Perhaps I should start calling this a "remo for a refi." It has a nice ring, no?

Okay, so when last I left you we'd nearly drywalled and gardened ourselves to death, and we were less than half finished with the project to "awesome-iffy" our house. The next day, Friday, we both took the day off and spent that entire day clearing out the backyard of a medium-sized pile of remodeling debris. Then I cleaned and organized Errek's wood shop (which exists in the old condemned kitchen, until we can tear it down and build a new and better kitchen). I must say, I did an excellent job of sorting all the various nails and screws; dividing the electrical, plumbing, and tiling equipment; and organizing everything into a nice neat order -- a big change from the post-tornado look the shop had previously sported.

While I worked in the back, Errek decided to remove the old skirting on the front of the house. In the process of leveling the house, we'd managed to really mangle the skirting that was there prior and it was putting a serious crimp in our curb appeal. As per usual, we underestimated how long this would take, and it required several layers. So on Saturday morning we woke at 6am to complete the skirting, do some last minute cleaning, and use whatever time we had left before our 10:45 appointment to hang art.

Come 10:30, there came a knock at the door. We were mostly ready, so we greeted him and then the scrutiny commenced. We're still not sure what he's valued the house at (I hope we'll know by the end of this week), but we didn't find his demeanor to be of much comfort. While he merely poked his head into our fabulous bathroom, he saw fit to take photos of the back of our house (the part we plan to tear off, just as soon as we get some money!). He fixated on the flaws and the unfinished condition. Also, from our conversations with him it became very clear that he knows very little about construction.

Lesson 1: An appraiser is NOT an inspector. I think we would have preferred an inspector. At least he/she would have noticed the added stability, updated plumbing, and all new electrical wiring.

Lesson 2: An appraiser is really just there to determine the magic number that an average buyer would pay if the house were put on the market today.

Houses that are under construction as probably really hard to sell on the open market, so the value will probably suffer because we're improving it. It's a catch-22 -- we're fixing it up, but need a little more money to really dive into the larger project (tear down the back of the house to expand and beautify), yet we likely can't get that money because we're not finished remodeling.

*sigh*

After an afternoon of frowns and beers, we came to the conclusion that what he'd done was essentially reject all the hard work we'd put into the house for the past three years simply because it didn't have a nice coat of paint or finished floors. Sure, our improvements were not pretty, but without solid walls your pretty house will fall on your head, without reinforced floor joists, your living room will feel like a trampoline, and with clogged 40 year old plumming...well, I won't describe what that would lead to but it's gross to say the least. True, a good house looks nice, but a GREAT house is more than just a pretty face. We're aiming for a great house. Sure, we might never recoup the money we've put into the wall cavities, but we'll know that the house is as solidly built as the homes of yore -- before tract, pre-fab, sub-standard construction became acceptable and normal.

Someday, when our house is sporting pretty parts, we'll dazzle both the appraisers AND the inspectors. But for now, it would seem that it's a house only a mother could love.
 
I'll let you know if he comes back with a high, low, or medium sized number, but as of right now, we've decided we don't care. We'll keep working on our baby, with or without the extra money.