So we are trying to refinance our house, and should hopefully be having it appraised within the next couple of weeks. What are some low $$ things i can do to bring the equity up or just make the place look better for the appraisal?
We obviously can't afford to do anything major, so I'm just looking for smaller things here.
WE have a 1915 2 story german style (at least from what we've been told) home. I will be making some neccesary repairs before hten also, and also trying to finish up a couple of projects I have started but not finished (mostly painting on the inside).
Thanks!
____________________ "Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either, just fuck off and leave me alone. "
I dunno. Most appraisers are pretty sharp, and have the ability to see through cosmetic stuff. That being said, painting & cleaning certainly won't hurt. Starting on the outside, I might look at the gutters, making sure they're clean, have no missing parts, and are not sagging. Landscaping helps a lot too. Potential buyers will pay more for a neat, well kept, nicely landscaped yard. Buy some good quality caulk & patch up around windows, doors, & wherever else needs it. Get some mortar or concrete caulk and do the foundation, steps, etc., too. This applies to the inside, too. Make sure all windows and doors work properly & smoothly. Any holes, cracks in the interior walls should be repaired. If you have plaster, take the sharp edge of a hand can opener, and gouge out a V shaped trough along the crack, then fill it with spackling paste. If you don't do this, it'll crack again is short order. Electrical repairs are also essential. The appraiser, will probably check for them.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
We're not selling, just hopefully refinancing.
Right now what I am debating on, is working onthe basement (fixing the couple of cracks in the foundation and then painting it with that water proof paint) or finishing the projects I have started around the house (such as finishing the trim on the floor in both the dining room and bathrooms).
I'm leaning more towards the foundation/basement work though.
We can only have a 90% loan to value ratio with a VA loan refinance,and I don't know if we are going to be able to make that
____________________ "Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either, just fuck off and leave me alone. "
A big thing they care about is basement moisture, if your basement gets wet rent/buy a wet/dry vac or dehumidifier or something in addition to some paint and minor stuff you mentioned.
A moist basement is a big no-no according to the 2 appraisers we've had in the past 2 years. They do see through cosmetic things, but even just having the paint and stuff done shows you keep the house up, which helps a little too.
There's not much you can do in a couple weeks that'll serisouly affect its appraisal, so yeah keep things tidy and clean and oil squeaky hinges, stuff like that. By 90 loan:value ratio does that mean if your house is worth 100k, you can only refi and borrow 90k? Because we could only borrow up to 60%.
Oh another thing, if there's not a lot of house buying and selling around you, it's hard for them to appraise with a high degree of certainty. Around my town, it's not liek 3 houses a week are bought/sold, so it's hard to determine "the market" for this area. The appraiser mentioned that, so if that's the case they have a little leeway, so be nice and lightly discuss your hopes for the refi (if the appraiser seems interested in small talk) and maybe they'll appraise a little on the high side of their estimate.
Yes we can refinance up to %90 what the house is worth. It is going to be quite close honestly.
Unfortunatley, we also found out today that the house at least needs a coat of primer on it. I *was in the process of scraping the house so that I could primer and paint,and had no intentions of having it done in a week! I asked the guy when I first talked to him about the way the house looked and he said it shouldn't be a problem, but I guess they need to take pictures of the house for the mortgage (completely understandable) so now I need to at least have the front a uniform color lol, instead of wood and white mixed. I started painting a little bit tonight, but we are supposed to have thunderstorms so I wanted to stop with enough time for the paint to at least semi dry before it starts raining (now that I am under such a time restraint)
I am hoping to convince my brother in law to come over this weekend to work on the basement with me, because I agree with you in thinking that should be a priority.
I am just going to get as much as I can done, and let it be at that.
____________________ "Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either, just fuck off and leave me alone. "
I asked the guy when I first talked to him about the way the house looked and he said it shouldn't be a problem, but I guess they need to take pictures of the house for the mortgage (completely understandable) so now I need to at least have the front a uniform color lol, instead of wood and white mixed. I started painting a little bit tonight, but we are supposed to have thunderstorms so I wanted to stop with enough time for the paint to at least semi dry before it starts raining (now that I am under such a time restraint)