Last minute advice for appraisal!

[northdakotanice]

DH and I are in the middle of a refi on our house. We weren't expecting our appraisal until sometime next week but just now got the call that it has been bumped up to tomorrow afternoon! I didn't want to tell them we couldn't do it (we've been waiting about two months as it is and didn't want further delays).

I've never been through an appraisal before, so I don't know what to expect. I googled somethings and I know we'll need to make sure everything is clean and spiffy. Does anyone have any last minute advice for me? If it appraises high enough we'll be able to drop our PMI.

[Deleted]

Bake cookies.

[Waffle]

Make sure the outside of the house is neat and tidy too, it reflects "pride of ownership". If it isn't they take dollars off the appraisal.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Clean, clean, CLEAN! Get it uncluttered and tidy and well kept. Get anything that looks "ghetto" out of the way (piles of bricks, dirt...) Trim the landscaping.

Make sure your bathrooms are nice. Neatly folded towels and nice decor. No toothpaste stains or any of that stuff.

Good luck!

ETA: if you know of any very favorable comps, be ready to offer them to the appraiser. If you know of any unfavorable comps that the appraiser may use, be ready to explain why they are not fair comparisons. Its always worth a shot.

[northdakotanice]

Thank you!!! I made arrangements for our dog to go to the kennel in the morning. Not sure if that will matter or not, but I'm going to try and make it look like we don't have a dog. Is that dishonest? I won't lie about it if asked.

For comps, I know of what certain homes in the neighborhood have sold for. Do i need actual documentation for this? If so, where can i get that?

[swamp]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You're not staging it for sale. The appraiser will look at hte condition of the house, the type of flooring, heating, wiring, plumbing, roof, water and septic service, etc, measure the lot, measure the rooms, consider whether there is a garage and outbuildings, and plug the info in a computer and the computer will find comps and calculate a value based on the comps.

I think giving him comps would be insulting.

[raeoflyte]

Aug 15, 2012 13:04:51 GMT -5 swamp said:

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You're not staging it for sale. The appraiser will look at hte condition of the house, the type of flooring, heating, wiring, plumbing, roof, water and septic service, etc, measure the lot, measure the rooms, consider whether there is a garage and outbuildings, and plug the info in a computer and the computer will find comps and calculate a value based on the comps.

I think giving him comps would be insulting.

If you disagree with the value given, that is the time to give comps.

Don't stress about it too much. First impressions are certainly important, but the cleanliness of your house doesn't actually affect its value. (If you were staging it to sell, then I'd word that differently). Appraisers are in and out of homes all day long, and they've pretty much seen it all. One appraiser called me after inspecting a near million dollar home and told me she had never been in a dirtier more disgusting house. The house still appraised.

[alabamagal]

Aug 15, 2012 13:11:40 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Aug 15, 2012 13:04:51 GMT -5 swamp said:

I wouldn't worry too much about it. You're not staging it for sale. The appraiser will look at hte condition of the house, the type of flooring, heating, wiring, plumbing, roof, water and septic service, etc, measure the lot, measure the rooms, consider whether there is a garage and outbuildings, and plug the info in a computer and the computer will find comps and calculate a value based on the comps.

I think giving him comps would be insulting.

If you disagree with the value given, that is the time to give comps.

Don't stress about it too much. First impressions are certainly important, but the cleanliness of your house doesn't actually affect its value. (If you were staging it to sell, then I'd word that differently). Appraisers are in and out of homes all day long, and they've pretty much seen it all. One appraiser called me after inspecting a near million dollar home and told me she had never been in a dirtier more disgusting house. The house still appraised.

What they said! An appraiser will only look at the condition of the components of the house.

When we did our refi, they didn't even do an internal inspection of the house. I'm not sure what they did, but the number seemed about right to us.

[Bluerobin]

Aug 15, 2012 12:46:03 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Bake cookies.

Actually very good advice. Please them as soon as the door opens!

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2012 14:15:27 GMT -5 Bluerobin said:

Aug 15, 2012 12:46:03 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Bake cookies.

Actually very good advice. Please them as soon as the door opens!

might need more than cookies for that

or a different kind of cookie......

[Colleenz]

I have had great appraisals with a toy strewn house with pet hair everywhere. They will take into account things like the general wear and tear on the carpet, but you don't need to board your dog. Good luck!

[northdakotanice]

The dog is being kenneled also for convenience, he is a bit jumpy and I'd rather he didn't scare the appraiser!

[NotSoFair]

They take pictures of every room and exterior. So, like others have said, clean as much as possible.

[tskeeter]

While some contend that it doesn't matter whether or not the house is clean, I think it does. Basically, you are selling the house to the appraiser to generate the highest appraisal possible. So, a well kept yard and a clean house can have an effect on your appraisal. Which do you think the appraiser will give a subjective favorable allowance to on the assumption that there are likely to be no hidden problems, the house with the unkempt yard, dirty carpets, and piles of dirty dishes and dirty clothes that has a strange background odor, or the house that has the neatly trimmed lawn, and freshly vacuumed carpet?

Yes, an appraisal is primarily a valuation of the structure and the land, but the appraiser is really trying to estimate what the house would sell for. A well kept house sells for more than a , so the appraiser will consider more than the bricks and sticks in placing a value on the house. He'll also consider how appealing the house is to potential buyers, even on a refi.

[northdakotanice]

tskeeter- My thoughts exactly. i dont' know if it helped that the house was spic and span, but it certainly didn't hurt. Still awaiting the results......

[moneygirl9]

Just had an appraisal two weeks ago. The appraiser just cared about the amount of bedrooms and bathroom, glanced in a room and moved on. Clean yes--but don't kill yourself. They are mostly checking out the comparables that recently sold. Best of luck.