It can seem intimidating to go through your home and prepare it for a home appraisal. After all, homeowners want to know the home’s value, but they may become worried about potential issues and drops in the value.
Instead of worrying about the situation, you should understand the home inspection process and get a home appraisal checklist. Then, you’ll keep track of everything you need, understand the process, and prepare yourself for it.
From what you should consider in the documentation, you have various points for your home appraisal checklist. Even though it may seem like a lot, you’ll make it easier as you go through the issues and learn about the process.
As you keep reading, you’ll see how you should go through the process and work around the real estate market. Instead of going into it without information, you can look into repairs and prepare your home before the appraiser looks at it.
Home Appraisal – Things to Consider
You’ll want to remember some crucial points to help you prepare for a home appraisal.
- Understand the value of your home
- Look into common repairs and renovations
- Know that unexpected situations occur
You must understand the value of the home before putting it on the market. If you over-value your house, you may end up with a surprise as you review the results. Instead, understand the condition of your home and look at comparable properties to get a solid estimate.
You should also look into common repairs and renovations to add them to your home appraisal checklist. If you understand what you must change in your home, you can get a higher fair market value on the appraisal report.
No matter how much you prepare with a home appraisal checklist, hidden or unexpected issues may arise. For example, your home could show signs of termites. So instead of expecting it to work out, you should seek a pest inspection beforehand to check for problems.
Home Repairs Checklist
With those various points in mind, you should make a repairs checklist. Doing so will help you go through your house to identify and address common issues. You’ll then put your home in the best condition possible and make it ideal for the sale price.
- Check your appliances
- Look at the lighting and electricity
- Review potential holes and damage
Go through your home and look at the various appliances. For example, check your washing machine, the heater, your garage door, and other areas to ensure they work. You should even go through your faucets to see if they leak or have other problems.
As you consider home improvements, ensure all the outlets and electricity work in your home. Check your closets for a replacement if you find a burnt-out lightbulb. The same applies to an electric fireplace or other devices you don’t focus on regarding electricity.
From there, you can check your home for various damages and holes in the walls or ceiling. Spend time looking into the gutters, your swimming pool, and other areas outside to see if you must fix or address anything before you go through the appraisal process.
Home Renovations Checklist
If you’re wondering how to increase your home value, you should consider home renovations. Ensure you spend time going through the upgrades, seeing what you want, and making changes if the costs are worth the value.
You should also be aware of things not to fix when selling a house, as unnecessary upgrades won’t get you any additional profit.
Considering the Outdoors
Improving your home and renovations also involves curb appeal and making it stand out. If you want to make your home a better contender for a home loan buyer, you’ll want to make it look nice by taking care of the yard while adding in plants as needed.
You should also think about additions to your home, such as adding a fence, a gate, or a new driveway. Some may even replace their porches or add a stone pathway to make it as appealing as possible, so they’ll maximize their refinancing options.
Renovating the Kitchen
You should review your kitchen and identify changes to improve it. Doing so can help you with your refinance options as you increase your income through those changes. If you don’t know what to do, try to update the flooring, countertops, and appliances.
For example, if you have carpet flooring, you should replace it with tile or wooden floorboards to make it more appealing. You should also consider granite since it makes for an attractive option while adding eco-friendly appliances to improve your kitchen.
Changing the Bathrooms
Having better bathrooms matters to people. Depending on the floor space available, you could even add new bathrooms. See if you can add better toilets to your bathrooms, so the homebuyer will use less water when they flush the toilet.
You should change the flooring, update the sink, and do whatever you can to make it look nice. You could even add tile to the shower walls, so they’ll hold up well against the water while having a beautiful design.
Adding New Appliances
If you don’t know how to increase the selling price, you can always add new appliances to your home. If you don’t have an air conditioner, you can add one for additional value. You could also consider working on the doors, windows, and similar ideas.
See which appliances appeal to people, so they’ll want to choose your house as they consider a type of loan for the situation. Ensure you consider what your home lacks, think about other places in the area, and make additions with those points in mind.
Have You Had Your Home Appraised Before?
Even after you prepare your home, you may not know what to expect from a real estate appraisal. Instead of just going with the flow, you can prepare by understanding the common steps associated with the process, so you’ll know what to do.
- Checking the interior
- Reviewing the exterior
- Considering appliances and systems
First, the appraiser will check the interior and the exterior. They’ll check the landscaping, the countertops, your walls, and everything else involving your home. They’ll make note of the parts in good condition while also looking into anything with problems.
They also go through various appliances in your home. They’ll ensure your water, heat, HVAC, and septic systems work correctly. The same applies to other appliances, such as the water heater, air conditioning, and stoves.
While these remain the most common parts of the appraisal process, the appraiser may look into more details based on the property. Ultimately, they must determine the value, so they’ll go through your home, check various systems, and even turn on appliances as needed.
Home Appraisal Documentation Checklist
Once the home inspector goes through your home, they’ll need to create documentation to detail the aspects of your home. As they create the appraisal, you must complete a documentation checklist to have everything in place.
The Parts of the Document
As you consider your home appraisal checklist, you should ensure the document contains the following appraisal information.
- The home’s details and ownership
- Information about the property’s condition
- The home’s value
These details verify you own the home and the specific property while going over why it received the appraised value. That way, you have documentation to prove the value, so borrowers know what to seek from a mortgage lender.
Read It
Once you receive the document, don’t toss it to the side and store it. Instead, you should read through the appraisal to understand why your home has its current value. For example, the number of bedrooms and square footage all impact the value.
You can also see where your home falls short, so you understand what you should address or fix when possible. For example, if it mentions paint peeling or issues with the handrails, you know to fix those problems before you put your home on the market.
Have Your Agent Check It
You should have your real estate agent go through the document if you work with one. Since real estate agents deal with plenty of documents alongside the appraisal take of the value. Not only can they perform a comparative market analysis, but they can look into strange details.
They’ll also know how to proceed with the sale if they have that information. The appraisal ensures they know what to do and say as a realtor to increase your odds of securing a deal close to the value while considering upgrades and changes.
Conclusion
Although the appraisal process can seem intimidating, you’ll make it more manageable as you create a checklist. As you go through the details and create a home appraisal checklist, you can make it presentable to a homebuyer, so they’ll know the amount they need from the lender.
Do what you can to repair and renovate your home before the appraisal happens. Doing so will help you during the valuation, so you increase its value and get more money. The process takes time to do correctly, but after you review the appraisal, check the documentation.
If you need help selling your home, we buy houses Texas locals love. So whether you’re looking to sell a house fast in Dallas or for cash home buyers in Arlington, contact us today!