An appraiser is looking at our house for refinance are there things we should do ?

Corina
as in -- what simple things can we do to increase the value? also would a cleaner house even make a dent in the value???? what should we be prepared for - what exactly will the appraiser be looking for? this house is a 2 bedroom 2 bath- open floor plan.. hard wood floors and tile through out...

Esmeralda
Clean is good, a well cared for yard. Most appraisers will take pictures, so a cluttered house and messy yard will look worse.

Adriana
Clean the house and outside. Fresh paint helps. As does fixing any wrong with the house. Sometimes no matter what you do it doesn't much matter. Especially if the area you're in is depressed. Not only will they look at the condition of your house, they will also pull up "comparable" houses to see what they sold for.

Daron
yes, you should clean it. try and do and ad-on of about 2500 sq ft before they appraise it. that would probably help.

Aleshia
An appraiser looks at the size of your house, as well as its condition. Yes, having a clean house will help out, as far as presentation goes, but really has nothing to do with its value.There are 3 ways to value a property. 1) Income approach. This is used for commercial properties, to see how much income is generated by a property and the value is determined from there.2) The build approach - this is used on brand new construction, so won't be used on yours3) Market approach. The appraiser looks at your home, and then looks at similar homes in the area, that have recently sold. Adjustments are made for superior/inferior items. Say the comparison house has a pool, and yours doesn't, then the value of your house would be slightly less. And so on.Items like hardwood floors and tile may make a little difference but not much. They make more of a difference when selling than when looking at the overall value.So unless you plan to re-roof, or add square footage to your house, there isn't much you can do - other than relax! There is a website - www.zillow.com that can give you an approximation of what your house is worth - however, the appraiser will be a more authoritative sort. And remember - there is not one value for your house. No one can say "you house is worth exactly $100, 000. It will be more like "this house is worth $80, 000 to $110, 000."