House Appraisal: What to expect?

[Travis Shelburne]

Hello everyone! I purchased my first house in 2015 in a semi-rural area south of Houston that is developing quickly and expected to grow considerably over the next 10 years. I purchased the house for 147,000 in 2015, and the house appraised for 159,000. Since then, I put on a new roof and plan to do some other small improvements to add value. I want to refinance my house and have already spoken to a lender that I have a good relationship with. So that's in place, but I'm not sure when I should approach the appraisal. When I do my own limited research online the estimated value of my home is about 205,000 (Zillow), Chase is a little higher. Zillow's private estimate is about 215,000 I know these are rough, general numbers, and wanted advice on how to estimate the appraised value of my house before I spend $400 on getting it done professionally. I plan to repaint the house, add some basic landscaping in the front, sand and stain my cutting board countertops and replace the rotted wood on my fascia and soffit outside. I'm assuming the value of the house and especially the appearance and curb appeal will greatly help with the official appraisal. Is there an educated way to assess the appraised value before I make these fixes and repairs? If so, and it's favorable, then I can refi-cash out and use hat money for the repairs. If not, then I could do the repairs with the little money I have and can then look to refinance after all repairs are done. Thoughts?? Thanks for any help, this is my first post so I apologize if I'm missing pertinent info or am not clear.