Whenever someone decides to do some remodeling in his or her house, the thing always at the back of the mind is how much the remodeling will improve an appraisal. If I remodel my kitchen, will this add another $10,000 to my house’s worth? What about finishing my basement?
The Washington Post has an excellent article that talks about the problems that appraisers face with these questions. It isn’t an exact science:
If there are foreclosures nearby, or home builders offering deep discounts, or desperate sellers setting their asking prices 10 percent lower than the most recent closed sale, your appraised value will be lower. One problem is that some neighborhoods haven’t had many sales over the past six months or so. When that happens, appraisers have to look for something similar in other neighborhoods. For example, Loizou said, if the neighborhood is near Metro, he might search for comparable homes that sold recently near a different Metro station.
If your appraisal comes in surprisingly low, verify that the comparables the appraiser used are truly comparable to your home. “If you have other comparables, we can have the appraiser look at it,” Eul said.
Find out more about Kitchen Remodeling at Remodel Tree.