I am hearing from many agents that appraisals are not showing accurate values in many cases.  Some of the complaints I hear are that the comparables an appraiser can use only allow for 3 months back for sold listings and in many rural areas in this market that is sure not to produce enough comparables as some of these outlying towns have had only 3 sales of any homes in the past three months... period!  Am also hearing that appraisers are being assigned still from distant areas in order to keep everything at arm's length and assure objectivity, yet in Southern NH one has to know the area because even from one abutting town to the next abutting town there can be large swings in value- in short the outside appraisers do not know the market area where they have been assigned in many cases and what might be valued in a particular area.  What are the guidelines for choosing an appraiserf rom a lender's POV? In one case I have heard of a house appraising but the lender for the buyer did not accept it!  Any appraisers in NH out there care to comment?  What are the most recent guidelines and in what order are these guidleines "broken" if the comps are not available?  Still, all is not bleak... there may be hope in terms of a general market turn around