How to Prepare for an Appraisal

There are several factors that can affect the appraised value of your home, including:

• A well maintained interior and exterior. 
• Proximity to a school district. 
• Consistency of maintenance of surrounding properties. 
• Zoning changes are expected.

For those items listed above that you can improve on, such as maintaining your house (which includes repairing leaky faucets, painting over spots on the wall, etc.), it is well worth the effort to do so prior to scheduling the appraisal.

Once you decide to schedule an appraisal, it is helpful to gather supporting documents to present to your appraiser:

• A Real Property Report or survey of the house and land.
• Your most recent tax bill that will include a legal description of the property.
• Copies of any recent home inspection reports, or other recent reports.
• All written property agreements that you may have – such as shared driveway maintenance agreement, etc.
• A list of personal property that is to be included in the sell of the home.
• A list of major home improvements.
• A copy of the Purchase Agreement if a sale is pending.
  

Prior to the scheduled appraisal, you should also make sure that all areas of your home are accessible and that your home is as clean and orderly as possible to make a good impression on the appraiser.

Once your appraiser has arrived, you do not need to accompany him or her along on the entire site inspection, but you should be available to answer questions about your property and be willing to point out any home improvements.