Question: We're days away from closing on the house we're selling...

Question: We're days away from closing on our home that we're selling. But the home's appraisal came back very low. What do we do?

Answer: I am not sure how you can even be days away from closing and just now receiving the appraisal? That should be done two to three weeks before closing—AT LEAST.

Who is responsible for fighting it? Easy, all parties involved. Everybody that has something at stake. The buyer hired that lender so they are the first line of offense and they will need the buyer's agent's help to find comps to support the sales price and your agent (listing agent) should also WANT to help.

The appraisal is $20k less than the agreed upon price. 

This is not uncommon; the appraisal does a more detailed market analysis for the properties they appraise. So, this is a more accurate reflection of the price than the seller, listing agent, buyer's agent and seller can come up with. When I go into a listing appointment, I tell sellers ALL OF THE TIME that I do not set the sales price and neither does the seller. The buyer sets the sale price, but that can ultimately be trumped by the bank.

I tell my buyers all of the time that they cannot overpay for a property anymore because the appraiser will ultimately set the price and if it is lower than the agreed upon price, the seller will have to come down if they want it to sell. 

Most buyers will not go up because they know if the seller lets the deal fall through, they will ultimately be up against another appraisal in the same ball park and the property may have declined in value!