Preparing your Home for an Appraisal

An appraisal of your home by a licensed Appraiser will be a requirement from any lender before a

mortgage loan will be approved. If you have had an appraisal done within the last 6 months, many

lenders will allow that to be used. If you have no idea how much your house is worth, you can do some

preliminary snooping yourself on the internet before you request an appraisal from an appraiser.
Many websites show the houses sold in your area within the last 6 month to a year that are similar to

yours. Some require a membership fee (sitex.com) but some are free (Homevalue.com).

When an appraiser comes, part of his job will be to find “Comps”, or houses of comparable value that

have sold in the last 6 months. This is to prove the value he places on your house. Many appraisals

must include 3-4 Comps to verify value stated.

When you have set the appointment for the appraisal date, it’s a good idea to do a few preliminary

things before the date. A little effort could increase the value by a lot. Of course, cleaning up clutter is

always the first step. Clean environments give the impression that you care for your property and are

responsible for its upkeep.

Secondly, simple repair of any unsightly damages can be inexpensive and pay huge dividends.

Painting, trim, soffet repair and simple landscaping, for instance, can help the value considerably. Just

remember, unfinished projects can hinder and do more harm than good on the inspection day, so only

attempt projects that you know you can complete.

When the appraiser comes, he will measure the home, get a general layout of the interior and take

photos of the outside and sometimes even the inside. The process usually takes less that an hour. Then

his real work begins. With the information gathered, he now has to research for comps, and any other

variables to verify the stated value. He won’t be able to give a firm value on the day of appraisal until

this work is done. The total process takes about 4 days and a value is given of your property.

About this author:

Tamara is currently a loan officer with First United Mortgage out of Greenville, SC and has been in the Mortgage field not far from 2 year now. In the time that Tamara has been serving her clients she has learned alot about how to better people through helping them achieve the best mortgage for her clients. She is currently the Top Rated Loan officer for GetLoansCheap.com - A Site totally dedicated to helping people know what Mortgage Professionals are best to deal with and which are best to stay away from, among many other features the site has to offer.

She can be found at Get Loans Cheap - by going to Mortgages or just going to her home page of Tamara and seeing more info or contacting her directly there.

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