Kimberly Smith ⋅ Chicago , IL AT&T ⋅ 30 years experience

Two things - what a realtor looks at vs an appraiser and the two can quite a bit off depending on the demand of the market. A realtor will look for the desirable items to market, kitchens and bathrooms updated being the most important - also large living spaces and closets are trending these days. An appraiser is more interested in more of a formula an ensuring the loan to value relationship. Appraisers have become much more conservative these days because of the issues over the last number of years over funding homeowners who could not really afford a property that was overvalued to begin with. They are less concerned with the aesthetic nature of the property and more with the actual values. So for example pretty landscaping my be attractive to potential buyers to set yourself apart and add intrinsic value, it does not add actual value according to an appraiser. Same with things like fresh paint, lack of clutter, etc. So depending on what you want to achieve, both are important at the end of the day to get top dollar but someone could be denied a loan if the overall property does not have the base comps to earn it the price being paid. If you are dealing with cash buyers or someone with a significant down payment, that makes some of this negligible because the bank is most interested in what THEY have to finance.

Jacqueline Berg ⋅ Gilford , NH self-owned business ⋅ 8 years experience

I have never done real estate appraisal EXCEPT as a realtor (ie. not for refinancing) and it was a LONG time ago, so this is probably not the best answer but as no one has replied yet...

Major items:
- #1. Is the home mortgagable? Is there any reason why the mortgage could not be sold on the open market (ex. potable water, suitable heat for the home, mortgagable flooring, safe electrical, adequate plumbing, exposed friable asbestos). You only asked about inside, but an inadequate roof (ie. old, lifting shingles, and potential to leak soon) will kill financing.
-#2. (exterior but anyway) - Neighborhood is everything - Comparable sales on the same street are a huge factor in real estate appraisal.
-#3. Number of bedrooms/bathrooms/rooms, types of rooms
-#4. Quality of the interior appointments (marble/hardwood/tile flooring vs vinyl flooring) - this has less impact then the above stuff.

Note: the exterior of the home will typically have a huge impact on how many people will view the home.

David Jacobs ⋅ Castle Rock , CO IBM ⋅ 30 years experience

I am not an appraiser, but I understand the role well. All homes being sold with a mortgage, require an appraisal so that the lending institution knows that they are protected (value is greater than the loan). The appraiser makes an estimate of value based on recent comparables (comps) from like homes that have been sold in the same neighborhood. Usually, the home is compared to three other recent "solds". The appraiser than "adds" or "subtracts" value based on what is included or not included in the home. For example, if the recent sales all have 4 bedrooms, and the home only has 3 bedrooms, than the appraiser will "subtract". So the appraiser looks for all items in the home that will allow him to add or subtract as compared to the comparables in the neighborhood, resulting in an "apples to apples" comparison value.