Home Appraisal

[Kathy]

I'm looking at refinancing my home before the rates go up again. The appraiser is coming next Monday morning. Does anyone have any tips?

[Charles Spitzer]

you're going to be lucky if the guy gets out of the car. he may slow down going past.

[Matt]

I've refinaced my home several times. I found the best approach is to stay out of their way, and in a roundabout not overly obvious way, let them know what you need the house to appraise at (wink wink).

Also, if the loan company picked the appraiser, and/or your credit is good, I don't think you have anything to worry about. The refinance craze is dying down (at least I don't get 5 calls a day and 20 letters a day with refinance offers anymore), but loan companies still want your business if they think you are a good risk.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Wave as he/she drives by. If you have plentyof equity, it is just to be sure the building exists. Some take a picture and move on and never even ring the doorbell. .

[Mike]

Have you done anything to the home since the last appraisal? Or some improvements within the last 2 years of any significance? They will take homes somewhat within your area that have sold recently and use the sale price to base your value on. They will reduce the value based any differences in the property, like sq footage or bathrooms. Like if your property has one less bathroom than a comp, they will take away $X from your value. Telling them what you want the property to appraise for may not help at all and may irritate them, they have heard it all before. You can suggest comps but this may make them think you are saying you can do their job better. I found that once you get the appraisal, check the comps and if they suck, ask your lender to draft a letter telling them to get better comps. They want the lender happy because he/she is the main source of their referrals.

I've noticed a large number of photos in appraisals have a cars side view mirrors caught in the photo. I'll let you figure that one out for yourself.

Got an appraiser showing up on a bank holiday? Wow, they must be a new office.

[default]

Clean.

It won't change the appraisal value, but it will keep you from doing more expensive things that also won't change the appraisal value.

--Goedjn

[Greg O]

The last time my home was appraised I don't think the appraiser even left the office. I was sent a copy of the appraisal. It had three homes in my area that were of simular size and age, and what they sold for. Not a bit of information of my home other than the value. Greg

[willshak]

On 1/13/2005 7:26 PM US(ET), Greg O took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

The appraiser for the re-mortgage on my house, made an appointment, then came to my house at the appointed time, came in, and walked through the entire house making notes, drawings, and measuring with a 25' and 100' tape ( I helped by holding the dumb end on long measurements). She then walked around the outside of the house and took pictures of the house from different angles.

[John Willis]

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:09:26 -0500, "Kathy" scribbled this interesting note:

We've had several houses appraised. We're fortunate that the mortgage broker we use has a couple of very good appraisers that work with him. When little more than a drive by appraisal is needed these fellows charge less. When a full appraisal is needed, they take the time to measure the exterior, note the interior rooms in their drawing, look at the condition of the house (carpet, paint, kitchen accessories, overall appearance, etc.), take a few pictures and then they go back to their office, get comparables, work their magic, and the number I wanted is usually very close to the perfectly justifiable number they come up with. But then again I pay close attention to property values in our area.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[forrest]

"willshak" wrote

yeah, me too. the mortgage co. gave us a copy of the report and there was even a little *floor plan* at the bottom - not just the field sketch, but drafted with a straight edge... they must've just gotten a new intern or something!

i've had 2 previous appraisals of the drive-by variety.

[Uncle]

"Kathy" wrote

As many already mentioned, it will probably be a drive by appraisal. A friend of mine works for an appraiser, she does approx. 4 drive by appraisals a day. You may or may not know, appraisals are done with comparables, or some word like that. They use comparable homes within a 5 mile radius for recent sales, which reflect the appraisal price of your home. Crazy way they do it, because in a 5 mile radius of my home, there are run down homes and nice homes.

Chances are, you won't even know they came by, unless you're having an extensive appraisal which is when they do an actual walk through. If you paid in the $150-$200 range for the appraisal, in my area this is a drive by.

[Kathy]

Well, the mortgage company picked the appraiser and told me she definitly is coming in. She also told me not to worry just because of the address. The lender is paying for the appraisal up front but she said I have to pay it at closing and it is $300. I am going to spend the weekend putting up trim that is laying on the floor behind the couch and cleaning. From all of your replys I'm thinking it could help if I put a fresh coat of paint on the kitchen.

Thanks for the info.

[default]

It MIGHT help with the eventual sale-price, if you pick a color that the eventual buyer likes, and if they don't conclude that you painted to hide something. but it won't affect the appraisal at all.

[HaHaHa]

An appraisel simply determines what your home is likely to sell for, based on other homes in your general vicinity and what they sold for.

What color your bedroom or kitchen is is irrelevant.

It's about sq. ft, overall condition, amount of land, # of bedrooms / bathrooms.

Your 2-car garage vs the rest of the neighborhood which only has one car garages won't be considered.

Your brand new boiler vs the rest of the neighborhood which only has 30 year old boilers is irrelevant.

[e-mail]

[John Willis]

On 15 Jan 2005 14:09:28 GMT, [e-mail] (HaHaHa) scribbled this interesting note:

Yes, it is considered. These kinds of things are factored into the equations based on pre-set numbers.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[Mark]

Just had mine done last week. My tax bill says I have plenty of equity, so I don't know why they bothered.

The guy was there and spent 1/2 hour walking through. Took pictures of the outside. He actually did his job.