Appraiser for refinancing

go to a different bank or better yet, to a mortgage broker who has a few banks. if an appraisal comes in too low, they can order another one. the only thing is that they can't hand pick an appraiser. at some point, you have to be able to find a person with a brain who does appraisals.

most are complete idiots. the smart ones found other jobs after the collapse.

Doesn't your lender have a seasoning requirement anyway? Like as in comps can only be used beginning a year after your actual closing date?

george12...using comps from 6 months ago is idiotic. Appraisers need to completely overhaul their appraisal procedures. Sucks for the banks as they lose alot of revenue because of this.

George, Are you willing to pay much higher rates to refi?

All of the refinance appraisals in my building have been extremely conservative.

We had a unit appraise for $420k for a refinance in 2012. This year, the same unit (with no improvements) was listed at $600k, had multiple offers, and is closing for $630k. Appraisal came in at selling price.

Four other refinanced units in the building have all appraised for "fire sale" prices so out of line with actual market conditions that people in the building would buy and annex the units if the owners put them on the market for the refinance appraisal price.

Actually Alan, I was just told by a mortgage broker that comps OVER 6 months old CANNOT be used in an appraisal.

Thank you everyone for all the comments. I contacted another appraiser that I had used in the past and he also believes using comparables that are 8 or 9 months old is somewhat crazy, specially in this market.
I also spoke with the bank and provided them a detailed letter challenging the appraisal; the bank agreed to forward the letter to the appraisal firm and to also order another appraisal through another firm. I will keep everyone post on how everything turns out.