From the August issue: Edward Milton Cisneros, a real estate agent at New York Living
Solutions, was surprised recently to receive a panicked phone call from
a family he is representing in the purchase of a Long Island City new
construction condo. The buyers said the appraisal for their new home —
a two-bedroom and studio they planned to combine into one unit — had
come in far below the agreed-upon purchase price.
“I got an alarmed phone call from my buyer,” Cisneros recalled. “The bank was questioning why they were paying so much.”
The low appraisal threatened to kill the sale, he said. The bank
would now only lend up to the appraised value, and there was no telling
whether the buyers would be willing or able to cough up the extra cash
needed to close the gap between the appraisal and the agreed-upon
price.
