To facilitate the appraisal process, it's beneficial to have these documents ready for the appraiser:

A survey of the house and land 

Information on the latest purchase of the property in the last 3 years

Most recent real estate tax bill and or legal description of the property

Home inspection reports, or other recent reports for termites, synthetic stucco reports, well systems, septic systems, etc.

Brag sheet that lists major home improvements and upgrades, the date of their installation and their cost (for example, the addition of central air conditioning, roof repairs, room addition to the home) and building permit confirmation (if available)

Information on "Homeowners Associations" or condominium covenants and fees.

A list of "Proposed" improvements if the property is to be appraised "Subject to Completion or Renovations".

OTHER SUGGESTIONS:

Accessibility: Make sure that all areas of the home are accessible, especially to the attic and crawl space

Maintenance: If the home needs a fresh coat of paint, paint it, you get the most return for your dollar with a fresh coat of paint or pressure washing on the exterior, if it needs it.

FHA/VA Inspection Items: If a borrower is applying for an FHA/VA loan, be sure to ask your appraiser if there are specific things that should be done before they come. Some items they may recommend might be: Install smoke detectors on all levels (especially near bedrooms); install handrails on all stairways; remove peeling paint and repaint the effected area; provide inspection access to the attic and crawl

If your home is listed with a Realtor, whenever possible have them place a lock box key on the home. This makes it much easier not only to show and sell, but for the appraiser to do the inspection on your home, when it is under contract. The appraiser typically has their own lock box key. They will call to tell you they are going to be appraising your home, but you do not need to be there when they do the inspection. This allows the appraiser much more flexibility when setting their schedule. The appraiser will typically advise approximate time of arrival, so you know. After the inspection, please do not call the appraiser to find out the status of the report or the value, unless you ordered the report. If you are selling your home, you may never know what the appraised value is as this information is between the appraiser and the BUYER'S lender. You can ask at closing or have your Realtor ask, but you may not know unless there is a problem with the appraised value.

If you are the Buyer, then of course you will find out the appraised value either before or during closing. Since you likely paid for the appraisal in your closing costs, you should get a copy of that report for your records. It is required that the lender give you a copy. If you are the Realtor involved, do not call the appraiser about the results of the appraisal, call the lender as the appraiser cannot discuss values with anyone but their client, who normally is the lender. If you have comparable sales that you want to supply to the appraiser, feel free. Just realize that the appraiser has most of the information you do via mls and fmls data. From personal experience, when the Realtor is anxious to give me comparables, it is usually in a situation where they are concerned about the appraised value, so I would let the appraiser ask you for information if they need it and leave it at that.

Realtors: Please do make sure to return calls made to you by the appraiser as they are always on a deadline and you do not want to be the one holding them up. Homeowners, if you have a copy of a previous appraisal, let the appraiser know this up front as this may save some time if your home has already beeen measured. They will want to double check dimensions to make sure everything is accurate, but it can be helpful, especially if your home is quite large. If you feel there were any changes or errors on the report, please point those out. The appraiser will review the report to make sure all the information is correct and that there were no changes since that report was completed. Don't worry about what the home appraised for in the past, the appraiser will be using all new sales to determine the most current value for your home. They will not be influenced by that old appraised value.

Square footage has the largest affect on value, aside from Location, Location, Location. So if you decide to enclose a screen porch or other area, make sure you at least HEAT that area, as this will add square footage and thus value. If you do not heat the area, it can only be considered and valued as an enclosed porch, which gets a lower per dollar value estimate than an area which is heated. By heated I mean centrally heated, not a movable or portable space heater. An attached wall heater will suffice and be counted as heated square footage. **Most appraiser's will give you square footage credit for a 2 story foyer due to the finishing of the area above the foyer, i.e.; tray ceilings, light fixture, windows, etc., but not for a 2 story family or living room. Since square footage variances can mean literally thousands in appraised value, I would highly recommend that you know exactly what the heated square footage of your home is before an appraisal is completed. You can either measure it yourself room by room or get that information from the builder if you can. Appraiser's measure the main floor from the outside of the house, rather than inside. They will have to measure inside rooms many times on two story homes as they cannot measure this area from the outside, unless the upper level is basically the same foot print as the main floor. You can measure each one of your rooms and calculate the size of your home to within a 100 feet or so of what an exterior measurement would be. If you take the length times the width of a given room that is your square footage for that room. Add the square footage of each room together for the total square footage. Do not measure garages, porches or decks as this is not heated space.

Once you know what your heated square footage is, you can tell the appraiser that you have calculated the size of your home and if their numbers vary by more than 200 square feet you need to know. (You will get a copy of the report from the lender). The reason this is so vital is that 200 square feet can mean a few or several thousand dollars difference in the appraised value of your home, so make sure that you are getting FULL credit for your square footage. Square footage calculation is perhaps the most common mistake that appraiser's will make on a home, especially if it is a large complicated 2 story or 1 1/2 story design with alot of angles, bay windows, etc. If you have a floor plan for such a home, give that to the appraiser.

The second most important factor in determining value is Quality of Construction. When the appraiser comes to your home, they look outside for construction materials used. Is it a brick home, vinyl, siding, hardi-siding, etc. When they come inside they look at the ceilings, the walls and the floor coverings.

If you have put alot of upgrades into your home, the best thing you can do is provide a list of these improvements along with the cost to the appraiser as soon as they start inspecting the inside of your home. Many times there are things that are not readily visible to the appraiser or the appraiser may not give you the appropriate credit for your improvements as the cost for the improvement is uncertain. So this is perhaps the BEST thing you can do to make sure you get the most out of your appraisal!

The appraiser will start their interior inspection after they do their outside work. They will look to see if you have smooth finished ceilings, which are superior in quality versus a popcorn or textured ceiling, are there tray, cathedral and /or vaulted ceilings, as they are more labor intensive and most appealing in the market. They look to see what you have on the walls or the type of paint used. Is it custom faux paint, have the walls been texturized, etc. Is the color acceptable. You may have spent thousands on paint outside and inside, but color is also important. If it is not a color that is widely accepted in the market, you could get a "hit" on value. The reason for this is that most people who would buy the home will have to repaint it to make it acceptable for them. Some bold colors work well in certain rooms of the house, but keep it tasteful. If in doubt check with an interior designer on good colors or go look at the model homes of several new developments in your area. You can get really great ideas on acceptable colors and decorating tips this way.

That is it for now, come back for Chapter 3, which will go into more detail on what adds value to a home.