Refinance appraisal help

[orbaya]

We are refinancing our home and our appraisal is Thursday, and have no idea what to expect. I've been reading online a bit and it sounds scary!

A little info - our home was built in 2007 so it's not old, and has cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, etc. so it's up-to-date style-wise. It's clean, but by the time I'm done deep cleaning, this place is going to SPARKLE! This also forces me to do spring cleaning, which I've been putting off. As far as improvements, we had the lawn completely redone because it was in horrible condition when we moved in, and we've put thousands of dollars worth of landscaping in....there was none before.

What can we expect during this process? How in depth will the appraiser look? We have some of our son's stuff out...his toy kitchen, table and chair set, train table and artwork on a magnetic board and sliding glass door. Should we remove all this stuff?

What info should I know or have handy for the appraiser?

 

[VRBeauty]

They're not concerned about your housekeeping, as long as nothing's falling apart.

It will probably go very fast - they'll want to check the outside measurements, number of rooms, type of foundation, etc... factual stuff they can compare against other listings for your area to come up with a valuation.

Feel free to put that dust cloth away and enjoy the sunshine.

 

[diamondringlover]

The last time I had one done was around 7 years ago and they just went thru my house and measured the outside of the house to determine what the square footage was, they looked around outside, they made notes but didnt say a whole to us during the whole process, I left everything right where it was, I did clean the house but I didnt go up and beyond or anything and then we got the appraisal when we closed, it was pretty cut and dry for me..I live in a 100 year old farmhouse and some of it is updated, but not all.

 

[swingirl]

They are not looking for sparkle and tidy. They are looking at square footage, appliances, number of rooms, etc. I had an appraisal done recently and they barely poked their head in the bedrooms. They did not open closets or cabinets. Outside they took measurements of the house, took note of the landscaping, and general neighborhood.

You don't need to do anything for them, just be home to let them in.

 

[Dancing Fire]

even before they come out they already know the approx price on your home based on the sq ft,how many baths,bedrooms and the general neighborhood.

 

[manderz]

To be perfectly honest, when we bought our home about 3.5 years ago, the appraiser never even got out of the car. Yup. We paid hundreds of dollars for someone to drive by. And, magically, the house appraised for exactly the amount we paid. I wouldn't stress out about cleaning like crazy, unless you had planned on it anyway.

 

[orbaya]

Thanks guys!

Had the appraisal this morning and she was here for about 10 minutes and then took measurements outside. The only closet she looked into was the master closet, and she also took some pictures. I can't wait to see what our home appraises for.