Appraisals - St Louis Real Estate News

What Happens When the House Is Worth Less Than the Offer?

By Karen Moeller, on May 29th, 2026

Why a low appraisal doesn’t always kill the deal—and why the contract matters more than many buyers realize

A buyer asked me a question recently that perfectly captured one of the most misunderstood parts of a real estate transaction:

“Why do I need an appraisal rider? If the house doesn’t appraise, won’t the lender deny the loan anyway?”

At first glance, that logic seems sound. Most buyers understand that lenders require appraisals, and many assume the appraisal serves as a simple pass-or-fail test. If the value comes in high enough, the loan moves forward. If it comes in low, the Continue Reading →

Rule Changes For HUD Home Sales Proposed By HUD

By Dennis Norman, on October 8th, 2015

Since the real estate market bubble burst in 2008, the number of foreclosed homes that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has had to manage and sell to investors and new home owners has increased significantly, averaging around 100,000 homes sold per year and hitting a peak of 111,416 HUD homes sold during fiscal year 2013. Continue Reading →

Missouri has almost the lowest closing costs in the nation!

By Dennis Norman, on August 8th, 2013

That’s right, along with very affordable home prices, Missouri also has almost the lowest closing costs in the nation at an average of $2,188 for lenders’ origination fees and third party fees, second only to the state of Wisconsin with average closing costs of $2,119, according to the 2013 closing cost survey by Bankrate.

See table below for survey results for all states:

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Survey Shows One-Third Of Homebuyers Lack Info Needed To Get Mortgage

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on May 13th, 2013

One-third of Homebuyers Surveyed Are Ill-prepared to Get a Mortgage

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

According to a survey recently conducted by Zillow, many homebuyers are really not armed with the information they should have before attempting to obtain a mortgage. For example, over one-third (34 percent) of the prospective homebuyers surveyed did not know that a qualified borrower can obtain a home loan today with less than a five percent downpayment.

In addition, many homebuyers have misinformation that can prevent them from obtaining the best possible mortgage interest rate. For example, 26 percent of the homebuyers said Continue Reading →

Low appraisals killing home sales or causing sellers to agree to lower price

By Dennis Norman, on October 10th, 2012

REALTORS® surveyed by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), say that low valuations on appraisals are causing their seller’s problems ranging from delaying the sale to renegotiating the price to even killing the deal. Of the REALTORS® that responded, 11 percent say a low valuation on an appraisal cost their seller a sale in the past 3 months, 9 percent said it caused a delay to a sale and 15 percent said a low appraisal resulted in the seller having to renegotiate and agree to a lower price.

Continue Reading →

The Top Four Appraisal Questions Sellers Ask; St Louis Mortgage Interest Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on September 5th, 2012

Since the appraised value of home is a key element when considering a purchase or refinance, the following are the top four most common questions about appraisals asked by sellers: Continue Reading →

What to do about a low appraisal?; St. Louis Mortgage rate update

By Robert Fishel, on June 28th, 2012

The sale price for a house is $200,000, but the appraisal comes back at $190,000. Should the borrower still try to purchase this property or just leave it be? This is not unusual circumstance common in today’s real estate market; appraisals are coming in conservatively. What action should the borrower take when there is a mismatch between the seller’s asking price and the home’s appraised value? Remember, the maximum loan amount is based upon the lower of the sale price or the appraised value, whichever is less. Continue Reading →

Almost half of prospective home buyers unrealistic about home value appreciation

By Dennis Norman, on October 31st, 2011

You would think after what we have seen happen in the housing market during the past 5 years, especially in the area of falling home prices, that home buyers today would not have lofty expectations about a home they buy appreciating, but apparently many do. According to a recent survey Zillow, 42 percent of prospective home buyers believe home prices typically appreciate by 7 percent a year. Continue Reading →

Existing home sales drop in June; ‘Actual’ home sales highest in 12 months

By Dennis Norman, on July 20th, 2011

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in June were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.77 million units which is a decrease of 0.8 percent from the month before, a decrease of 8.8 percent from a year ago and is the lowest rate of home sales since November 2010 when it was 4.64 million.

Continue Reading →

St. Louis Home Sales Down Over 30 percent in April; Worst decline of 20 major metros

By Dennis Norman, on May 19th, 2011

St. Louis existing-home sales in April were down 30.1 percent from a year ago, after the prior month’s sales were down 20.3 percent from the year prior. This disturbing trend points to a decrease in the number of home sales in St. Louis in 2011 from 2010, even though industry experts are predicting an increase in U.S. existing home sales this year over last.

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St. Louis Existing Home Sales Rate down 8.6 percent in February; prices up 8.2 percent

By Dennis Norman, on March 21st, 2011

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows mixed signals for the St. Louis Real Estate market as our rate of existing home sales is down 8.6 percent from a year ago, significantly higher than the 2.8 decline for home sales nationwide, however, on a positive note, St. Louis home prices were up 8.2 percent in February from a year ago, the highest increase of the 20 major metro markets covered by the report and much better than the 5.2 percent DECREASE in home prices for the U.S. as a whole!

Continue Reading →

Tips to Avoid Appraisal Problems

By Dennis Norman, on January 14th, 2011

You finally reach a deal with a buyer to sell your house, or strike a deal with the seller of your dream home, only to see the deal fall apart later when the house doesn’t appraise for the price that has been agreed upon…what are you to do? This is a plight that has become all too common today for many buyers and sellers. Why? Several reasons….appraisers have, after being blamed by many for causing or contributing to the downfall of the housing market, understandably so become cautious and somewhat conservative when putting a value on a home today. Not Continue Reading →

Making Appraisers the Scapegoat

By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2010

It seems we always need to find someone to blame for our problems…

When it comes to the meltdown in the housing market that has taken place over the past three years there has been no lack of finger pointing by many inside and outside the industry as to factors that either caused or contributed to the collapse of the housing market. Sub-prime lending, Wall Street, mortgage fraud, the mortgage industry, banks, community reinvestment act, real estate brokers and agents, fannie mae, freddie mac, federal government over-regulation, federal government under-regulation, appraisers, unemployment, the economy in general, “flipping”, sellers, buyers and Continue Reading →

Mortgage Loans 101 and St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on November 17th, 2010

Obtaining a mortgage to buy a home, or to refinance an existing mortgage, can sometimes be a little intimidating to borrowers, but it needn’t be. Granted, this is something the typical person only does every few years at most and regulations continually change the process, but that’s where lenders such as myself come in to the picture, to provide you the info you need and to guide you through the process.

Continue Reading →

Pending home sales drop slightly in September

By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for September shows a decrease of 1.8 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 24.9 percent decrease from a year ago.

Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae Releases Appraiser Independence Requirements

By Dennis Norman, on October 29th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Now that the controversial (to put it mildly) Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) has been put to rest as part of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, Fannie Mae has released their “Appraiser Independence Requirements“. Fannie Mae says the purpose of these requirements is to:

Protect the independence of appraisers and the integrity of their appraisals. Extend these important protections for home buyers, mortgage investors, and the housing market. Reinforce Fannie Mae’s commitment to responsible lending and mortgage quality standards. Continue Reading →

H.R. 4173; The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and what it means to appraisers

By Frank Gregoire, on September 13th, 2010

Frank Gregoire

My world was much different in the late 1980’s. Although I was in the real estate business and the real estate appraisal profession for a decade, political activity did not interest me. Here at Gregoire & Gregoire, we had already been using a networked mini-computer for appraisal reporting since 1983, but I did not have an email account or address. I did not surf the web. Our clients were savings and loan associations, FHA lenders, loan discount companies (purchasers of privately originated first and second mortgages), real estate brokers, and several lawyers. All our research was Continue Reading →

HVCC, AMC’s and the Appraisal Industry; a view from the inside

By Paul Collins, on August 18th, 2010

Editor’s note – Last month we published an article about HVCC which drew quite a few comments and responses….one such response was from veteran appraiser Paul Collins in which he shares his frustration with the state of the industry and the impact of lenders and legislation on his industry. Our thanks to Paul for allowing us to publish his thoughts..

The good ole days of direct communication and the new day we are “living” both have the same problem. Appraisers are not a valued part of the process because there are no consequences for bad lending decisions. The last Continue Reading →

Questions Home-buyers should ask their lender; Update on St. Louis Rates

By Robert Fishel, on July 14th, 2010

The mortgage industry has underwent some dramatic changes in the past year as has the regulations and rules the industry must comply with. Lender’s are barely able to keep up with everything new so it’s not surprising home-buyers have many questions when it comes to obtaining a mortgage to buy a home. Therefore, I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a list of questions that a home-buyer should ask their lender that I think will be helpful. Oh, and since I am a loan officer in St. Louis, I did take the liberty of giving my Continue Reading →

Pending home sales in midwest rise 8.1 percent in September

By Dennis Norman, on November 2nd, 2009

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, NAR

Today the National Association of REALTORS(R) issued their Pending Home Sales Index Report for September showing pending sales in the U.S. rose again for the eighth consecutive month – marking the longest streak since since NAR began the pending home sale index in 2001. The pending home sales index for the US rose 6.1 percent from August. Here in the Midwest the pending home sales index rose 8.1 percent from August marking the third month in a row the index in the Midwest increased.

As I have expressed previously, I’m somewhat cautious about Continue Reading →

Appraisal, Loan Modification and Foreclosure Lawsuits Soar

By Dennis Norman, on August 31st, 2009

Dennis Norman

A surge in litigation tied to real estate appraisals, loan modifications and foreclosures contributed to a 54 percent increase in mortgage-related lawsuits, according to the second quarter Mortgage Litigation Report from MortgageDaily.com.

During the second quarter, 125 cases were tracked, jumping from an already active 81 first quarter cases. The second quarter of 2008 had just 42 cases.

Continue Reading →

St. Louis Association of REALTORS(R) Presidents’ view of the market – Final Post of the series

By Dennis Norman, on August 7th, 2009

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

Earlier this week I did part one , and yesterday part two of my E-View with Carole Baras, CRS, GRI, ePRO, the 2009 President of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS(R) to get her take on the St. Louis real estate market.

Today I’ll pick up where I left off and complete my E-View with Carole:

Carole Baras, 2009 President, St. Louis Association of REALTORS(R)

Dennis – Carole, What do you feel are the best opportunities today for buyers in St. Louis?

Carole – Buyers that are looking to purchase a Continue Reading →

Bill in congress to stop HVCC gains momentum

By Dennis Norman, on July 17th, 2009

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

Since going into effect May1st the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) has caused controversy, been blamed for killing sales and seems it has everyone up in arms.

In late June I did a post on another blog about a bill, H.R. 3044, that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that, if passed, would put an 18 month moratorium on HVCC.

The bill was introduced by Representatives Travis Childers and Gary Miller. Since being introduced the bill is gaining some support and momentum. As of today there are 22 cosponsors Continue Reading →