Your lender will require an appraisal when you ask to use a home or other real estate as security for a loan, because it wants to make sure that the property will sell for at least the amount of money it is lending. Don’t panic if the appraisal comes in low, because there are often steps you can take to make the deal work. If the appraisal uncovers other problems, remember that most problems are correctable. Try to keep your cool and work through issues one step at a time.