Upside Down Mortgage

upside down home refinance

Question: If I might be upside-down on my loan is there anything I can do to improve the value of my home?

We've starting talking to a lender about refinancing but our lender mentioned that when he looked online the home value for our home was less than we paid for it (we purchased nearly 2 years ago). I'm thinking that since home values have fallen, so have ours. Is there anything I can do to improve the value of our home before it is appraised? FYI: Think cheaply here. All we really have to work with is the stimulus package check.

Answer: Find out what they consider for the appraisal. Some are very basic - they check the size of the house that is registered with the city and they drive by to just see the outside condition of the house. If that is the case, try to improve the visual appeal by landscaping, re-doing the blacktop, painting the garage door, etc. If they actually go inside and do a walkthrough then clean it well so that they get a better vibe. From there, they mostly are looking stictly at features that would add value, such as a fireplace, granite countertop, etc. So I guess find something that would be a negative about your house, and fix it. Think more about the permanent features of the house, not things like appliances that would look better but aren't a part of the house. Finally, once the appraisal is completed, review it and argue anything that you think was an unfair thing to reduce the value for. All said, if you are only spending $1000 on improvements though, it isn't going to affect the appraisal much, so make sure that the expenditure is something you wanted to do anyway.

Obama Can't refinance my home. We are upside down.

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