Attaining a higher home appraisal is crucial when refinancing or selling your home.

Although nearby properties will affect the market value of all homes in your neighbor, there are activities you can do to help attain a higher home appraisal.

3 Ways to Increase Your Home Appraisal

Pull Together Your Information

You have about 30 minutes to make a good first impression. We suggest putting together an information packet the appraiser can take back to the office.

What should go in this packet?

• Facts about your home. Include the number of bedrooms and bathroom, your street address and the year your home was built. Your appraiser has access to all this information but confirmation from you can’t hurt.
• We can print out a list of recent sales in the neighborhood. We specifically look for comparable homes and comparable prices to help support the price you’re asking.
• Include any inside information you may have. Maybe you know that your neighbor recently sold his home at a reduced price because he was relocating for a new job.
• Create a list of any improvements you’ve made to the home. Include the date and the name and contact information of the contractors that performed the work. Include any floors, windows and major systems you’ve replaced. Have you finished the basement? Include that too.

Spiff Up Your Home

“… overgrown landscaping, soiled carpeting, marks on walls — those do affect value and are part of the property’s overall condition rating,” Dean Zibas of Zibas Appraisal in San Clemente, Calif., told the Wall Street Journal.

• You don’t need to stage your home for an appraisal, but it is important to showcase a well maintained home.
• Cleaning the clutter, even if it’s just putting excess items into a box and storing them until after the appraisal, will help show your home in the best light.

Make Repairs

• Your home will be assigned an ” effective age” which is directly correlated to the condition of the home and any improvements made.
• Appraisals tend to be done in $500 increments. A broken window could mean a $500 deduction.
• A good rule of thumb is to make any improvements that would age the home in the eyes of the appraisal. There may be fairly simple improvements like replacing a window screen, or more substantial ones like a coat of paint or updating your floors.

It is true that the sale prices of comparable properties are heavily relied upon when assessing a property’s value, but appraisers do not solely depend upon them. Some intangible aspects of the data collected will help determine the closest estimate of the value of a property. And these are often the aspects of the appraisal process that you can have an influence on.

For more information about living in the Richmond Hill Georgia area please contact Melanie Kramer at 912-658-1390 or melaniekramer@kw.com.

Melanie Kramer Keller Williams Realty Coastal Area Partners
912-459-5001 Office
912-658-1390 Cell Direct