Joel DyckReal Broker SK Ltd.
Saskatoon · From the topic map

Who pays an appraisal gap, the buyer or the seller?

The buyer does, unless the contract says otherwise. Lenders advance against appraised value, so a shortfall between price and appraisal has to be covered in cash by the purchaser. A seller has no obligation to reduce the price, and in Saskatchewan the outcome is settled by the offer's financing condition rather than by any statutory rule.

That said, the party with the least leverage usually pays some of it. With Saskatoon at 1.63 months of supply and 446 residential sales in the latest Saskatchewan REALTORS Association report, a seller with genuine competition for the property has little reason to move. A seller whose listing has been available for weeks has considerably more reason to split the difference than to start again with a new buyer.

The buyer's cash position is the practical limit. Deposit money, the balance of the down payment, legal fees of $800 to $1,500, adjustments for prepaid property taxes and moving costs are all committed already, and any default insurance premium carries Saskatchewan provincial sales tax payable at possession. A buyer who has budgeted to the dollar cannot cover a gap regardless of willingness, and that is worth knowing before the negotiation rather than during it.

For a seller, the way to keep the question hypothetical is to price the home so the appraisal supports it. That means a defensible set of sold comparables and a documented account of improvements, including the ones no permit file or online estimate records. Joel Dyck's hand-reviewed valuation is built to be handed to an appraiser, not just to a seller.

Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

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