Homesteading Forum banner

How to add the most value to a appraisal quickly , cheaply with the least work.

4K views 66 replies 33 participants last post by  Shine 
#1 ·
My Gf just bought a house at the sheriffs sale. Now we have a week to get it ready for a mortgage appraisal.

What would you concentrate on?
 
#2 ·
1 week - cleanliness, street appeal, first impressions always matter with real estate.

WWW
 
#6 ·
So far
Cut the grass and removed the hay. It was three feet tall
Watered the yard to get some green , it was yellow after removing all that grass
Washed mold off north side.
Rinsed rest of house.
Washed mold off front (concrete) and rear (plastic wood) porches and plastic railings.
Vacuumed several cats worth of hair out of carpets.

Dug out a few turds and a lot of stains from said carpet.

Painting and patching walls starts today
 
#38 ·
So far
Cut the grass and removed the hay. It was three feet tall
Watered the yard to get some green , it was yellow after removing all that grass
Washed mold off north side.
Rinsed rest of house.
Washed mold off front (concrete) and rear (plastic wood) porches and plastic railings.
Vacuumed several cats worth of hair out of carpets.

Dug out a few turds and a lot of stains from said carpet.

Painting and patching walls starts today
That is what you do and make sure the central air/heat unit runs good and doesn't smell or blow dust. Also before the inspection , bake some bread and perk some coffee before the inspector arrives for the non Febreze air scenting and freshening.

I passed a mortgage inspection on a house that had one room that the previous owners called their 4 cats bedroom and that room smelled worse than a meth lab according to the carpenter turned police officer when the housing bubble burst who was helping us to clean, patch and paint.

To kill the cat pee odor he febrezed and fan dried the room and then put the coffee maker in the room with the door closed and sprinkled baking soda on the floor two days before the inspection and we vacuumed the baking soda early in the morning of the inspection before baking bread, an apple pie and perking and dumping 3 of 4 pots of coffee with the door to the deodorized cat pee bedroom open.

To even out the coffee aroma cover , we perked a pot in the kitchen and the rest on a stool in front of the central return vent with the circulation fan going before opening a few windows to tone the coffee house aroma down a few notches before the inspector arrived :)

From my experience with bank mortgage and insurance inspectors, they seldom want to stick their face where a brown recluse might be napping
 
#8 ·
Yes - it will be a home equity loan now which makes no difference for the purpose.

An appraisal for a mortgage can be different than for a home equity loan. When I had an appraisal done when refinancing many years ago the first thing the appraiser asked me is if the appraisal was for a mortgage, home equity loan, or for selling.

In that experience with a 100 year old house - the old floors hurt the appraisal the most (1950's style aspestos tile). They will make their judgement mostly on the big stuff like floors, ceilings, windows, and doors. It doesn't hurt to have the place clean inside and mowed/trimmed outside, but you are not selling the house so fancy appealing things won't count.
 
#9 ·
I think in the years before the housing bubble burst, the biggest jump in value to your property could be made by putting money into your appraiser's pocket. Now that things have balanced out somewhat, giving your property the look that it is undergoing improvements, even if still in progress, is a plus. Yes, landscaping cleanup, debris removal, utilities and hvac up and running will make it easier to run comparables to other like kind property.
 
#67 ·
I'd vote for ripping it out. I will never have carpet again. Laminate flooring is really reasonable, seen some pallets go through the local auction coming out at about .15/sq ft. - the current ease of installation is ridiculous...
 
#20 ·
Look at the front door. It should be clean. Paint if necessary. Look at the door jamb. It should be cleaned and painted as well. Walk in the door and smell. If there is any bad smell, pull up the carpet. Roll it up and march it out to the curb. Wash floors with Murphy's oil soap. Don't worry about refinishing the floors just yet, you haven't the time.

Make sure there is good lighting. This may mean putting in brighter bulbs. How do the walls look with the brighter light? You probably need to wash the walls. The clean walls will present better than dusty walls.

Scrub the bathroom. If there are lime or iron deposits get rid of them. You may need a scrubby and baking soda, but you may need a spoon to scrape it off.
 
#22 ·
I misspoke. I meant approval, not pre-approval, which you're correct, doesn't mean much. However, it would have been easy to point out this error and attempt to mediate a misunderstanding, instead of crowing like immature children over semantical errors.

My point still stands - getting a mortgage before purchasing something, especially if you know your finances will be crippled afterwards, is simple good sense.
 
#23 ·
I misspoke. I meant approval, not pre-approval, which you're correct, doesn't mean much. However, it would have been easy to point out this error and attempt to mediate a misunderstanding, instead of crowing like immature children over semantical errors.

My point still stands - getting a mortgage before purchasing something, especially if you know your finances will be crippled afterwards, is simple good sense.
You can't get a mortgage before you purchase,
 
#26 ·
Semantics are rampant here. Yes, there is pre approved, pre qualified and no those don't mean the same thing. One can be a waste of time to a seller who is lead to believe a buyer is ready to go. If you are going to borrow the money the guidelines are dependant on the bank, the underwriters and the area of the country you are in, among other things. All this means is you can get 100 different answers from 47 different people, and 31 of those answers may be correct but only for their own personal situation.
 
#28 ·
A certified appraiser goes through the whole house, and measures each room--as well as measuring the perimeter of the house outside. The appraiser looks at each room and by using a standard checklist, states what the walls, floors, and windows look like. for example, carpeting, hardwood, tile, linoleum, the kitchen is noted for items like counter and cabinet construction, type of sink, dishwasher,,,, on and on through each room---the bathroom shower or tub, Jacuzzi, so forth.

The outside is noted for brick, wood siding, vinyl, stucco, etc. sidewalk and driveway paved or not, roof composition materials, steel, asphalt shingle, slate, shake. Outside buildings are measured and noted.

When the entire checklist is filled out in accordance with the FEDERAL guidelines, the certified appraiser goes back to the office and compares the house with others that have sold in the same area in the last six months.

Then the plussing and minusing begin, based on square footage mostly, and the condition of the house--whether it is above average, average, below average, to arrive at a COMPARISON price with others at an AS EQUAL space and condition as possible.

It is what other houses are actually selling at, near your house that is the overriding factor--not poop stains, dirty windows, mold on the siding. A professional is appraising for the bank to determine a reasonable , loanable value in line with the rest of the loans the bank is making.

Of course, you'll clean it up to live there, or to resell. But what you do for now, other than soothing your own feel good feelings, will be of little help.

geo
 
#66 ·
A certified appraiser goes through the whole house, and measures each room--as well as measuring the perimeter of the house outside. The appraiser looks at each room and by using a standard checklist, states what the walls, floors, and windows look like. for example, carpeting, hardwood, tile, linoleum, the kitchen is noted for items like counter and cabinet construction, type of sink, dishwasher,,,, on and on through each room---the bathroom shower or tub, Jacuzzi, so forth.

The outside is noted for brick, wood siding, vinyl, stucco, etc. sidewalk and driveway paved or not, roof composition materials, steel, asphalt shingle, slate, shake. Outside buildings are measured and noted.

When the entire checklist is filled out in accordance with the FEDERAL guidelines, the certified appraiser goes back to the office and compares the house with others that have sold in the same area in the last six months.

Then the plussing and minusing begin, based on square footage mostly, and the condition of the house--whether it is above average, average, below average, to arrive at a COMPARISON price with others at an AS EQUAL space and condition as possible.

It is what other houses are actually selling at, near your house that is the overriding factor--not poop stains, dirty windows, mold on the siding. A professional is appraising for the bank to determine a reasonable , loanable value in line with the rest of the loans the bank is making.

Of course, you'll clean it up to live there, or to resell. But what you do for now, other than soothing your own feel good feelings, will be of little help.

geo
Geo is hitting the nail on the head here. An appraisal is typically based on the recent comparable sales in the surrounding area. The appraiser will find similar homes that have sold in the last 30-90 days and base the value of the subject property on the prices that those comparable sold for. They will make adjustments for condition and features, but those adjustments are limited to a small percentage of the total value.

Long story short, a good cleaning and a coat of paint may impact appraisal slightly, but not to any great degree.

I am a Realtor and value homes as a part of doing business, it is the comparable sales that will determine value.

** there are other appraisal methods for determining value, but for residential real estate most lenders insist on the sales comparison approach.
 
#30 ·
We got off topic. The question was:
How to add the most value to a appraisal quickly , cheaply with the least work.
The things u are doing should add value but if you go with an agency lender the loan will be based on what she paid for it. I am not sure what the minimum loan is for agency lenders now, but if this is under $30,000 you might have a problem. Again, go to the local bank,
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alice In TX/MO
#40 ·
Three years ago this place appraised over $100,000,after two years of a family living there then leaving it sold at sheriffs sale for less than $35,000.
The base value of the house is still there.
We would like to get the appraisal up as high as possible to make it easy for our banker to justify $35,000 loan.
She plans on living there 2 - 4 years and reselling so a high appraisal would be reassuring as to the ability to resell at a profit.
However since taking over the place several people have shown up making inquiries and a appraisal would also offer some guidance as a reasonable price to offer it at.
 
#42 ·
We would like to get the appraisal up as high as possible to make it easy for our banker to justify $35,000 loan.
If it appraised for $100,000 before and hasn't suffered any damage there will be no problem getting them to loan $35,000.

Cosmetic improvements you can do in a week aren't going to add any value because they rightly assume people will paint, replace carpets, etc anyway.
 
#43 ·
My Gf just bought a house at the sheriffs sale. Now we have a week to get it ready for a mortgage appraisal.

What would you concentrate on?
As others have said, if nothing is needed in the way of major structural repair - cracked foundation, leaky roof, etc. - then concentrate on cosmetics.
I know it SHOULDN'T make that much difference but appraisers are human and fall victim to human behavior.
We all tend to be a little superficial at times.
A mowed lawn, clean rooms and a fresh smell, even fresh paint on the front door are the things realtors concentrate on when selling, and the same logic goes for an appraisal.
Of course a home inspection will be more about repair work needed, but THAT comes later at the time of a sale.
If you have the time, you might consider throwing some furniture in for a little "staging".
Again, I know that $500 of cheap furniture SHOULDN'T add any value, but psychologically an empty house "looks" like it is worth less money.
 
#44 ·
A financial institution looks at your income and liabilities to determine how much they think you can afford. When they look at the property, they try to determine a true market value on that property. If the value of the property is higher than what you are asking for, they should have no problem giving you the loan, as long as you can afford it. The bank wants to be able to get their money back. They do not want to have to sell the house to get their money back.

An appraiser is not looking to move into the house. For this reason, things like "dressing" the rooms is not important. A house that is in good repair is more important. Keep in mind, though, that they will consider the neighborhood that the house is in. If it is in a location of lesser quality/low priced homes, they have to take that into consideration.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RichNC
#45 ·
25 years ago, a bachelor neighbor died. He gave his house, barn and 80 acres to his niece that lives in Georgia.
She didn't want it. I did. The house had a stone basement, wood heat, two bedrooms upstairs. 40 acres field and 40 acres hardwood. The house straight and solid, but not modern. Just as it was when built in the 1940s.
She wanted $30,000 cash. I had $10,000 and asked the bank for $20,000. Despite my good credit, I was denied. When pressed, the bank manager said they'd rather loan me $100,000 for a nicer house than this low end housing. A few months later it was sold to a couple from down south and is now worth $100,000. Banks are funny, just not ha ha funny.
 
#46 ·
Appraisals can be very random. I have close family members who are agents and investors. Many, many times the appraisers don't even look at the house. They will sometimes do a fast drive-by, or simply look up comps online and submit the appraisal. I cannot tell you how many times this has happened - the results are sometimes amazing, sometimes even vastly in your favor.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top