There are many jobs that are ancillary to the real estate world and one of them is being an appraiser. When a house is sold, if there will be a loan against the property an appraiser is typically called out to determine if the sale value can be supported and that is done by one of three methods - the most common being comparison to other recent market sales. Other methods include calculating replacement cost or the income method.
Now, more often than not, when a home is sold it is usually in its best condition because the seller is attempting to find a buyer and being clean and pretty is an important element in doing so. When you're being compared to everyone else on the market you have to look good which is why many of us use staging techniques.
Not long ago an appraiser told me that on refinances it wasn't necessary in his job for people to clean up because it wouldn't affect his ability to determine value. I didn't agree because I think a messy house DOES affect how others value a property and it can leave an impression of a house not being well maintained, which will lower value. You're about to see below the quintessential example of why it could be to your benefit to make sure the house looks good when the appraiser is coming over. I'm guessing the appraiser I was talking to didn't run into this kind of scene very often, because I'm pretty sure the guy hired to appraise this house WAS impacted by what he saw and would have agreed with me:
I can only imagine what the value of this property ended up being appraised at based on this scene.
If you are looking to do a refinance, I recommend to clients that they have their house in clean and tidy condition before having an appraiser over. It doesn't have to look as good as it would if it were on market, but you should think of it like having your in-laws over - you want to make a good impression. And, in today's marketplace of price declines where many homes aren't hitting appraisal values, it can perhaps make a difference on whether or not you can get into a better loan.
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Reba ~ Oh my -- your photo is priceless. Regarding having a house clean, tidy and well-presented for an appraisal during the refinance process is TRUE .... I just had mine done and the home appraised for well above what we expected. The appraiser (who had 30 years experience) kept saying what excellent condition the home was in, and how well-maintained, the best in the neighborhood, etc. Having it really clean and tidy with a good traffic flow made a difference; it didn't ADD to the value, it allowed for the highest value to be assigned to it.