Finished Basement Appraisal Value

Does creating a home theatre with in wall wiring in the basement add to the APPRAISAL value of a home?

Our FHA assigned appraiser said no. We made an offer on a 194,000 new home. We offered 225,000 for them to finish the basement with wiring. The appraiser first went in and said it would appraise for 225,000 when the basement was finished. It seemed a little fishy to me that he appraised it exactly at our offer price. We ended up doing some more upgrades and so our actual purchase price was 232,000. The appraiser guy had to go back after it was all done, and he added 3,000 for the dry bar, but no added value for the wiring and insulation, tile or granite counter top in the bathroom. It just doesn’t make sense to me, and the lender said the appraiser was really old fashioned and set in his ways. Don’t things like having tile instead of linoleum and marble instead of laminate add to the appraisal value of a home? How can this guy say the basement will be worth 31,000 without seeing it, and then only add 3,000 with all of the upgrades when it was finished?

The appraisal is based on what comparable homes sell for. If yours is the most high-end “finished” home then the lender won’t have much to compare it with, and will compare it with what he finds as close. Plus, it is rare for people to get back 100% of their investment on property improvements, such as a finished basement/entertainment center. If you look on some of the home websites, you will see that people only get back 85%-90% of such amenities.

Sounds like you are going to have to bring a little more cash to your closing than you planned, or have the sales representative you are working with come back with some different comp properties to justify the improved value.

The good thing is if you will live there a while and entertain at home instead of paying for a pricey restaurant, you will make back this extra cost in a fairly short time. If you didn’t have this room, and would have otherwise spent $50 a week entertaining/eating out, then you will make it back in about 2 years. It’s not a bad deal.

Priced Below Appraised Value-Beautiful home in Aurora IL