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- What Are Netting Escrows & How Does It Work?: The Best Guide - January 2, 2024
- The Secret About Prescriptive Easement: Top Guide 1 Must Know - December 4, 2023
- About Home Equity Loans In Texas And How Can One Obtain It - November 27, 2023
Home Appraisal For Refinance
Are you are in the process of refinancing, or planning for one soon? The following home appraisal tips may help you to get through the process smoothly.
It is essential to be updated about home appraisal in Texas before you refinance your mortgage in Texas 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 us see a few tips about home appraisals.
Property Inspection Waiver (PIW) While Refinancing Mortgage In Texas
This is a new term available for borrowers through the lender for 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 estimated property value is realistic, they will issue a property inspection waiver. This means 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 all loan types.
List Of Work Done Since Purchase Before Refinancing Mortgage in Texas
Assuming that you do need a home appraisal on your property while refinancing, you may want to ensure that you are available for the home 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 and 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 with the information during the time of home appraisal.
Most of the time, the appraiser comes for the home appraisals with very little or no information about the property, especially about 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 providing it to the appraiser. This would ensure you can get maximum value for your home.
Walking the Appraiser Through Property During Home Appraisal In Texas
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 even one little upgrade can affect your property value by a considerable margin.
Get Personal
The appraiser is also a human being like all of us, and they would like to work with other human beings that are personable.
We would suggest being kind and considerate and avoiding 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 a home appraisal in Texas is very critical.
Hopefully, the above tips would help when you decide to refinance your mortgage in Texas and get the maximum value of your home during the home appraisal.
We would always suggest getting in touch with your mortgage loan officer or your trusted mortgage advisor to get more information.
