QQ - should you get the home dressed up again for the Appraiser?

Great point Juliet!  The home should always look it's best.  Appraiser's are a very important part when it come to selling your home. 

Wonderful advice that I hope the Realtors are relaying to their clients. Usually as a home stager we have picked up our inventory before the appraiser arrives but it is still worth reinforcing with the client.

I believe that sellers who truely want to make a sell of the house should keep it staged! When I say this I mean that they have planned to move anyway, so they should go ahead and declutter, pack up unnecessary items, and be ready to for any showing. We had our home appraised at the beginning of last year and not thinking left everything the way it was. We got a nice appraisal but it could have been better. In November we had another one done because of changes in the area and remodeling and this time we staged the home as if we were going to sell it, we got a higher apprasial. I recommend to all my clients to have their home staged, to hire someone to help them do that is licensed and educated in the home staging business, and insured!

oooohhhhh I like your tweet bird!!!

Ok, back on track.... This is really good advice!  Part of the inspection criteria is condition.... hello staging.. just another reason for it to look fabulous!

Excellent point Juliet.  Seems the home is usually grearing up for packing mode by the time the appraiser arrives.

I had my home appraised this summer and I spent a whole week primping and staging.  My husband couldn't understand why I was going to all of the trouble.  He was certainly glad I did when the appraisal came back higher than either of us expected.  It really does pay to have it in great condition.

Great point Juliet! I just got a call from a guy who isn't selling but just wants to refinance and wanted us to Stage the property for one day for the appraiser!

Juliet, excellent blog, I always work with my sellers to ensure they get this concept, it is so important.  I have had appraisers who have taken my staging classes who told me they know they are effected by staging.  You and I, by the way, started staging the same month in 2002!  Like twins separated only by a continent! 

My home was appraised recently and I spent a week getting everything in top shape.  The appraiser had 30 years of experience in his field and said the home was in top condition and showed beautifully.  The appraisal came back higher than we expected ... so yes, it's a good idea to keep your home staged through the appraisal!

Great post Juliet,

 I have had homeowners want their vacant homes destaged as soon as they get an offer. That seems risky to me, who knows how many times the potential buyer will come back to see the home, let alone the appraiser etc. Don't want them to lose that emotional connection, right?

Holly

Great point!  The proof is in the higher appraised value.

Aloha Juliet,

It's always advisable to give your property it's best face when it's on the market regardless of whose looking at it. But with that said, inspectors are looking for specific things when they inspect a home that affect the real value of the property and don't take into consideration if it's staged or not.

Staging usually doesn't affect those issues that the inspector is looking for and if your staging is used to hide instead of enhance than your inspector may be suspect of your ethics as a stager.

New counter tops, hard wood floors, fireplaces, the condition of the roofing, electricals, duct work, HVAC issues, cracks in the foundation, broken fixtures, painted shut windows, leaky pipes, are some of the many things inspectors look for. What doesn'tgo into the report is whether the curtains match the carpet or the paint in the bath is too bold, or the kitchen has too many appliances on the counter top and whether the aesthetic look of the house is pleasing to the inspector. Now if you as a stager uncovered an old fireplace and got it inspected and operable than you have increased the value of the property. If you uncovered and painted an old fireplace that doesn't work and needs a new chimney you have actually decreased the value by creating an unusable fixture that needs repair.

The conjecture that staging raises the appraised value is a fallacy. You can put a diamond studded toilet with a solid platinum toilet seat in a house but the appraiser is not going to say well the house is priced at 150,000 but is now worth 500,000 million dollars because of the toilet. He's going to look at other comps first and offer an appraised value based on the neighborhood. I've heard many appraisers say oh, the house looks great but the exterior needs painting, there's termite damage in the attic, the pipes in the back need to be replaced, It's going to cost probably 75,000 to repair and replace so down, down, down the appraised value goes.

If the neighborhood does not have a lot of remodeled and up dated homes and your home has an updated kitchen with high end fixtures, than the appraiser will pump up the value. If there's a horizontal crack in the foundation, it doesn't matter what the aesthetic look of the home is, the sellers in big trouble.

My suggestion is for you to talk to an appraiser to find out what does effect their appraisal. I think you'll be surprised how very little a stager does affects the appraised value save updating fixtures, appliances, and remodeling. Best wishes.

Peace,

Juliet my husband would agree with Kimo.  He was an appraiser for many years and his training taught him to look beyond the surface items and to look carefully at things as Kimo mentioned.  The comps are critical in an appraisal and rarely does an appraiser see the interiors of the comps.  I do think that clean is very important but I think that most appraisers would say that they look beyond the pretty interiors.  Now what do I think...of course it should be staged!