We are in the process of a refinance and getting the appraisal this coming monday the 27th. We had 3 large dogs, down to 2 now, but the carpet is not that great. We had the house built in 2001 and it is a large nice home, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath and a 1300sqft garage. Since the carpet is not that great anymore I was thinking of replacing it with hard wood before the appraisal (yes I would have to give up the gold hunting trip this weekend ) . But since the "condition" of the house is part of the appraisal do you think it would be a beneficial? Does anyone know how much it would affect to total dollar amount? (guessing)

Thanks Curt

 

Asked the Mrs, she's a real estate agent. She says it depends on the sq. footage of the house, but guessing between 1500 and 5000 to the good. 1500 if you do the laminate "pretend" hardwood, and 5000 on the "real" hardwood. Real being the nice 3/4" thick stuff. Real hardwood is tough to justify these days, for what it costs per sq. foot compared to the other stuff. If you want, PM me and we'll figure out a way to get her some pics, and see if your idea of what kind of shape the flooring is in is the same way an appraiser might view it. She also says that as a rule, the "condition" of the house is more structural and so on. Roof, basement, walls, and so on. Floor coverings are a consideration, but unless it's just destroyed, it's not that big of one.

 

I WOULD KILL TO HAVE "REAL" HARDWOOD FLOORING IN MY HOUSE. But $ is not that good! I just installed Harmonic's lamnet flooring down stairs for $450.00 and it looks great, I figured the sqft in the living room and the hall way (the 2 bad areas) and it looks like $1,000.00 for installing the same stuff. I'm just wondering if the "eye candy" is worth it before the appraisal. We are going to do it in a month or two anyway, was just wondering if it would help the appraiser's eye?

Thanks Curt

 

I don't think it matters.... This isn't an appraisal to see what the house is worth, it is too see if their money is secure (the house isn't a thrashed wreck, holes in drywall, leaking roof...)
If you were having it appraised to put on the market, then the hardwood floors and the rest would be a good idea
When I had mine done there wasn't any trim around the inside doors, the pocket doors were missing and the carpet wasn't that great. the kid took a walk through, said uh-huh and left. I got my money.

I wouldn't worry about it, make the house neat and tidy for the guy, and enjoy your prospecting.....

 

Unless it is totally trashed, I wouldn't sweat it. The amount of time and $$ going into the new flooring may not be seen again at selling time.

The laminate stuff looks ok (you can tell it is pretend wood) but there is still significant cost involved.

By looking at your photos, it looks like you already did the important things like taking care of the yard and the outside of the house. Curb appeal goes a long way towards a good sale although maybe not so much towards the appraisal.

PISTOL

 

The Appraiser should be understanding of the situation. How much could it cost to replace the flooring, $2-3.50 a Sq. Foot? Thats not going to kill the value of your home. I have to disagree with a previous post though, the Appraisal is MOST CERTAINLY to get an opinion of the properties value. (when compared to other local sales of course)
Chill, a refi is usually no sweat.
My license is only good for the state of Maryland, but U.S.P.A.P is a FEDERAL standard that ALL appraisers work under. PM me with any specific questions.
Phil

 

Yeah, the carpet is only a maintance item. The appraisers compair to local/comparible properties also. We had an appraisle done, with drooping kitchen cabinets, old carpet, house needs paint, garage doors need replaced.....only amounted to 3k in value reduction based on condition on 1172sqft dwelling.

 

Floor coverings don't change the appraised value much. It's kind of like tires on a car. It's a benefit if the car has new rubber but it's not going to lower the value of the car by much.

 

Yeah, What he said................

 

If your that worried have the carpets steam cleaned. I do that for a living and I've seen brown carpet turn blue again after a good cleaning. Then again, it also depends on what kind of carpet you have (burbur, deep pile, ****, etc.) and how long the stain has been there but most of the time we can make an old carpet look almost new again. Make sure the company you use doesn't put soap in there water before hand. That can leave marks and streaks. Make sure they only use pure water and only use soap whenever they see a spot that won't come up with steam.

 

i feel like pjsnydery76 hit it on the head. as long as the house is livable the appraiser will make an adjustment based on condition. you are talking a small amount, not thousands and thousands.

 

Just be aware that a refi usually appraises lower than for a buy/sell. Either way the banks want to make sure they get their money back.

Case in point - I did a refi with a different bank last February to get rid of ABN-AMRO. I have now decided I need to buy my next door neighbor's house (long story) and went to bump my current home equity loan up some to cover down payment on the place next door. The bank did an market value estimate and it came back $18K below what they appraised my house at 15 months ago. In the maret around here we are seeing around 10% per year increase, not decreases.

You can push back some and get a better number if you have justification.

 

I think you should fly all us members up to your place to see the situation first hand.
My Rods and reels are by the door!

 

You are more than welcome in my home if/when you decide to come up and go "fishing" ... Fishing is HOT HOT HOT right now, they are upping the limit on the russian river too 4 reds per day now (sokeye salmon) starting tomarrow. I am taking "FIVERBOB" down there in July, by then it should be up to 6 per day and they are the second run fish, much bigger .



I made up my mind to wait till the big lamenate sale in july to do the up stairs, forget the appraisal worries and head out in the morning to my favorite prospecting spot and hunt for GOLD, ok, and drink a few cold beers!

Thanks to all for the great advise!

Curt

 

I'm an Appraiser,

The main thing to remember is that the Appraiser's opinion of value is just that. On the refi, as long as you are not attempting to borrow more than 80% of your homes "value", the parameters are in your favor at the bank anyway.

Also, an Appraisal is an Opinion. Have three different Appraisals done, you would likey get three different numbers. The comparable sales that are used may be the same, but the adjustments can vary. What is your extra bed and bath in the basement worth to the market?
The subect and comps NEED to be similiar in square footage and gnereal appeal, but aside from that your home is different than the others in your neighborhood. This is where the "Opinion" part comes in. It's writen into the text of the forms (2055 & 1004) and in the Appraisers comments.

Redramnc, The bank's "market value" was probably derived from an AVM (automated value module) it can take into account up to 200 sales. You wouldn't want trust that too far. They have compared you via software to homes over 50% larger and smaller than you, and could have factored in foreclosure and tear down properites as if they were comparable to yours.
(Not good). The rule in peoples mind should be if someone didn't at the very least get out of their car to take exterior pictures and measure my home, I can't trust the value.
Just some random thoughts. sorry about the grammer.