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The lighthouse was a specific part of this Maine home’s design.

By Erika Riggs, Zillow

85 Buck and Doe, Deer Isle, Maine
For sale: $2,873,000

Long before GPS and smartphones, sailors depended on the blinking light of a far-off lighthouse to guide them. Although ships no longer rely on lighthouses, there’s still something alluring about a lighthouse, sitting alone as a beacon on the shore.

The romanticism and appeal of a bygone era is captured in this Maine home for sale, which is located on Maine’s Penobscot Bay. Although the statwe has more than 60 lighthouses, this home was not converted from a previous working lighthouse. Rather it was built as an unusual, private residence with a lighthouse tower affixed.

The current owner bought the residence partially unfinished and completed the construction in 1990. Listed on the Hancock County real estate market, the lighthouse home sits only 10 minutes from two local towns, but has a private and remote feel, explains listing agent Story Litchfield.

The 5,859-square-foot home features enormous living areas with floor-to-ceiling windows and of course, an attached tower that has 360-degree views from its top look-out point.

“The top floor is totally surrounded by windows and you can see so far because it’s so high,” Litchfield said.

On the floor of the lighthouse is an enormous chart and map of the area to explain the surrounding views.

In addition to views of the Atlantic Ocean, islands and Camden Hills, the 4-bedroom, 4-bath home has a gourmet kitchen, two-story granite fireplace and cathedral ceilings. Two of the bedrooms are located in the lighthouse tower on the first floor.

With current mortgage rates, and assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-fixed mortgage, a monthly payment on the lighthouse home is $10,660 a month.

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A granite two-story fireplace dominates the living room of the home.

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The stone lighthouse is located on Maine’s Penobscot Bay.

The appraiser was due in an hour. The beds were unmade, breakfast dishes in the sink and toys scattered about the playroom. Would she care?

I got moving — and cleaning. At 34 weeks pregnant, that’s not so easy.

After all, I know lowball appraisals can kill deals.

They can also kill a refinancing application, which we are in the midst of for our 1920s Georgian-style house in Queens. If an appraisal comes in too low, it’s not worth refinancing, or you might need to put in a whole lot more equity.

We don’t know how ours turned out yet, but after talking to a handful of appraisers, I felt great regret at not doing more to plan and prepare. Here are some tips based on those conversations.

Caution: Some of the advice — like home valuations themselves these days — might seem contradictory. But what all the appraisers agree on is the importance of keeping the look, feel and condition of the property as updated and cared-for as possible.

• Listed: 42% of buyers except 7% annual return on their home, survey says

1. Spruce up the house. Appraisers say that you don’t need to deep-clean under couches and that a few dirty dishes won’t hurt your home’s value. But rats, cockroaches and that car you’ve been tinkering on might. “Things like overgrown landscaping, soiled carpeting, marks on walls — those do affect value and are part of the property’s overall condition rating,” said Dean Zibas, the president and chief appraiser for Zibas Appraisal in San Clemente, Calif. In other words, think broom clean, not set design for a home-decorating magazine.

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Add to your home’s value with outdoor upgrades Date:7/15/2011Duration: 004:0049Video By: TODAY July 15: TODAY contributor George Oliphant reveals how to give added beauty and value to your home with outdoor upgrades and ways to enjoy those improvements in the warm months ahead. More Videos

2. Curb appeal also matters, so mow the lawn, hack those weeds and trim those hedges. This can also help offset your house from unfair comparisons with foreclosures nearby. “In today’s climate, I can’t stress enough: condition, condition, condition,” said Doreen Zimmerman, an appraiser in Paradise, Calif. “An hour or two, for the most part, will set your home apart in the actual picture that the lender gets from the appraiser versus the actual picture that the appraiser will provide of the (foreclosure) down the street.”

3. Keep a list of all the updates you’ve made and be ready to hand it over; a sketch plan of the house indicating square footage also helps. “Have a list of updating done within the past 15 years. Itemize each update with the approximate date and approximate cost. Also highlight the notable features of the property,” says Matthew George, the chief appraiser of Eagle Appraisals in Denver. Remember the items that an appraiser might not notice, such as a new roof or insulation. Don’t forget the minor items. For example, I mistakenly told the appraiser we hadn’t updated one bathroom, but actually we had installed a new sink and had the tub sealed. That counts, the experts say.

• How much are homes worth near you?

4. Have comps on hand. Yes, this is the appraiser’s job, but every little bit helps — especially if you are aware of a nearby property that sold without the aid of a real-estate agent, says Mark T. Smith, the owner and president of Smith Appraisal Services in St. Augustine, Fla. That can mean it wasn’t posted on the multiple listing service, and can result in other delays by the time it gets posted through other government data sources.

5. Be mindful of peeling paint. Loans insured by government agencies, such as the Federal Housing Administration or the Veterans Administration, will require peeling paint to be removed in houses built before 1978. But don’t worry too much about a child’s scrawling on his bedroom wall, unless it’s going to require a whole new paint job.

6. Focus. “Don’t spend money that won’t yield a return on the investment. The best expenditures for most markets are paint, carpet, light and plumbing fixtures,” George says. Prioritize what you do; if you’re the type of homeowner who has upgraded and fixed items as they broke, you should be fine.

7. Location still matters. If there have been changes to the neighborhood, mention them, from a new playground to a new Whole Foods. If the area has been declared a historic or landmark district, let the appraiser know.

Read:  5 future-proofing tips for home remodeling projects

8. Keep the $500 rule in mind. Appraisers often value houses in $500 increments, so if there’s a repair costing more than $500 that can or should be made, it will count against the property. Fix leaky faucets, cracked windows, missing handrails and structural damage.

9. Remember the concept of “effective age,” the age the appraiser can assign to a home after taking into consideration updating and condition. “Say you have a cracked window, threadbare carpet, some tiles falling off the shower surround, vinyl torn in the laundry room and the dog ate the corner of the fireplace hearth,” says  Zimmerman, who wrote the book “Challenge Your Home Appraisal” and runs a website by the same name. “These items could still add up to an overall average condition rating as the home is still habitable. However, your effective age will be higher, resulting in comparables being utilized which will have the same effective age and resulting lower value.”

10. Lock up Fido and Fifi. Appraisers say they get annoyed enough by homeowners following them around, but a snarling, growling dog is even worse. Along the same lines, try to make the appraiser comfortable — if it’s cold out, put the heat on; if it’s hot out, the air conditioning. “If it’s 100 degrees out and you never put the air conditioning on, put it on for the appraiser so they don’t question that your unit is broken,” Zimmerman says.

With those things in mind, let the appraiser do his job. “Questions and banter may make the inspection go slow or make the appraiser miss something,” said James R. Gerot, a residential appraiser in Ottumwa, Iowa. “My inspections have a rhythm to them, so once I get started, interruptions are just that. Save questions until after.”

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By Erika Riggs, Zillow

W151S10182 Thode Dr, Muskego WI
For sale: $260,000

There’s quite a few barns dotting Wisconsin’s landscape — some are in use, some are abandoned, and at least one outside of Milwaukee has been converted into a gorgeous home.

When owner Ron Ricco purchased his Muskego home several years ago, the 14-acre property came with two barns — an enormous 125-year old barn and a second smaller hay barn that had been partially converted into a living space.

“When I bought the property there was makeshift living quarters in it. It was barely a studio apartment so I saw the potential and stripped it down to the outside walls and rebuilt it from there,” said Ricco.

It took Ricco four years to complete work on the 80-year-old barn.

“I did a lot of the work myself,” said Ricco. “The things I didn’t do were things that took permits, things over my capability like the electrical and plumbing were done by a professional.”

Ricco did most of the woodwork and finishing. He restored the barn’s original wood floors and kept the timbers of the barn ceiling exposed, retaining its rustic feel.

There was never any real purpose in the renovation, Ricco says. “It was a labor of love, with no real thought with ‘What am I going to do with this when I’m done?’”

Once the property was finished, Ricco used the home as a guest house and more recently has been renting it out. But maintaining the barn, as well as his residence and 14 acres is a little more than he wants to handle. He split the property, keeping 10 acres and his home on one lot and the remaining four odd acres and the barn on another.

While the hay barn still looks like a barn from the outside, its interior has been completely transformed into a dramatic three-level living space with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

The main floor holds a gourmet kitchen with two-story living room and stone fireplace. Below, the ground level holds a family room, office and bedroom. The master suite occupies most of the third floor and includes a loft area and full bath.

Situated in a rural setting abutted by wetlands, the barn is only 25 minutes to downtown Milwaukee.

“It’s a reasonable drive to work, but when you get home it feels like you’re on a farm,” said Ricco.

The home is listed by agent Flora Campbell. According to Zillow’s mortgage calculator, the estimated monthly payment on the home would be $963, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-mortgage.

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Check out more photos of the barn on Zillow and see more homes like this on the Zillow blog.