Lake front Home Appraisals. In this challenging market, I am finding that even people with great credit are getting stopped in their tracks by poor appraisals. I see time and time again where an appraiser from out of the area tries to do an appraisal in the Irish Hills that doesn't understand the uniqueness of this area. They don't understand that each lake has it's own personality and even the value of being lake front versus not lake front. The solution seems to be for buyers to use a lender that will utilize a local appraiser. This should be one of your first questions when interviewing lenders. And 'local' does not mean someone from Detroit or even Ann Arbor, local like Jackson, Brooklyn, Hillsdale, Adrian. The next thing that I've seen happen is that the appraisal is done locally and then it is sent out for a third party review out of state, again unfamiliar with our area and the appraisal is devalued. Ask straight forward questions about this to your potential lender. An accurate appraisal is crucial.