How to make sure the house you’re selling appraises well

It’s rare for homes not to appraise. If you’re a seller, though, you might be on edge waiting to find out if your house appraises for the price you’re asking for it. This can be especially important if you’re trying to sell your house to get out from under heavy mortgage payments that stretch your budget too far.

Knowing what makes a home appraise well and what you can do to avoid a low appraisal can give you peace of mind.

Factors that add to a home’s market value

When an appraiser walks through your home, he or she will be looking at the size of the house, its architectural structure, how old it is and how structurally sound the foundation, walls and roof are. The lot size can be important, as well.

Beyond square feet, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms will be important. An appraiser will also check for leaky plumbing and make sure the furnace is in good working order. Amenities like garage door openers, garbage disposals, decks or patios and outdoor sheds can all add to the property value.

If you’re preparing to sell your house, but you’re just not ready yet, a good rule of thumb is to do everything you can to make your home look loved. Make small repairs before they turn into disaster issues that could cause your house to appraise for less than you’d like.

What you can do to avoid a low appraisal

While most houses appraise at or above the asking price, sometimes houses don’t come in quite at the value sellers hope they will. Here are a few tips to help sellers prepare for an upcoming appraisal and avoid the risk of appraising too low.

Know what to expect

Appraisers walk through your home and take notes. Then they compare your home to other similar home’s market value that have sold in the same area recently and prepare a detailed final report. If you know what they’re going to do, you can answer their questions.

List improvements and extras

An appraiser walking through your house may not catch all of the upgrades you’ve made. Point out the new garage doors you installed, the deck you built, or the faucet you just replaced. Even small repairs can add up.

Clean up

Your home’s market value isn’t based on how clean it is, but showing that it’s well cared for can make an impression on an appraiser. Tidy up, scrub things down, lighten and brighten and freshen. The more welcoming you make your home, the better perception an appraiser will have of it.

Make the yard pretty

Along the same lines, landscape the yard if you can. Keep the lawn mowed, and the garden areas weeded.  Consider adding outdoor amenities, such as a fire pit or a swimming pool. Of course, doing these renovations simply for the sake of selling the house will probably be too costly, but do what you can.

Invite your real estate agent

Ask your real estate agent to walk through the home with the appraiser. They can offer information on the updates you’ve made as well as provide some ideas for comparable properties for the appraiser to look at.

Repair what you can

Appraisers often measure in $500 increments, so small repairs like replacing a doorknob can make a difference.

What to do if you get a low appraisal

If the final appraisal report doesn’t meet your hopes, go over it carefully. Look for clerical errors or typos. Then investigate the comparables. Are they really similar to your home? How recently did they sell?

You can consider getting a second appraisal, but you’ll have to pay out of pocket for it, and there’s no guarantee it will bring in better results. In a worst-case scenario, you may have to drop the price of your house to its appraisal price in order to sell it.