When it comes to selling your home, finding a buyer is the first set. However, before you can close the deal, there are two important things you will need to pass: the home inspection and the home appraisal. A home appraisal is a report of your home’s value in the market. It’s performed by a certified, state-licensed professional, whose primary job is to evaluate your home and state how much it is worth. The conditions such as location, features, and relation to prices of comparable homes in your area that have previously closed a sale determine if your home is priced appropriately. If the appraisal is estimated lower, your buyer is likely to have trouble getting enough lending from the bank. The lender is going to want to make sure that the house is really worth the price that you’ve agreed on, and a home appraiser will make the final decision. If they don’t agree, you’ll either have to renegotiate the sale price or potentially lose the buyer. You may not have control over how much your home will appraise for, but you can take these five steps to increase your chance of pricing where you want or need to be.
Five Steps for Cleaning Your Home Before an Appraisal
- Get an Early Appraisal
The appraisal dictates the lending amount is paid for by the buyer and is usually done around the same time as the home inspection. If you are worried about your home’s worth, hire your own appraiser to come in and note areas of concern before you put your home on the market. An early appraisal will give you the opportunity to address and fix anything that might lower your home’s value, like structural issues or broken fixtures. Having an early appraisal will give you an idea of how much your home is worth and how you might want to price it.
- Repair Any Issues
When an appraiser is evaluating your home, they will note any signs from big or small, that have not been well maintained. Simple fixes, such as repairing broken doorknobs, faulty cabinets, or paint touch-ups, will show that you’ve put time and effort into taking care of your home’s conditions. It’s worth spending a few dollars to take care of easily fixable problems. If you leave these minor issues, you may end up losing much more than that amount on your appraisal.
- Give Your Home a Deep Clean
When it comes time to sell your home, a dirty home can affect how buyers will view your home. A bright and clean home will appear to have more worth when it’s spotless rather than a messy one. Having a neat, well-cared home will draw in buyers and is likely to sell faster for a higher price. Pay attention to areas that might not be on your regular cleaning schedule, like cabinets, hard-to-reach places, and corners. Replace items that are worn out like curtains and cabinet knobs and put away items you use on a daily basis. Focus on the exterior of your home as well, such as cleaning out gutters, wiping down the outside windows, and giving your driveway a good power wash.
- Check That Everything is Working Properly
Broken fixtures noted by a home appraiser and home buyer may result in an under-appraised home. Go through your property and ensure that everything is working how it’s supposed to. Replace all burned-out bulbs, turn on any lights that you have switched off, and make sure your smoke alarms are working properly. It’s in your best interest to show off that everything is in working order when getting your home appraised.
- Curb Appeal
Just like deep cleaning the inside of your home, upgrading your landscaping can also increase your home’s value. You may want to make some small landscaping investments to boost your curb appeal and add to your home’s value. You can plant trees, plants, add landscape lighting, replace dead areas of grass or even just give your house a fresh coat of paint.
When you make changes in preparation for your home appraisal, only spend your time, money, and effort on things that clearly need attention, and don’t stress over the things that don’t need to be fixed. Greenlife Professional Cleaners can help boost your home’s value by providing various cleaning services for any property. Contact us for a free estimate and learn more about our deep residential cleaning.