10 Tips to Help Increase your Appraisal

The appraiser is due in an hour. The beds are unmade, breakfast dishes in the sink and toys scattered about the playroom. Would she care?    After all,  lowball appraisals can kill deals.  They can also kill a refinancing application.  If an appraisal comes in too low, it’s not worth refinancing, or you might need to put in a whole lot more equity.  Caution: Some of the advice — like home valuations themselves these days — might seem contradictory. But what all the appraisers agree on is the importance of keeping the look, feel and condition of the property as updated and cared-for as possible.  Here are the top ways to keep your home’s look, feel and condition as updated and cared-for as possible.

Tidy Up

Appraisers say that you don’t need to deep-clean under couches and that a few dirty dishes won’t hurt your home’s value. But rats, cockroaches and that car you’ve been tinkering on might. Things like overgrown landscaping, soiled carpeting, marks on walls — those do affect value and are part of the property’s overall condition rating.  In other words, think broom clean, not set design for a home-decorating magazine.

Curb Appeal Counts

Mow the lawn, hack those weeds and trim those hedges. This can also help offset your house from unfair comparisons with foreclosures nearby. In today’s climate, its important to remember: condition, condition, condition.  An hour or two, for the most part, will set your home apart in the actual picture that the lender gets from the appraiser versus the actual picture that the appraiser will provide of the (foreclosure) down the street.

List your Updates

Keep a list of the updates you have made and be ready to hand it over; a sketch plan of the house indicating square footage also helps. Have a list of updating done within the past 15 years. Itemize each update with the approximate date and approximate cost. Also highlight the notable features of the property.  Remember the items that an appraiser might not notice, such as a new roof or insulation. Don’t forget the minor items.

Make Comps Available

Yes, this is the appraiser’s job, but every little bit helps — especially if you are aware of a nearby property that sold without the aid of a real-estate agent.  That can mean it wasn’t posted on the multiple listing service, and can result in other delays by the time it gets posted through other government data sources.

Say No to Peeling Paint

Loans insured by government agencies, such as the Federal Housing Administration or the Veterans Administration, will require peeling paint to be removed in houses built before 1978. But don’t worry too much about a child’s scrawling on his bedroom wall, unless it’s going to require a whole new paint job.

Focus

Don’t spend money that won’t yield a return on the investment. The best expenditures for most markets are paint, carpet, light and plumbing fixtures.  Prioritize what you do; if you’re the type of homeowner who has upgraded and fixed items as they broke, you should be fine.

Location does Matter

If there have been changes to the neighborhood, mention them, from a new playground to a new Whole Foods. If the area has been declared a historic or landmark district, let the appraiser know.

The $500 Rule

Appraisers often value houses in $500 increments, so if there’s a repair costing more than $500 that can or should be made, it will count against the property. Fix leaky faucets, cracked windows, missing handrails and structural damage.

Effective Age

Effective age is the age the appraiser can assign to a home after taking into consideration updating and condition. Say you have a cracked window, threadbare carpet, some tiles falling off the shower surround, vinyl torn in the laundry room and the dog ate the corner of the fireplace hearth.  These items could still add up to an overall average condition rating as the home is still habitable. However, your effective age will be higher, resulting in comparables being utilized which will have the same effective age and resulting lower value.

Make them Comfortable

Appraisers say they get annoyed enough by homeowners following them around, but a snarling, growling dog is even worse. Along the same lines, try to make the appraiser comfortable — if it’s cold out, put the heat on; if it’s hot out, the air conditioning.  If it’s 100 degrees out and you never put the air conditioning on, put it on for the appraiser so they don’t question that your unit is broken.