Property Appraisal – the purpose of the appraisal is to provide the lender with written documentation of the value of the house.  The lender will order the appraisal after the loan application is completed.  The lender then uses the appraisal to determine the loan-to-value ratio.  If the value is not sufficient to obtain the requested loan amount, you may

1. renegotiate the price of the house with the seller,
   
2. make an additional down payment, or
   
3. decide not to buy the house.  The seller can dispute the appraised value or request a review of the appraisal by the lender.  The lender will also use the appraisal to compute the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio by dividing the loan amount by the appraised value.

After the loan application is completed, the lender must verify and confirm all the information provided.  This is an intense evaluation process and generally takes from four to six weeks to complete.