whether to accept a reconsideration, and on what basis, is entirely at the discretion of your lender and their appraiser.

Appraisal Rebuttal Builder

Build a lender-ready reconsideration of value from better comparable sales and factual errors in the report — and find out first whether it will work.

1 · The appraisal

Start from the appraisal

Upload the PDF and we will read the comparable sales grid, or skip this and type the figures in — the tool works the same either way.

Appraisal PDF

Up to 30 MB. The file stays in your browser.

What a reconsideration of value actually is

A low appraisal does not fail politely. It kills the exit refinance on a BRRRR, because the new loan is sized off the appraised value and the capital you were counting on getting back stays in the wall. It blows the ARV-LTV on a flip, so the construction draw you had budgeted arrives smaller than the invoices. On a DSCR purchase it turns into a cash-to-close problem four days before the deadline. In every case the number is not a matter of opinion any more — it is the constraint, and the only formal remedy is a reconsideration of value.

A reconsideration is a written request that the appraiser revisit the value on the basis of better evidence. There is no adjudicator and no appeal: the appraiser reads what you send, and decides. Which means the whole exercise is a persuasion problem with an audience of one professional who has already formed a view, has a file to defend, and has seen a great many borrowers explain why they need a bigger number.

Why most of them are declined in minutes

Three failures account for nearly all of it. The first is comparables that closed after the effective date — the date the opinion of value speaks as of. An appraiser cannot have considered a sale that had not happened, so offering one asks them to concede an error they did not make, and signals that nothing else in the package has been checked either. The second is a requested value nothing in the submission supports. The third is tone: a letter that argues about what the deal needs rather than what the property is worth answers a question nobody asked.

A wrong fact beats a better comp

Investors reach first for comparables, and comparables are the weaker instrument. An appraiser inspected the property and you did not; preferring their own comps is defensible and costs them nothing. A factual error is different. A subject recorded at 1,520 square feet when the county assessor and a permit both say 1,660 is not a judgement call — it is wrong, it is checkable, and correcting it moves every living-area adjustment in the grid at once. Permitted work that was never credited, a comparable whose bathroom count is misstated, a sale treated as arm’s length that was an REO: each of those is a line the appraiser can concede without conceding their judgement, which is exactly what makes them land.

The comp the appraiser never saw

The strongest basis of all is a closed sale, inside the search radius, before the effective date, that is not in the report. It cannot be answered with “I considered it and set it aside”, and it is the one thing an investor has no practical way to find alone — which is why this tool searches for it automatically rather than waiting to be asked. When it finds nothing, it says so, and that is worth knowing too: an appraiser whose comp set is genuinely complete is not going to move on comparables, and your effort belongs somewhere else.

Never ask for more than the evidence

The request is the first line an underwriter reads. If the comparables support $406,000 and you ask for the $410,000 the deal needs, the package is declined on that line and the next one you send is read with less patience. This tool caps the request at what the corrected comparable set supports and tells you when it has done so. It will also tell you, in plain terms, when the answer is that your case is weak — which is the moment the tool is either honest or it is not. A reconsideration that was never going to work costs a week you may not have, and the alternatives are better used early: more money down, a different structure, or a renegotiation with the seller on the strength of the appraisal you are holding.

Nothing here is a valuation, and nothing here is submitted for you. The package goes out under your name, to your lender, and whether to accept it is entirely theirs. If you want the comparable analysis on its own first, the investor valuation tool works the same evidence and hands its comp set straight into this one.

Common questions

What is a reconsideration of value?: A written request to the lender asking that the appraised value be revisited, on the basis of comparable sales the appraiser did not use or facts the report got wrong. It is not an appeal and there is no adjudicator: the appraiser reviews what you send and decides whether to revise. Most are declined in minutes, because most are sent as an argument about what the borrower needs rather than as evidence about what the property is worth.
Why are sales that closed after the effective date rejected?: Because the appraiser could not have considered a transaction that had not happened. The effective date is the date the opinion of value speaks as of, and everything in the report is judged against it. Offering a sale that closed a week later asks the appraiser to concede an error they did not make, and it tells them the rest of your package has not been checked either. This tool strikes those sales through rather than hiding them, so you can see why your best comparable is not usable.
Is a factual error worth more than a better comparable?: Usually, yes. A comparable is a matter of judgement and an appraiser is entitled to prefer their own — they inspected the property and you did not. A subject recorded at 1,520 square feet when the county assessor and a permit both say 1,660 is not a judgement, it is a fact the report has wrong, and correcting it moves every living-area adjustment in the grid at once. Errors also cost the appraiser nothing to concede, which matters more than it should.
Why won't the tool ask for the value I need?: Because a request above what the evidence supports is declined, and it spends credibility you will need for the resubmission. If the comparables support $406,000 and you need $410,000, the letter asks for $406,000 and tells you about the gap. Capping the request is the single most valuable thing this tool does — an underwriter reads the number you are asking for before anything else, and a number nothing in the package reaches is the reason they stop.
What happens after I submit it?: It goes to your lender, not to the appraiser directly — contacting the appraiser yourself can be treated as undue influence and is the one move that turns a fixable problem into a dead file. Expect a few days to two weeks. The common outcomes are a revised report, a written response explaining why each of your sales was set aside, or the original value standing. A partial move is normal and often enough.
Should I pay for a second appraisal if this is declined?: Only where you have a specific, documented error to cite rather than a difference of opinion, and only where your loan programme permits it — many do not, and the cost is usually yours. If the disagreement is about which comparables are better, a second appraiser is roughly as likely to land near the first. At that point the honest conversation is about the deal rather than the value: more money down, a different structure, or renegotiating with the seller on the strength of the appraisal you now hold.
Does InvestorLabs submit this for me, or talk to my lender?: No. The package is yours, it goes out under your name, and this tool never contacts a lender or an appraiser. It works identically whoever your loan is with, and it names no lender anywhere in the letter. Whether to accept a reconsideration, and on what basis, is entirely at the discretion of your lender and their appraiser.