Colorado Seller Prep List Before the Appraiser Visits

A Colorado seller gets a better appraisal by handing the appraiser proof: permits for every improvement, receipts with dates, a one-page comps sheet of closed sales, and a house where nothing is broken on the day of the visit. The appraiser measures to the ANSI Z765 standard, counts a basement bedroom only when it has an egress window, and gives no credit for furniture, hot tubs, leased solar or a fresh coat of paint on a house that was already in average condition.

This is the prep list the Kenna Real Estate Group gives every Front Range seller, from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, two weeks before a lender appraisal or a refinance appraisal. It covers the paperwork packet, the permit question, how a finished basement is counted, what the ANSI measuring rule changed in 2022, the repairs that matter, and the improvements that do not move the number.

Two weeks out: build the paperwork packet

Appraisers write a report from what they can verify. A folder on the kitchen counter does more for the number than any weekend project. Include:

• Permits. Print the permit history from the city or county building department. Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arapahoe County, Douglas County and Jefferson County all publish permit records online. A finished basement, an added bathroom, a new furnace, a roof, an electrical panel and a deck each carry a permit when the work was done to code.
• Improvement receipts. Every invoice from the last 10 years with a date and a dollar figure: roof, furnace and AC, water heater, windows, sewer line, radon mitigation, kitchen and bath remodels, egress windows, concrete, fence. Sort them newest first.
• The comps sheet. Three to six closed sales from the same subdivision or the same square mile, closed in the last 90 to 180 days, with price, above-grade square footage, basement finish, garage count, lot size and close date. Your agent builds this from REcolorado; the appraiser is free to use it or not, and the ones they use are the ones that match the house.
• HOA and metro district documents. Dues, what they cover, and the metro district mill levy if the home sits in one. Parker, Castle Rock, Erie, Commerce City and most of the new-build Front Range sit inside a metro district.
• Special items. The radon mitigation invoice, the sewer line replacement invoice, the hail-claim roof replacement date and shingle class, the solar purchase agreement showing the panels are owned outright, and the improvement location certificate or survey.

Background on how home appraisals weigh each of these items sits behind that link; the Colorado-specific version, with the contract deadlines and the appraisal gap options, is in the group's guide to how a Colorado home appraisal works.

Permits: the question every Colorado appraiser asks about the basement

An appraiser who finds a finished basement, an added bedroom or a second kitchen with no permit on file writes it into the report. On a conventional loan the lender decides whether to count the unpermitted area; on FHA and VA loans the appraiser flags anything that looks like it was built without inspection, and the lender can require a permit close-out or a contractor's letter before closing. Unpermitted work does not kill a Colorado sale by itself, but it removes the value the seller paid for.

The fix, when time allows, is a retroactive permit. Denver and most metro counties issue them after an inspector looks at the work; electrical and plumbing get opened up where the inspector needs to see them. Start the process 60 days before listing, and read the guide to converting a Colorado basement into a suite before adding a kitchen below grade, because a second kitchen has its own zoning rules in Denver.

The finished basement: what counts and what does not

Front Range homes are basement homes. A 1,600 square foot ranch in Centennial with a finished basement lives like a 3,000 square foot house, and the appraisal treats those two numbers differently:

• Above-grade living area is the main floor and upper floors. That is the number that drives the comp search and the price per square foot.
• Below-grade finished area is reported on its own line at a lower value per square foot. A walkout or garden-level basement is still below grade if any part of the level sits under the ground.
• A basement bedroom needs egress: a window or door sized for a person to climb out, with a window well where it opens below ground. No egress, no bedroom in the report; it becomes a den or a rec room.
• A basement bath counts as a bath. A rough-in with no fixtures does not.

The finished basement guide covers the ceiling heights, egress sizes and moisture checks buyers look for, which are the same ones the appraiser looks for.

ANSI Z765: why the square footage on your Denver home changed in 2022

Since April 2022, appraisals on conventional loans measure the house to the ANSI Z765 standard. The appraiser measures the exterior, counts only finished space with a ceiling of 7 feet or more (with a narrow exception for sloped ceilings), excludes open-to-below areas, and reports below-grade space separately. A listing that pulled its square footage from the county assessor, an old appraisal or a builder's plan set is off by 5 to 10 percent on a lot of Front Range homes, in either direction.

When the appraiser's number comes in under the listing number, the comps stay the same but the price per square foot math shifts. The seller's protection is to have the home measured to ANSI before listing, so the MLS number, the comps sheet and the appraisal all agree.

The week before: repairs that change the condition rating

The appraiser assigns a condition rating, and the difference between a home in average condition and one with visible deferred maintenance is real money on the report. Fix the small, visible things first:

• Water stains on ceilings and basement walls, even from a leak repaired years ago. Prime and paint them, and put the repair invoice in the packet.
• Broken or fogged windows, missing screens, a cracked pane in the garage.
• Peeling exterior paint on a home built before 1978. FHA and VA appraisers cite it as a minimum property requirement.
• Missing handrails on stairs with four or more risers, loose deck boards, a sagging gutter.
• Anything that does not turn on: the furnace, the AC, the water heater, the garage door, the sprinkler controller, a doorbell. Test each one the day before.
• Hardware and trim. A cabinet pull, a closet door track, a toilet seat, a light bulb. A morning at the home store and $200 in parts closes this list.

Skip the big projects. A kitchen remodel started two weeks before the appraisal is an unfinished kitchen on appraisal day, and unfinished work is rated as such. The adding value before selling guide ranks the projects that pay back on a Colorado home and the ones that do not.

Appraisal day

A residential appraisal visit on a Front Range home runs 20 to 60 minutes. The appraiser photographs every room, measures the exterior, checks the mechanicals and walks the lot. Be on time, hand over the packet, then step outside or into the yard. Do not follow the appraiser room to room, and do not argue value on the spot; the packet does the talking. Pets go in a crate or out of the house, every room is lit, and the furnace room is clear to the front of the unit.

Cleaning and staging do not change the value line, but a clean house lets the appraiser see the condition, and a cluttered basement gets rated as the storage room it looks like.

What adds value and what does not

Refinance appraisals and financing

A refinance appraisal follows the same prep list. The homeowner is the client's borrower instead of a seller, there is no buyer to negotiate a gap with, and a low number means a smaller loan or a canceled refinance. The packet, the permits and the ANSI measurement matter more, not less, because there is no comps sheet from a listing agent unless the owner builds one.

For a purchase or a refinance, the Kenna Real Estate Group works with Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, who orders the appraisal early so a low number surfaces with time left to send comps. You are free to use any lender. Details are on the financing page, and VA borrowers should read the Colorado VA appraisal guide for the Tidewater rules.

Where to go next

• Request a Smart Pricing Report before you list
• How to sell a house in Colorado, step by step
• How the Kenna Real Estate Group helps sellers
• Denver ADU permits, costs and zoning rules
• Showing your Colorado home to buyers
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group, Keller Williams DTC, builds the comps sheet, pulls the permit history and measures the home to ANSI on every Colorado listing before the appraiser is assigned. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. When it is time to buy the next one, search every home for sale in Colorado.