What does a real estate appraiser look for?

Maryetta
I'm refinancing my house and it will be appraised. What will he be looking for?

Romana
Depends on if it's FHA or not.Non-FHA pretty much measures the rooms to get square footage, considers things like "what percentage of the basement is finished", attached garage, how many bedrooms/baths and compares it with similar houses that have sold recently in your neighborhood - not much FOR them to look at, more size/build of the house than "did you recently remodel your bathroom" or anything like that.An FHA appraiser does all of the above and additionally looks for signs of neglect - signs of mold, holes in drywall, missing windows, etc. and reports them to the mortgage company, who considers if there are things they want you to fix before they'll be willing to finance you. Basically, b/c FHA's gov't insured or some such, they want to know the house isn't falling apart - normal appraiser won't need to see an unfinished attic/crawl space, FHA will. They'll still base the value pretty much the same way though.

Julianne
Depends on whether he is doing an inspection for a Conventional loan or FHA loan. FHA require us to check more thoroughly the operations of the home, electrical, mechanical, water pressure, ventilation, roof, attic and crawlspaces. So FHA inspections generally take longer and cost a little more. Condition of the property is carefully considered to comparables in your area.

Eugena
To be quite honest most appraisers do a rush job, basically doing measurements and looking for upgrades to the home. They should be looking at the conditions of the foundation, roof, electrical, flooring, plumbing, windows, heating system, water, etc. Most do a quick walk through with measurements and pictures.

Bell
Same like a potential buyer, declutter, clean, fresh paint, don't talk to them, make sure the outside is nice.Appraising is tea leaf reading mixed with first impressions. this guys have no real education, their magic is hokuspokus.Be sure to sit down, when you ge thte report, because its will be ugly now.