How do I write a reconsideration of value request that works?

Write it for the two people who have to say yes

Your ROV has two readers. The first is the lender's reviewer. Under Fannie Mae's policy, the lender must confirm the request has sufficient support before it ever reaches the appraiser. The second is the appraiser, who must analyze whether your information is relevant and then issue a revised report explaining the outcome.

Neither reader is moved by how much the buyers love the house. Both are moved by facts they can check in under a minute. Write for a tired underwriter at 4:45 on a Friday, and you will write a good ROV.

Remember the limits before you start. On Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, the borrower gets one ROV per appraisal, and it must be submitted before closing. The request goes from the borrower to the lender. Chase, for one, tells customers not to contact the appraiser about the contents or results. Neither should you.

The basics every request needs

According to Ballard Spahr's summary of the Fannie Mae policy, the request should include:

• Borrower name
• Property address
• Effective date of the appraisal
• Appraiser name
• Date of the ROV request
• The specific parts of the report you believe are unsupported, inaccurate or deficient
• Any additional data, with sources such as MLS numbers
• Up to five comparable sales, and an explanation of how the new data supports the request

Many lenders have their own ROV form. Use it. Freddie Mac's guidance says that if a request is unclear, deficient or needs more information, the lender should work with the borrower to fix it. That is helpful, but every round of fixing costs days. Get it right the first time.

Lead with factual errors. They are your strongest evidence.

Chase lists the kinds of evidence that carry weight: corrections to square footage or room count, records of recent upgrades to major systems, and recent nearby sales the appraisal did not include. For inaccurate property details, Chase says you may need property assessment data, plans and specifications, or other valuation reports.

Factual errors are strong because they are binary. The house has three bathrooms or it doesn't. The kitchen was remodeled with permits or it wasn't. Check these first:

• Living area, bedroom and bathroom counts against the record and any plans
• Lot size, garage spaces, pool, ADU or other site features
• Condition and quality ratings against the upgrades actually completed
• Comparable data: a comp described with the wrong square footage, wrong condition or a missed concession

One clean, documented error with a page number is worth more than ten paragraphs of disagreement. Attach the proof. "Per the attached permit, the primary bath was fully remodeled" is a sentence an appraiser can act on.

How to pick up to five comps that help

You may offer up to five alternative sales. The goal is not to find the five highest sales in the zip code. The goal is to find sales that are more similar to the subject than the ones in the report.

A good alternative comp is:

• Closed, not active or pending, unless you are only showing a trend
• Recent, and ideally more recent than the report's comps
• Close, in the same neighborhood or market area
• Similar in size, age, condition, quality, lot and layout

For each one, write one or two sentences: the MLS number, the sale date and price, and why it is a better match. "Same model, same street, sold six weeks before the effective date, similar remodel" is the kind of line that changes minds.

You can also challenge an adjustment. Fannie Mae says adjustments must reflect the market's reaction and that time adjustments, or the lack of them, must be supported by evidence. If prices rose and the report made no time adjustment, show the closed sales that prove the trend. Same goes for concessions: they are not worth dollar for dollar unless the market says so, and the report should show how the market reacted.

A template you can adapt

Reconsideration of Value Request

Borrower: [name]. Property: [address]. Appraisal effective date: [date]. Appraiser: [name]. Date of request: [date].

1. Factual corrections. [Item, page number, what the report says, what is correct, attached proof.]

2. Unsupported adjustments. [Line item, the adjustment used, the closed sales or data showing a different market reaction.]

3. Alternative comparable sales (maximum five). [MLS number, address, sale date, price, size, condition, and one or two sentences on why it is more similar than a comp used in the report.]

4. Summary. [Two sentences tying the evidence together. No requested value.]

Notice what is not in the template: a target number. Appraiser independence rules do not bend for an ROV, and Fannie Mae says its ROV policy does not change them. Show the evidence and let the evidence do the talking.

Mistakes that sink an ROV

• Citing the contract price. The contract is one buyer and one seller. It is the thing being tested, not the proof.
• Using automated estimates. A Zestimate in an ROV is like bringing a horoscope to a tax audit.
• Sending active listings as proof of value. Asking prices are hopes. Closed sales are facts.
• Padding the list. The cap is five. A sale with an ocean view and a guest house does not help a tract home.
• Attacking the appraiser. The tone that works is calm and specific. Sarcasm reads great in your head and terrible in a loan file.
• Waiting. Once the loan closes, the ROV window is gone.

From the appraiser's chair, I can tell you the requests that change values are almost always short. Facts over feelings, every time.