You might want to post your question over on the Buying and Selling Homes forum of Gardenweb...

ML

An appraiser will not look at the aesthetic condition of the house. The sf, lot size, room counts and physical attributes are what's primarily considered, also new roofs and furnaces. If he or she can find competitive recent sales (and listings) in the area that are similar aesthetic condition then that's what will help with the return on your investment. If they aren't similar and are less updated it could reflect that your property is over improved for your neighborhood and you may not recoup the updates in the value.

Also, keep in mind that during the housing crisis, the appraising field took a hit and was blamed for some of the inflated pricing. That's because many were appraising the homes at the value the lender (and their employer) needed to close a loan instead of keeping the process neutral and unbiased they way it was intended to be. As a result, in recent years appraisals were coming in very low and in some areas they still are.

It never seized to amaze me at the claims of increased value the shows on HGTV would come up with; a real joke.

When I was having my house appraised for a re-fi, I did everything I could to present my case. I prepared the house as if for a buyer, cleaning, decluttering, turning on lights, etc. I typed up a list of every improvement I had made since buying the house, right down to installing closet organizers. And on that list, I made a notation of how much I needed to have the house appraised at in order to get the refi. I handed that paper to the appraiser. I even made a point to show the appraiser my foster dog that I was doing hospice care for at that time.

I don't know whether any of that made a difference in the outcome. Most of the improvements on my list appeared in the text of the appraisal report, but that may have just been the appraiser humoring me. The appraiser was clearly on my side, however, because she took photographs at angles that showed the rooms but excluded areas that would have devalued the house, such as a working fireplace I had boarded over for the summer, and a window that was boarded over while I was refurbishing it.

I don't know how much leeway appraisers have when doing their work, but I did everything I could to stack the deck in my favor. The house appraised well and I got the refi.

IâÂÂm in Florida, just sold my house, and was worried about the appraisal verses the contract price. A house down the road around the same square foot as mine appraised at a certain amount but it had a pool. I wanted my appraisal to come out the same even though I did not have a pool. My house had better quality new stuff than that house. We did many resent upgrades and I provided a very detailed list that included the way and what with the interior cabinets were finished, type of glides, name of fencing type and the process the manufacturer used for the backed on finish, grade of granite or marbleâ¦you name it, it was all listed in detail. I also detailed how well maintained our home was and provided documentation for that. Although my house is only thirteen years old it was mentioned in the appraisal report something to the affect that it was comparable to a new semi-custom to custom home.
So yes a list will help to a point. Square footage is the main gig though. My house ended appraising the same as the pool home. I did have to come down three and a half grand from the contract price though. ThatâÂÂs a common thing at the moment with the larger homes. The smaller more affordable homes are so sought after at this time (limited listings) IâÂÂm seeing more people cough up the extra cash just to nab one.