A low appraisal on new construction is genuinely rare, and in our experience it almost never comes up. Builders have strong, current comps and documented upgrade costs, so they can support their pricing to an appraiser far more easily than a typical resale seller can. If value ever did come in short, it helps to understand how builders think. They'll do almost anything before cutting the actual sale price: buy down your rate, cover closing costs, throw in upgrades. A reduced sale price becomes a public-record comp that drags down the appraised value on every other unsold, model-match home in that community. A concession helps you without hurting their other sales, while a price cut hurts both, so price reductions are a last resort. Your leverage depends on the community. A subdivision sitting on a lot of unsold spec inventory gives you room to push. If nearly everything is already under contract, there's little reason for the builder to bend. Protect yourself in the paperwork. On new construction the appraisal contingency lives in the builder's own contract, and it often kicks in much later in the process than it would on a resale, so you need to know it's actually there and what it says. Have someone read the specific builder contract before you rely on it. That's something we're glad to walk through with you on a Roadmap call so you know exactly where you stand.