DawnM Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Appraisal is Wed. morning for a refi. Our schedule is quite full from now until the appraisal but I will carve out a couple of hours to straighten up and clean. There is no way I can get it all spotless. I simply do NOT have time/energy/ability. We have had appraisals before and I have gotten things much cleaner. Friend says they aren't supposed to look at cleanliness or clutter, but I am worried. How clean should I worry about? I will have some boxes/piles around, showers will not be scrubbed, there will be some mess, basement is a disaster and I simply cannot tackle that as DH is still working on the flooring down there. I will vacuum, scrub toilets, pick up general disaster areas (and at least shove them under the bed!) and will wipe down countertops. Is that enough? And what about the front porch and windows? Do I need to stress about cleaning all the windows and the wrap around porch? That will take a very long time I am afraid. Cobwebs and dirt abound out there as we never use it and I didn't even look until yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occasionally Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I'm no expert, but I wouldn't worry at *all* about most of that. You're not looking to sell the place, just refi? They don't care about cleanliness. I'd do a regular pick-up like someone was coming over, but I wouldn't even think about windows, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I wouldn't stress about it. I'm sure they have seen worse! Just make sure they can walk through without tripping over items and they can see major structures (ie type of flooring, bathtub etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 We just did vacumming and a quick wipe down. The person that did the appraisal for our home took photos just for filing purpose. My home was more messy the second time we re-finance but the appraisal came back higher than the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeLovePassion Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 They are looking at things like number of legal bedrooms, does everything work. Our basement is semi gutted but when he saw the bathroom he asked if it was all working and I showed him it did. Don't worry about cleaning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicagoshannon Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 We had an appraisal a little over a year ago. Our house was not show ready, not even close. Our basement was a true disaster. It didn't mater. We still came in where we needed to. Just be prepared to answer questions about improvements you've made over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 We've had quite a few appraisals over the years. While my house is generally relatively neat and clean, it never occurred to me to do anything special for an appraisal. Until I joined this board I'd never heard of anyone who even thought about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 IME, it doesn't matter. They are primarily interested in lot size and square footage of the house. Barring egregious issues with the house that would impact the numbers, I don't really think typical clutter or not-exactly-spotless matters all that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 When our house was appraised last summer, our realtor did tell us to have it show-ready, as though a potential customer was coming through. We were a little nervous about the appraisal numbers coming out right, and we wanted to do everything possible to make it look high-end and beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 they will take pictures. so, how do you want it to look for posterity? the cleaner it is, the better impression it will make on the appraiser and the higher market value he'll be likely to assign the house. (and women apprasiers are the worst that way.) I can sympathize, as we just did this. the good thing was - dh cleaned up his "stuff" in the garage and the basement. whoohoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMommy Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 they will take pictures. so, how do you want it to look for posterity? the cleaner it is, the better impression it will make on the appraiser and the higher market value he'll be likely to assign the house. (and women apprasiers are the worst that way.) I can sympathize, as we just did this. the good thing was - dh cleaned up his "stuff" in the garage and the basement. whoohoo. This. When we refinanced last year, the appraiser had an unexpected cancellation, and came to our house with about 10 minutes notice. I don't think that it mattered in the full scheme of things as far as how much our house was valued, but it makes me crazy knowing there are pictures somewhere of our basement with Lego bricks strewn everywhere. I wish I had had a bit more notice so the children could have straightened it up a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Yes, but they won't be published online or a real estate location. The truth is, if we were to list it, we would need to get rid of about 1/3-1/2 of our stuff. Our house is very much OURS with pictures of us all over, schoolroom clutter, several computers on tables. General cleaning I can do, but I would have to lose sleep and clean if I need to have it showcase ready. It just can't be done. I guess I could call the appraiser back and tell him not to come yet, but I am not sure my week is freeing up later either. I could try and hire someone, but last time it was over $100 and she wanted me to do the picking up anyway. She just wiped down and scrubbed. Dawn they will take pictures. so, how do you want it to look for posterity? the cleaner it is, the better impression it will make on the appraiser and the higher market value he'll be likely to assign the house. (and women apprasiers are the worst that way.) I can sympathize, as we just did this. the good thing was - dh cleaned up his "stuff" in the garage and the basement. whoohoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I wish I had done a little more before our first appraisal. The appraiser took pictures of each room. While I doubt tidiness factored into the number, it bothered me to know there was a permanent record of the mess. LOL. We had two appraisals on our house, and I cleaned more for the second one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Ok, well, I will get it as clean as I can and try not to stress about the rest. DH says he can help me tomorrow night with the master bedroom as he has a lot of stuff in there that needs to be put away. I will scrub down the master bath tonight and make sure the living room is finished with vacuuming and dusting. Tomorrow will be kitchen, sunroom, and master and we should be ok. Still haven't decided about windows, full dusting, laundry room, or basement......those may just need to not be fully cleaned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I am surprised that so many of you having refinances are having people come to your house and appraise. We have refinanced two of our homes over the years, one just this last November and nobody came. Why did appraisers come? Did you switch mortgage companies or banks? We never did so maybe that is the difference?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Probably that is the reason. Our current loan company was called and the best they could offer was not worth even bothering. A different company gave us a much better rate. Dawn I am surprised that so many of you having refinances are having people come to your house and appraise. We have refinanced two of our homes over the years, one just this last November and nobody came. Why did appraisers come? Did you switch mortgage companies or banks? We never did so maybe that is the difference?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Ok, well, I will get it as clean as I can and try not to stress about the rest. DH says he can help me tomorrow night with the master bedroom as he has a lot of stuff in there that needs to be put away. I will scrub down the master bath tonight and make sure the living room is finished with vacuuming and dusting. Tomorrow will be kitchen, sunroom, and master and we should be ok. Still haven't decided about windows, full dusting, laundry room, or basement......those may just need to not be fully cleaned. Honestly, I would focus all of my energies on just having it all picked up. I wouldn't worry about windows, dusting, etc. Just have it as picked up as possible and major areas vacuumed. Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Why did appraisers come? Did you switch mortgage companies or banks? We use the same bank both times. However the appraisals came back at higher than our "buy price" both times. In our case we wanted as much as possible into the main loan and as little as possible into the HELOC. So if the appraisal comes back higher than our "buy price", we save on HELOC interest by having the bulk on our main loan. It affects the LTV ratio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Whew, my class for this afternoon got cancelled and I have to say I am VERY glad. I have spent a good deal of time cleaning the master bedroom/bathroom and it is taking WAY longer than I had anticipated! I am taking a break because my allergies were acting up. I will go tackle a bit more in a while. I anticipate another hour or two tonight. Perhaps this wouldn't be such a daunting task if I, oh I don't know, cleaned more often??????? :crying: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 6, 2013 Author Share Posted February 6, 2013 Ok, I made myself sick cleaning. The fumes from the cleaning supplies and the dust from all the dusting have me stuffed up and I have a sore throat. UGH! This is what I get from not cleaning for months at a time. Appraiser just left. He was the nicest guy, really. He said the clutter doesn't matter (the basement couldn't be uncluttered at all as we are working on it right now.) and he said minor half finished jobs are not an issue. He is looking for square footage, lifeability, and structure of the home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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