[ChildOfThe60s]

When I bought my home in Kentucky last year, I asked the lender about the “appraisal”. He said the appraisal would essentially be the agreed upon price between me and the seller.

Basically, it fell to me to make sure that I was paying a fair market price for the home. Or at least that I was only borrowing an amount that equated properly to the market value of the house.

Of course, the lender was not too concerned about that because of the size of my down payment. It made their loan to me pretty safe as there was no way my home could not be worth more that I owe on it.

[steve86]

I am a little bitter because I once lost $13,000, back when that was a big deal, when the appraisal came in less than the Realtor and both parties thought it should be.