How should I prepare for a home appraisal?

An appraiser evaluates the home's condition, recent renovations, amenities, location, and size, and compares it with sales of similar nearby homes. You can prepare by compiling a list of recent improvements with receipts, keeping documents such as plat maps and square-footage measurements on hand, and allowing access to the full property, including attics and crawlspaces. If you believe the finished appraisal is too low, you can ask the lender for a reconsideration of value and submit that supporting evidence, including comparable sales from the past 12 months.

For an FHA appraisal, expect the appraiser to make a complete visual inspection of the interior and exterior of the home, photograph the property, and complete the Valuation Conditions form. Required repairs are limited to those necessary to preserve continued marketability and protect the health and safety of occupants, such as hazards, safety deficiencies, and defective paint in homes built before 1978. Cosmetic items like worn-but-adequate finishes, dead grass, missing shrubbery, and mismatched tiles do not require repair.

To prepare for a home appraisal, address the repair items appraisers flag most before the visit: peeling paint, broken windows, drainage problems, pest infestation, and damaged major systems such as heating, electrical, and plumbing. For an FHA appraisal, the home must have functioning heating, electrical, and plumbing systems, safe road access, and a roof with at least two years of remaining life. A single-family appraisal is usually completed within about a week.