[Rick Lee]

There's more to this story than we're hearing. If you're trying to refi into a specific loan program like Fannie or Freddie, they probably have some guidelines on looming repairs found in an appraisal. And that'd be regardless of loan to value. If the bank has their own in-house portfolio, they might make an exception for you. But you need to find out who's calling the shots before threatening to pull your business.

Banks don't get to choose appraisers anymore and that can be a good thing. My current house was a short sale and the appraiser brought it in at $14k below our accepted offer. Think that would have happened if the bank had chosen the appraiser? Not bloody likely. So, because of the appraisal, the bank dropped the price $14k on the spot. Sellers didn't care, since they had stopped making payments and moved out a year earlier. Saved us a nice chunk of change.

Back in the day I played one appraiser off against another once or twice to get the deal done. They were small purchase deals, so no real opportunity for harm. But that kind of shenanigans can make a real mess of the market in a bubble.