this is don horn the associate broker for coldwell banker schultz realty and founder of team success listing this week's question from our clients is how can we have a high house appraisal well there's actually five or six things that you can do to help the appraisal process and the first thing is great curb appeal the same thing you probably heard when you were listing the house for the first time your realtor said make sure that the curb appeal is great it's the same thing with the appraiser as soon as he or her pulls up and gets out of their car you want to make sure that they have a great first impression of the house that they're going to be appraising make sure the grass is cut and trimmed bushes are all trimmed flowers are planted you know mulch into the into the flower beds any bikes or tools or whatever it's laying around in the driveway get those out of the way also you want to have a great curb appeal the second thing would be to remove all clutter inside and out and like i just said about the outside bikes lawnmowers tools any of that stuff should be put away out of sight and when he's in the house or she's in the house make sure the counters are all cleaned off so they can see exactly what you've got going on the house you know you know make sure that the counters are all cleared off the floors are all all the toys are put away let them see what you got there so and clean the house there's going to be nothing wrong whatsoever with doing a quick dust and a quick vacuum just before the appraiser gets there if you have to make an investment in the house going by the feedback that you've got when you had it for sale you might have to uh you know spend a couple dollars get those countertops replaced get the linoleum replaced do some painting whatever you got to do to make it look like it's updated and fresh and you want a good appraisal and you want it to appraise just as much if not more uh from the other house that were in your neighborhood that have sold recently and compile an information packet there's nothing wrong with getting the comps from your realtor and that you use to price your home give those to the appraiser when he's there also make a list of all home improvements you've made since you lived there any uh counters you've replaced kitchen cabinets flooring windows doors roofs furnaces any of that stuff make a list of it and make sure he's got that list so he knows what's been updated in the house and when he hasn't there so and isolate your animals too not every appraiser is an animal lover there's nothing worse than them going through the house making notes and looking at things and your dog and cats following them all over just put the animals away and probably the last thing and probably one of the most important is make the appraiser feel comfortable you don't have to tell them all you know sad stories and all this other stuff there they're there to appraise the house just let them know um if they have any questions just yell and don't be following them around from room to room either just like stay in the kitchen or whatever and if they have a question about something in the living room or the bedroom they'll yell for you and you can answer the questions and then just leave them alone and they'll you know do their thing let them get in do their job and get out so if you have any other questions on appraisals mortgages any other real estate questions please contact us at the contact numbers listed below also too we would appreciate you subscribing to our youtube channel we've got questions like these on real estate mortgages we put new listings and how to's on the channel all the time so i would appreciate that and as always thank you and have a great day