SOS! Appraisal Coming!!

[Turquesa]

My house is undergoing an appraisal next week. I have no idea what to expect from the process! Do I need to do a massive deep cleaning and decluttering? If so, I'm SOL because I have two in diapers, a workaholic husband, and zero time to do it all on my own. Some websites say not to sweat it, and another recommended hiring a professional cleaner.

What gives? If you have any experience with this, please post here and let me know how to prepare! If it's relevant, the appraisal is for refinancing a loan, not selling my house. TIA!

[ChristyMarie]

Honestly, I think it kinda depends on the person you get. I've had ones who didn't even come in and another one who measured every single room.

I think having the house look maintained is important. Not white glove clean but organized and taken care of.

If you have the last appraisal and property map that can help.

[wombatclay]

Also, what are your hopes in terms of the appraisal? Some folks want their appraised value to go up so it would be good to have the home neat, clean, open, and easy for the inspector to access all the corners. Basically make their job easy and let the house show well. I wouldn't hire anyone, just make sure you can see the corners and reach all the rooms/spaces and that all the switches work (no burnt out lights, switches that don't seem to turn anything on, etc).

But other people hope their appraised value will stay constant or be reduced (which may help with taxes)... in that case neat and tidy is fine, but don't kill yourself trying to organize! And double check the appraisal report after it's been filed. My parent's home was re-appraised and the appraiser had made a lot of errors that affected the value (like, the report said central heat/air when in fact there was none).

[delightedbutterfly]

We just went through an appraisal. I was hoping for a 20,000 window. The appraisal came in at the bottom of that window but it is ok because we were just refinancing.

We CLEANED the house BUT it was "lived in" clean... It wasn't even "party" clean. We had some boxes of stuff in the corner but everything was picked up and swept and organized.

Our kitchen is also in that "last stage" of reno's where there is touch ups and a last big project to do and that was it.

He came though measured, took a couple pictures and left.

I told everyone I was in the wrong profession... The amount of money he mad for the 15 mins of walk through and hour or two of paper work was SILLY!
Posted via Mobile Device

[noobmom]

As long as your house isn't dirty enough to affect the structure of the house itself, you don't need to clean. They don't care if you have crumbs on the floor. However, mold on the wall in the bathroom would be bad.

[Turquesa]

Already feeling better, ladies!! Thanks. We're doing a refi. The appraiser told me that she would need a half an hour to measure rooms and take pictures. What is the purpose of the pictures? If we ever sell our house, they won't be used for that, right? (No smart selling agent would allow it with all of the appliances on our kitchen counter! ) I'm going to finish cleaning today and then spend tomorrow at a park so that my tots don't wreck the place before the appraisal on Tues.