HELOC Appraisal Question

[Cody Croteau]

Hey all,

So I purchased a property in July of 2018 as a permanent residence. I purchased it for $164,900 and it needed a bit of work. I'm a contractor so I was able to do everything myself which saved me a ton of money. Anyways, when I bought the house the appraisal came in at $169,900. Since purchase, I took out a main wall between a kitchen and living room, removed all the dark wall paneling, installed fence, and drywalled/painted everything upstairs. We also refinished the cabinets with new hardware and installed new countertops. I refinished the hardwood floors throughout and the whole project turned out great. I was so ambitious I even finished the basement. So to the point. I was looking into getting a HELOC from my property to use in the real estate world. Well, the appraisal came back at $169,000. How could the appraisal come back $900 lower? The market we are in is on fire right now, but all the comparable sales to my home the appraiser used included outdated homes with no improvements. They all sold for $175,000+ so why would the appraiser say my newly remodeled home is worth less then when I bought it? This is my first attempt at getting a HELOC, and it's disappointing but I also want to know possible reasons or ideas. The bank is even confused if that tells you anything. Thanks for the feedback.

Cody