Under scrutiny

Did you ever notice how you're the hardest critic on your house? You see everything—the layer of dust you never get to, the trim that never got added, the light fixture that's circa '70s and crying to be replaced? Yep, I do it too, every day, but nothing like I did on Friday morning when an appraiser greeted me at 8 a.m.

He was here to give our house a once-over to see how it fared in what Huntington Bank described as a "declining home market." I found that all very interesting since my recent letter from the local auditor just declared our home value higher than only three years ago, along with an inflated bill payable to Knox County as a result.

So why the appraisal from HB? We're thinking about getting our mortgage refinanced. When we bought our house three years ago, I thought we had secured a pretty darn good interest rate for mid-20-somethings, but it's nothing like the rock-bottom rates the feds are dolling out now. And a little quick calculating with the bank revealed that we could save between $225–$250 if we refinanced now.

Everything was running right on schedule, with closing slated for May when my HB officer called to tell me that we'd need an appraisal to seal the deal. And if our home appraises for LESS than HB will accept, we won't get the refinance at all. My first thought? Bugger.

We forged ahead, making a list of every scrap of work we'd done to the rooms in our house since moving in. I knew it was long as I was composing it in my head, but seeing it on paper was something else entirely. We have literally worked our heinies off in the last three years! We've replaced floors, countertops, sinks, stair railings, and doors. And we've added a deck, new gutters and some flowerbed borders. This is the short list, but I was sure to give the stranger scrutinizing our house the extended version.

Still, as I watched him go from room to room, I kept looking around at all the things I didn't have time to clean before he showed up. Did it matter? And what about all the materials resting in our garage and basement, waiting to be installed (ie: carpeting, drywall, whirlpool tub, wood-burning fireplace)? Did that count "for" us or "against" us? Dunno.

And then I began worrying about our in-progress rooms. The kichen has already come a long way, boasting new countertops, new flooring and the removal of an ungainly section of countertop, but as the appraiser was snapping his shots, I wondered if he was blanching at the site of the owl-inspired backsplash we haven't yet replaced or the trim around the doors and floor we haven't yet put back on post-floor installation. Too late now, right?

There was one bright spot in the process: he said to me, "This is a nice house. You must love it out here." And then I proceeded to enthuse about all the character of our house and its woodsy enviroment. I don't know if he believed me or not, but if it helped nudge up the value of our home $500, then it was worth the gushing.

So now we just get to wait and hear. We know that the end result is not so terrible. If the house appraises low, we're out $325 for the application and the meeting with the HB folks. If it comes in on target, then we get to save more than $200 a month. And that is definitely worth the hassle.