After we have agreed on the terms and scope of the appraisal, we are all set to come visit your property.

When we visit your property

Once we arrive, we will explain what we will be doing so that you know exactly what to expect.  This would be a good time to express any questions, concerns, or additional information about the property.

We will then walk through the home and all buildings on the property, taking photos and measurements of all the rooms. While we are performing our walk through, we kindly request that you remove yourself from the area so that it does not interfere with our photos and measurement scans.  It would help us a great deal, and would allow us to work more efficiently if you follow our helpful “Tips to prepare for our appraisal visit” identified on the bottom of the page.

For FHA loans or Manufactured Homes, there are additional areas that require photographs, as explained below.

  • FHA loan appraisals:  we are required to take a photograph of the attic space, if applicable, and the crawl space, if applicable.  We request that the entries to all the rooms, including attic space and crawl space, be open and accessible for photographs.  If the attic space is on the ceiling and requires a step or ladder, please have that prepared for us.
  • For Manufactured Homes: we are required to take photographs of the certification label (located outside of the home) and the compliance certificate (usually located inside one of the cabinets in the kitchen, or possibly in the master bedroom or laundry room).  Please ensure that the area is cleared and accessible for photographs.

While we are performing our walk through, we kindly request that you remove yourself from the area so that it does not interfere with our photos and measurement scans.  It would help us a great deal, and would allow us to work more efficiently if you follow our helpful “Tips to prepare for our appraisal visit” identified on the bottom of the page.

Once we have completed our walk-through, Ian will let you know that we are done and may have additional questions about the property and address any additional questions or concerns that you may have.  If you have further questions or comments once we have leave, you can contact us anytime and that’s it.

Ian will get to work on completing the appraisal report for you.  Generally, your appraisal report will be ready within a few days after our appraisal visit to your property.

Tips to prepare for our appraisal visit

We request that you follow our tips below to help us ensure a more efficient and successful appraisal site visit.

  • TIP 1: Have any recent renovations been completed on your property?  If so, we can discuss this when we arrive.
  • TIP 2: Photos will be taken of all the rooms and areas of your home, as well as the interiors of all sheds or outbuildings on site.  It will be very helpful if you turn on all your lights and open all doors. However, for vacant empty homes, it is not necessary to leave the lights on or having the doors open.  
  • TIP 3: The appraiser will be scanning all the rooms and areas of your home, as well as the interiors of all sheds, or outbuildings on site.  It is imperative that the appraiser can see the walls and floors to effectively scan for measurement.  Please remove any boxes or clutter that may interfere with the scanning process.  It is not necessary to move furniture.
  • TIP 4: While we perform our walk-through of your property, we request that you hold questions until we are done.  We ask this so that we can focus on getting all the rooms and areas photographed and scanned.  Once we are complete, we would be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.
  • TIP 5: We love pets, but please secure them during our visit. It helps us to be more efficient if they are not interfering with the photographs and measurement scans.
  • TIP 6: (For FHA Loans ONLY) We are required to take a photograph of the attic space, and the crawl space, if applicable.  We request that the entries to attic space and crawl space, be open and accessible for photographs.  If the attic entry access is on the ceiling and requires a step or ladder, please have one available for us.
  • TIP 7: (For Manufactured Homes ONLY) We are required to take photographs of the certification label (located outside of the home) and the compliance certificate (usually located inside one of the cabinets in the kitchen, or possibly in the master bedroom or laundry room).  Please ensure that the area is cleared and accessible for photographs.

We appreciate you taking the time to read through our tips and helping us with this process.