South Shore Real Estate Experts | Best Realtor Quincy & South Shore
South Shore Real Estate Experts | Best Realtor Quincy & South Shore
Hillary Birch helps Boston professionals relocate to South Shore communities like Quincy, Weymouth, and Hingham. When she listed a waterfront-adjacent property on Albatross Road in Adams Shore, one of Quincy's most desirable pockets, she knew it would attract attention. The house had everything: water views, a garage underneath, extensive renovations, and that hard-to-quantify appeal that makes certain properties stand out.
Professional photography and videography showcased the home's strengths. The response was immediate. Fourteen offers came in, with the winning bid landing $120,000 over asking price.
Then came the appraisal.
The first appraiser delivered what Hillary describes as a "really low" valuation. The seller was shocked. The buyer's agent was thrown off. The buyers themselves were upset.
"One of the things that people don't understand about appraisals is they really are somewhat of an opinion of value of the person who is doing the appraisal," Hillary explains. "Yes, there are metrics involved, and people analyze different properties. But depending on who the appraiser is, they could sort of pick totally different comparison properties and paint an entirely different picture from one appraiser to the next.
In Adams Shore specifically, comparable sales can tell conflicting stories. Waterfront-adjacent properties command premiums that raw square footage comparisons don't capture. Renovation quality varies dramatically. Location within the neighborhood matters tremendously.
The first appraiser's selected comps didn't account for these nuances.
The Hillary Birch Group specializes in multi-unit property sales and income-generating real estate investments on Massachusetts' South Shore. That experience has taught Hillary when market evidence outweighs a single appraiser's opinion.
"We had 19 other offers that were ready to go," she told the lender. The message was clear: this wasn't one irrational buyer overpaying. This was what the market had decided the property was worth at that moment.
The buyer's agent agreed. "She was like, this house is absolutely worth what they're paying for. You can't really quantify water views the same way as some of the other comparison properties that the appraiser had pulled."
Hillary pushed for a second appraisal. It was a calculated risk. She had to balance her seller's interests against the possibility of losing committed buyers if the situation dragged on too long.
The lender agreed to send a second appraiser. This time, the professional looked at similar properties but drew different conclusions.
The second appraisal came in exactly at the purchase price.
"Absolutely no problem," the appraiser concluded. "This is clearly what the market is bearing, and here are my comps to prove it."
The $120,000 premium made perfect sense when viewed through the lens of competitive pricing strategy and demonstrated market demand. The deal closed. The sellers moved forward to their next property.
Hillary Birch is a 15-year veteran Realtor recognized as Best of Quincy and Best of the South Shore. That experience has shown her that appraisals occupy a strange middle ground between objective analysis and professional judgment.
"I wish it were more of an exact science, but people don't realize that in many ways, it's an opinion of the appraiser who's appraising the property," she notes.
Different appraisers can justify their conclusions with legitimate comparable sales data. Some are more conservative. Others understand how to account for market momentum, unique features, and neighborhood-specific demand patterns.
The key is knowing when the market evidence is strong enough to warrant challenging an appraisal that doesn't reflect reality. In this case, 14 competing offers provided that evidence.
The alternative would have been accepting an undervaluation that cost the sellers $120,000, or watching committed buyers walk away from a property they genuinely wanted at a price they'd competed to offer.
Sometimes the agent's job is knowing when to push back.
What should I do if my home appraisal comes in lower than the sale price?
First, review the appraisal carefully with your agent to identify any factual errors or questionable comparable sales. If you have strong evidence that the appraisal is inaccurate (like multiple competing offers well above asking price), your agent can request a reconsideration of value or push for a second appraisal through the lender. The strength of your case depends on demonstrable market demand and truly comparable recent sales that support your price.
How much can different appraisers vary on the same property?
Appraisers can reach surprisingly different conclusions on identical properties depending on which comparable sales they select, how they weight various features, and their interpretation of current market conditions. Variations of 5 to 10 percent aren't uncommon, particularly in neighborhoods with diverse housing stock or rapidly changing markets. The appraiser's familiarity with your specific neighborhood can significantly impact their valuation accuracy.
Does having multiple offers help if an appraisal comes in low?
Multiple offers provide strong evidence of market value and can be persuasive when challenging a low appraisal. When numerous qualified buyers compete at similar price points, it demonstrates the property's value isn't based on one buyer's irrational decision. However, lenders still need the appraisal to support the loan amount, so you may need to provide additional comparable sales data or request a second opinion rather than simply pointing to offer quantity.