There are plenty of reasons why homeowners choose to refinance a mortgage. For example, a successful refinance can reduce the interest rate, lower monthly payments, or tap into your home’s equity to alleviate the fiscal burden. However, there is one specific obstacle between you and your new mortgage: the home appraisal. A higher assessment is more likely to yield more favorable loan options. To best equip yourself for a successful home appraisal, follow these 5 tips from our team of Ormond Beach property appraisers!

Stop Putting Off Small Repairs

Larger features of your home, such as number of bathrooms or square footage, cannot be changed overnight. However, you can set your home up for success by tending to all your major systems and appliances. The condition of your home is going to matter much more than the year it was built so dust off your to-dos and spruce up everything that needs attention.

Create More Curb Appeal

As homeowners, it is not uncommon to pay less attention to the outside of our own home, especially for those who enter through garages or side doors. However, curb appeal is a significant factor for home buyers as well as property appraisers. Properly maintained landscaping is a simple fix to boost the value of your home. Besides tidying up the lawn, consider also placing container gardens, wiping down any outdoor fixtures and foliage, and staging your patio with seating.

Document Every Home Improvement and Upgrade

Organization is key to a successful home appraisal and there will need to be proof provided of any work you have done to improve your space. If you spend any money on home improvement projects, keep either physical or digital copies of all receipts. Also, take before-and-after photos of each project to fully document how your home was improved. With these tools, you can easily prove to an appraiser what you have done and spent to better the home.

Know Your Neighborhood

A good starting point to gauge the value of your home is to see what other nearby homes have sold for. By entering the appraisal process armed with this knowledge, you will have a better expectation of what your home is worth. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to pin down this information:

• Visit your local county offices and find out which properties have sold in the last six months, then go and visit them in-person.
• Use websites to your advantage that show recently sold homes in your area based on a quick property search.

Accommodate Your Appraiser

With so much information at your disposal regarding the value of your home, it is still important to remain cordial with your home appraiser. Before they get started, state that you would like to share all the information you have collected, then kindly stay out of the way while they do their job. If you attempt to interject too often or combat their appraisal, all your previous efforts could go to waste. Once they are finished, ask if they have any questions or if they feel there will be any issues with the appraisal.

A low appraisal can mean certain doom for your mortgage refinance. To avoid unfavorable outcomes, follow these simple tips to present your property in the best possible light, then request a home appraisal from your leading Ormond Beach property valuation experts at Cooksey & Associates. There is no substitute for experience, and we apply over 30 years of expertise serving a variety of clients in Volusia County to each appraisal and consultation.