Your accepted offer is not the number your buyer can borrow. When the appraisal comes in below the contract price, the lender funds the lower figure, and the difference, the appraisal gap, has to come from somewhere or the deal dies. About 6% of purchase contracts are delayed by appraisal issues, and roughly 8 to 10% of transactions appraise below the contract price. If you sell your home without an agent and set your own price, this is the most avoidable deal-killer in the process.
What the Appraisal Actually Decides
The lender orders an appraisal to confirm the home is worth the loan. The appraiser compares your home to recent solds, and the loan is based on the lower of the contract price or the appraised value. A low appraisal does not void the contract automatically. The buyer can bring extra cash to cover the gap, you can renegotiate the price or split the difference, the buyer can challenge the appraisal, or, if the contract carries an appraisal contingency, the buyer can walk and keep the earnest money. When the buyer waived the contingency, they are on the hook for the gap instead.
The Numbers Behind the Gap
NAR's REALTORS Confidence Index has held appraisal issues at about 6% of contracts through 2025 and 2026. CoreLogic data shows roughly 8.6% of 2024 transactions appraised below the contract price, and Cotality put about 10% of purchases with an appraisal gap in mid-2025. In competitive markets the gap commonly runs $8,000 to $15,000, and more in bidding wars. About 21% of buyers waived the appraisal contingency in September 2024, down from 24% a year earlier, so most buyers still have the right to walk. With the 30-year mortgage averaging 7.40% as of October 8, 2026 per Freddie Mac, buyers are stretched and far less able to cover a gap in cash.
Why FSBO Sellers Hit This More Often
The price you set is the price the appraiser tests. FSBO sellers who price from instinct, online estimates, or what they need from the sale routinely land above what recent solds support. The fix is unglamorous: price from true comparables, closed sales in your immediate area from the last three to six months, and adjust honestly for condition. Walk the method in the FSBO pricing guide before you pick a number.
Condition matters too, because the appraiser adjusts for it line by line. A pre-listing inspection removes the surprises that drag appraisals down, and programs like Notable Pay at Close, available through Coldwell Banker Realty, let you finance staging, painting, and pre-listing repairs with nothing due out of pocket until closing, repaid from your sale proceeds. That way the home appraises as well as it shows, and your price has proof behind it.
State Rules Change the Closing, Not the Appraisal
The appraisal follows the same national standards everywhere, but how a low value plays out is shaped by your state's closing process. Connecticut closings run through attorneys, Washington, D.C. closings through title companies, and Maryland closings through settlement companies and title agents. Each jurisdiction also has its own disclosure rules that affect what buyers and appraisers learn about the home. Review the Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and Maryland guides, and walk the process step by step in the closing walkthrough, with the FSBO seller checklist keeping you on track.
The appraisal gap is the one problem you can price your way out of. If you want a second set of eyes on your number before you go live, email Robert Clarke at robert.clarke@cbrealty.com or schedule a free consultation, and keep working through the FSBO Guide library for the full playbook.