Appraisal on property - how does it work?

[TodorYordanov]

Hi,



I am getting an appraisal on my personal residence and am trying to get it appraised at maximum value.



How does appraisals work other that looking at comparable sales in the neighborhood?

What are the main factors that play a role in appraising a house? Is it renovated kitchen, bathroom, etc?

Is there any way to help in getting a higher appraisal amount within reasonable limits?



Any comments from your experience will be much appreciated.



Thank you!

 

[bizaro86]

Hello,



I had an appraisal done on my personal residence, and found the appraiser very thorough. She had listing/sale price from when we had purchased the property, and wanted to know what changes we had made. We told her, trying to emphasize the features that were new (and would justify an increase in value).



Our house is nicely renovated, but the faceplate (lightswitch covers) hadn't been replaced, they were the original cream coloured plastic. She commented on them, and not in a positive way. On a related note, I now have gorgeous burnished bronze lightswitch covers....



That's only anecdotal, but it's something that's inexpensive and easy to do, but might make a bit of a differnce.



Regards,



Michael

 

[llee]

If I look at an appraisal report, there're two approaches to estimate the value of a property.

1) Cost approach

2) Direct comparison approach



Cost approach is based on number of square footage times the per unit cost, plus cost of garage/basement/extra. It is not generally used in residential property, as it doesn't take into account of the market condition.



Direct comparison approach is affected by: site size, livable area, age/condition, # of rooms/bedroom/bathrooms, basement finished or not, existence of garage.



I think the only thing you can "change" is the condition, and it's entirely up the the opinion of the appraiser. For example, if a comparable has average condition, and yours is average+ (due to better window/door), then you may get +3000 for your house. How do they came up with 3000? I think it's a gut feeling plus their experience of the upgrade (or downgrade if it is average-)

 

[Thomas Beyer]

If you have sevral high end features in your home that are similar to homes that sold for a high price in your neighborhood you may wish to point this out to the (busy) appraiser .. Or vice versa if there are homes that sold low you may wish to point out to him/her what features they lacked compared to your home. i.e. Make his job easy by pointing to specific homes that you know of as opposed to his generic database that may not capture all pertinent details.

 

[invst4profit]

When I had my place appraised for the purpose of getting a HELOC I found out the appraisal you get may depend on who the appraiser is representing. If the bank you want the HELOC from provides the appraiser they will generally appraise lower to protect the banks interests.