What does a home appraiser do?

[Mom2Em]

We have one coming to our house to refinance our loan. What do they do? How long does it take? What are they looking for?
Thanks!

 

[WhoopyPie]

My FIL does this. They will walk around the outside, check property size and check square footage inside. Look at the condition of things ie: roof, driveway & so on. It shouldn't take long at all.

 

[dcgrumpy]

We just had ours appraised yesterday, it took 20 minutes at the most. He walked around took a few pictures inside and out, measured the house, asked a few questions and that's it.

 

[Makdyn]

I am an Appraiser. It takes about 20-30 Mins depending on the size of y our house and if it is a single or a multi family. They should measure the outside, take pics of the front, back, and street of the house. Some appraiser take inside photos of the kitchen, living room, and one full bath. They will look to see what the condition of the house is and if needs any repairing. They will take pics of anything that needs to be repaire and there will be a cost to cure in the appraisal report. they will need to go into every room and open every door and down in the basement.

Every appraiser is different this is what I had to do in the house.

 

[Kahana-ri]

I had our house appraised twice. The first time it was a quick in and out. The second time the appraiser was so thorough. She took pictures of everything, even in our closets. She did a great job and sent a copy to us including similar priced homes in our neighborhood.

 

[becjlek]

We have had ours done twice. the first time was a nightmare. The woman called very late the night before to set up a time. We weren't given a choice. She would be there first thing in the morning. She was rude when she got there too.
The second time we had a different appraiser and he was very polite and came when it was mutually convenient.

 

[kami2199]

I am an Appraiser. It takes about 20-30 Mins depending on the size of y our house and if it is a single or a multi family. They should measure the outside, take pics of the front, back, and street of the house. Some appraiser take inside photos of the kitchen, living room, and one full bath. They will look to see what the condition of the house is and if needs any repairing. They will take pics of anything that needs to be repaire and there will be a cost to cure in the appraisal report. they will need to go into every room and open every door and down in the basement.

Every appraiser is different this is what I had to do in the house.

What she said! Also, if you know when any updates were made to the house that helps too. Make a list of when you replaced furnace, central air, roof, updated wiring and plumbing, etc. The appraiser will not be able to discuss value related issues with you at all, unless you are the one who ordered the appraisal (or unless they have consent to do so but most of the time they don't at time of inspection). Try not to cover anything up - it stands out and will make them want to investigate that area even more! Other than that, relax, it won't take a great deal of time and your lender will call you with the information.

OH - And please understand that just because a person "needs" it to appraise for a certain amount, the appraiser has to base their opinion on market data and be able to support it so don't have unrealistic expectations (not saying you do but sometimes you'll find that!)

 

[Makdyn]

OH - And please understand that just because a person "needs" it to appraise for a certain amount, the appraiser has to base their opinion on market data and be able to support it so don't have unrealistic expectations (not saying you do but sometimes you'll find that!)

Thanks I wanted to say something one those lines but I could not think on how to put it in a nice way..... most of the time the house is not what they think it is worth. Especially here in RI the housing is going down. House that were appraised last year are coming in lower this year.

 

[Alaska Catdog]

The appraiser came by our house yesterday he took about 30 mins. We are also refinancing. I think my expectations of the value of my house are realistic but my lender seems to think it's worth alot more than I do (she said something about estimating 20% more than tax assessed value). Do the lenders share the target amount with Appraisers? We're not sure our lenders estimate passes the laugh test at all so we aren't getting our hopes up. It's a mystery to me but I have my fingers crossed that it will work out for us. Good luck and don't worry.

 

[Sheric68]

I have a question about this. We just resided our house and updated the outside. In the process we changed 2 doors and 3 windows. So now the inside around those doors and windows need to be fixed (new moldings and trim). We also closed off 2 dog doors (a small one and larger one) and now just have the dog door inserted within our back door. So those old doors need to be fixed on the inside (re-sheetrocked). We are planning to borrow some equity from our house to do a remodel of the inside - new kitchen, flooring, trim, paint, etc.

I was wondering how the appraisal will be affected by the windows and doors needing some repair. It's not too bad, our house is only 13 years old. The outside looks great, but because of those changes when we resided the inside now needs a bit of repair.

 

[kami2199]

I have a question about this. We just resided our house and updated the outside. In the process we changed 2 doors and 3 windows. So now the inside around those doors and windows need to be fixed (new moldings and trim). We also closed off 2 dog doors (a small one and larger one) and now just have the dog door inserted within our back door. So those old doors need to be fixed on the inside (re-sheetrocked). We are planning to borrow some equity from our house to do a remodel of the inside - new kitchen, flooring, trim, paint, etc.

I was wondering how the appraisal will be affected by the windows and doors needing some repair. It's not too bad, our house is only 13 years old. The outside looks great, but because of those changes when we resided the inside now needs a bit of repair.

Typically a lender sets a number like 3% or $3000 and if the appraiser finds that the repair work meets that amount they will do a cost to cure (basically how much they think it will take to repair) and then take photos and move on. I would say, at least in my opinion, it would not greatly affect value, if at all (given that it isn't too extensive of a repair). But...that's just my opinion! Truthfully, some appraisers will not mention it and some might make a big deal of it. Your repairs don't sound like much to me...trimwork and sheetrocking a couple of dog doors. Your lender may even call for an "as improved" value based on the proposed renovations where they will appraise it for what it's worth as if it has been renovated.

 

[kami2199]

The appraiser came by our house yesterday he took about 30 mins. We are also refinancing. I think my expectations of the value of my house are realistic but my lender seems to think it's worth alot more than I do (she said something about estimating 20% more than tax assessed value). Do the lenders share the target amount with Appraisers? We're not sure our lenders estimate passes the laugh test at all so we aren't getting our hopes up. It's a mystery to me but I have my fingers crossed that it will work out for us. Good luck and don't worry.

Some lenders will tell the appraiser what the loan amount is and some will blatently tell appraisers what they "need". We do not accept orders that tell us they "need" a certain number because they are indicating (or at the very least making it sound like) the order in contingent on meeting a predetermined value. This is also "illegal" according to our "laws". Most of you would have no idea if I quoted our "laws" called USPAP so I'm trying to make it generic and a little easier to understand. Typically speaking, you should not base your value on assessed value, what zillow.com says, or what your banker says. It is up to the appraiser to analyze recent market activity and apply it to your house.

 

[kami2199]

Thanks I wanted to say something one those lines but I could not think on how to put it in a nice way..... most of the time the house is not what they think it is worth. Especially here in RI the housing is going down. House that were appraised last year are coming in lower this year.

Nice to see another appraiser on the boards!

We are experiencing some of the same thing here but not so bad. Prices never did really skyrocket durring the re-fi boom but they did go up some. We are definately leveling off though.

 

[Alaska Catdog]

Thanks Kami2199 I hoped that this was the case. I really have no interest in taking out a loan with an inflated appraisal, though it was easy to see how that could happen. I'm hoping that my appraiser is as concientious as you.

 

[barkley]

don't appraisers have to also look at what the comp sales in the area have recently been? when we sold both our homes we had appraisers come by to take photos and verify our sales price for other appraisals they were doing.

feel bad for some people looking to do re-fi's around here, the market is flooded with houses for sale, and the ones that are selling are going for 50-80K less than when we went into contract in april.

 

[SillyMe]

Can I also add, if you did not order the appraisal yourself, please don't scream at the appraiser when he tells you he cannot give you a copy of your appraisal....even though you paid for it. You have to get a copy from the bank.

 

[kami2199]

don't appraisers have to also look at what the comp sales in the area have recently been? when we sold both our homes we had appraisers come by to take photos and verify our sales price for other appraisals they were doing.

feel bad for some people looking to do re-fi's around here, the market is flooded with houses for sale, and the ones that are selling are going for 50-80K less than when we went into contract in april.

yes we do look at sales in the neighborhood. Basically the market dictates what your home is worth and it is not uncommon now that interest rates are on the rise to find situations like you mentioned.

 

[kami2199]

Can I also add, if you did not order the appraisal yourself, please don't scream at the appraiser when he tells you he cannot give you a copy of your appraisal....even though you paid for it. You have to get a copy from the bank.

THANK YOU!

 

[SillyMe]

THANK YOU!

I'm in training. I'm waiting for my USPAP test results as we speak. I have my other exam tomorrow for my Fundamentals class. Plus, I've been working for an appraiser for 10 years. I get yelled at on a daily basis. LOL

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I'm a licensed real estate agent and I do what are called BPO's as well. It stands for Broker Price Opinion.

Sometimes a bank will hire an agent, instead of an appraiser for refi's. All I do is go in and take pictures of the interior rooms, take photos of the exterior and give the bank three comps on surrounding properties.

An appraiser will do the same thing, but it will be on the appraisers form, and has to follow USPAP guidelines.