Skip to main content

Appraisal Tips While Refinancing Your Home Loan


Are you are in the process of refinancing or will be soon? the following appraisals tips may help you to get through the process smoothly. It is essential to know information about appraisals before you refinancing home loan.

So that it could enhance the property of your house and make sure that you don’t have any surprises at closing. It depends a lot on location and the type of property. Let’s see a few tips about appraisals.

Property Inspection Waiver (PIW) While Refinancing Home Loan


This is a new term available for borrowers through the lender since the last couple of years. PIW is only available for conventional mortgages through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. PIW means you get a complete waiver for a property inspection, which usually is a part of the refinancing process.

The benefit of getting a PIW are; 

a) It speeds up the process of refinancing, and you would be able to close about a week to 10 days early. 

b) It will make sure that there are no issues when it comes to the value of the house.

The way PIW works is, your loan office or mortgage loan officer at your mortgage advisor’s office will run your mortgage loan through an automated underwriting system. Then they will have an estimated value on what your property is worth. Now, if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac agree that the estimate property value is realistic.

They will assure that than at that point, they will issue a property inspection waiver. You do not need to get a property appraisal done at all on your property. This is definitely the preferred way to go, and with the advance in technology, this is becoming more and more common.

You might need to check with your loan officer for more information on qualification as this is not available for all properties and for all loan types.

List Of Work Done Since Purchase Before Refinancing Your Home


Assuming that you do need an appraisal on your property while refinancing, you may want to ensure that you are available for the appraisal. You do not want the appraiser to come to your home when your spouse, cousin, or any other family member is there instead of you who do not have enough information about the property for the appraiser.

You, as the borrower as the one who initiated the refinance process want to do everything that you can to be present for the appraisal. You need to be there as you might want to give the list of upgrades that you have done to the home since you have purchased or last appraised.

Any remodeling that you have done you might want to put in the spreadsheet since you have purchased the house to ensure that you are ready for the information during the time of appraisal.

Most of the time, the appraiser comes for the appraisals with very little or no information about the property, specifically the upgrades that you have done. The more information that you can give them when they are at your home is better.

We would suggest being prepared with the list of upgrades you have made since the last appraisal or property purchase and provide it to the appraiser. This would ensure you can get maximum value for your home.


Walking the Appraiser Through Property During Appraisals


This process is going to go along with the list of upgrades and work that you have done as you are showing them throughout your house. You can point out the different work that has been done verbally.

While you are pointing out the upgrades, make sure you are getting full credit for any and everything you have completed. Missing on even on one little upgrade can affect your property value by a considerable margin.


Get Personal


The appraiser is also a human being like any one of us, and they would like to work with other human beings that are personable. We would suggest being kind and considerate and avoid being negative with the appraiser. Try to be as positive as you can be. We would not recommend you be over-friendly after all it is a professional meeting.

We cannot assure whether or not it would help in property value, but it would not hurt to be considerate, especially when they understand that you are a nice person to deal with.


Conclusion

Getting the desired value of the house during an appraisal is very critical. Hopefully, the above tips would help when you decide to refinance and get the maximum value of your home during an appraisal. We would always suggest getting in touch with your mortgage loan officer or your trusted mortgage advisor to get more information.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Public Feedback Requested By CFPB

  The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act underwent certain changes and to evaluate whether it is meeting the stated goals of detecting discrimination in mortgage lending the  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  is seeking comments. The CFPB requests for assessment of the mortgage disclosure law and checks if it meets the objectives of the  Dodd-Frank Act . To abolish discrimination in mortgage lending in 1975 the Congress enacted . The bureau said the request comes after an August report found that mortgage lenders as compared to white applicants were charging higher interest rates and denying credit to Black and Hispanic applicants. The   bureau said that with this evaluation the CFPB will be able to maintain a fair, competitive, and non-discriminatory mortgage market. They added that the assessment is an opportunity for the Bureau to get an idea if the earlier HMDA rulemakings have improved upon the data collected, thereby reducing loans on financial institutions, and streamlining and mo

What is an Appraisal Contingency? — Best Guide for Homebuyers

  About Appraisal Contingency If a home is appraised for less than the purchase price included in the contract then there is a provision that is included in the purchase contract allowing homebuyers to back out of their contract this is termed as an  appraisal contingency  clause. Buyers who use financing to buy a house or are  buying homes  in areas where prices are volatile commonly use Appraisal contingencies. How do Appraisal Contingencies work? Purchase offers have appraisal contingencies inserted into them to notify the seller that the buyer intends to have the property appraised as part of their purchase for the financing process. If th e  property doesn’t appraise for the amount the buyer offered to pay then this contingency allows them the option of backing out of the contract without losing their earnest money deposit or facing other penalties. During an appraisal, a licensed professional is hired by the homebuyer to examine the property and evaluate it against the recent sal

What is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Understanding  Fannie Mae  And  Freddie Mac What is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Fannie Mae or FNMA  is a nickname for Federal National Mortgage Association. It was established in 1938. It is a Government-sponsored Enterprise (GSE). In 1968, Fannie Mae ceased to exist as a government entity and became quasi-governmental, federally charted corporation to buy mortgages other than those insured by the Federal Housing Administration, otherwise known as FHA. Freddie Mac or FHLMC  is a nickname for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Freddie Mac is also a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) which was brought into existence in the year 1970 by the Congress. It provides competition to Fannie Mae and provides funds availability in the secondary mortgage market. What is Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's Role? Fannie Mae’s purpose is to create a secondary market for the purchase and sale of mortgages.  The secondary mortgage market  is where home loans and s

How to Use Home Equity for Remodeling Projects

Important Guide How to Use Home Equity Everyone has to live somewhere and, everyone has to invest their money in someplace. So what happens when where you live, meets up with where your money is invested? Today we are going to discuss on  how to use home equity  for remodeling projects and things to know before using it for remodeling. For most homeowners, it is a choice between paying cash or borrowing against the equity that they have build up in their home. HELOC Or HEL? Interest rates  are still significantly low, and we are not sure how long they are going to stay that way. And home values are still rising at least on average. So taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a Home equity loan (HEL) may seem like a sensible financial move. Not always the case We have explained the difference between the HELOC and HEL in our blog post “ About Home Equity Loan  /  Home Equity Line Of Credit .” It depends on the individual’s needs to choose between t