Any advice on how to prepare for an appraisal?

[Anonymous]

We're trying to refinance and our appraisal is scheduled for this weekend. Any advice on how to prepare? Besides the obvious one, clean the house. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You don't really have to do anything.

[Anonymous]

Have the house clean enough that the appraiser can get into every room -- but you don't have to act as if you're preparing for a buyer's open house. Useful to have a list of the major things you've done since you bought -- refinished floors, updated kitchen/bath, new appliances, landscaping, etc. Also flag if your competitive set is unusual -- i.e., South Arlington that feeds into W-L instead of Wakefield, Falls Church City vs. Fairfax 22046, etc.

[Anonymous]

i'd also pull the most recent sales comps. not the asking prices, the closed deals. appraiser SHOULD have those but you never know.

[Anonymous]

We just had our appraisal and gave the appraiser the comps. We didnt do anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have the house clean enough that the appraiser can get into every room -- but you don't have to act as if you're preparing for a buyer's open house. Useful to have a list of the major things you've done since you bought -- refinished floors, updated kitchen/bath, new appliances, landscaping, etc. Also flag if your competitive set is unusual -- i.e., South Arlington that feeds into W-L instead of Wakefield, Falls Church City vs. Fairfax 22046, etc.

Yes--definitely do this.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the most important thing is to have a list of all the updates you have done as well as a list of comps to justify the sales price. Most appraisers can only pull back 6 months of sales period within a 1 mile local. If your home is located in a more rural area with larger lots, they will extend the area.

[Anonymous]

Nothing

[Freeman]

I just had my house appraised about two weeks ago, and I didn't do anything special to prepare the house. I did have a list of the updates we had done, and also, at his request, a copy of the lot survey from when we initially purchased the house. I didn't do any special cleaning, and I think most appraisers are going to be more concerned with the overall condition of the home, not how shiny the counters are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing

yeah - nothing

Sometimes they only do a drive-by.

[Anonymous]

wear revealing clothes or accidently walk out of the shower naked

[Anonymous]

Always have a detailed list of what improvements you did and how much they cost. Photos of the before and after are super helpful. our appraiser loved that we did this for him.

People who say nothing are way overconfident. Sometimes it works out OK but you never know what kind of appraiser you will get. Putting in the work can pay off later