What people use my appraisals for

When someone dies, the house generally gets a fresh tax basis for the heirs: its market value on the date of death. That single number decides how much gain, if any, shows up when the house is sold. I value the home as of that day, using sales from around that time and whatever photos you have from then: family snapshots, old listing pictures, insurance photos.

Some estates also need the figure for a federal estate tax return, Form 706. Only very large estates owe that tax (the 2026 exclusion is $15 million per person), but a surviving spouse sometimes files the return anyway to keep the unused exemption, a step called portability. The executor can also choose the alternate valuation date, six months after death, on that return. California has no estate tax of its own.

If the house was cleaned out, painted or remodeled since, tell me what changed. The value is for the house as it stood on the date of death, not as it looks now.

Trustees and executors need a value they can explain to the family, the CPA and sometimes the court. I appraise the home for the trust's records, for evening out shares when one beneficiary keeps the house, for a sale to a family member, for setting a list price, and for the beneficiaries' tax basis.

In a formal probate, the court's probate referee normally values the real estate for the inventory. Families still order my report alongside the referee's figure when their CPA wants the full reasoning behind the basis.

A personal representative may also petition to skip the referee for good cause under Probate Code §8903. The petition includes a proposed inventory with values, the hearing is at least 15 days later, and the referee can object. If the judge grants it, an independent appraisal can carry the real estate value. Your probate attorney will know whether that's worth trying.

Whether one of you keeps the house or it gets sold, the settlement needs a value. I can value it as of today, the date of separation, or both.

Plenty of couples hire me together as one neutral appraiser. Both of you are named in the report, both attorneys agree on the valuation date and on the photos I'll rely on, and the report spells out what was agreed. If the house has slipped since the separation, valuing it as of the agreed date, from photos taken then, keeps that out of the number.

If one of you lives there and won't allow a visit, that's rarely an obstacle for a desktop appraisal: public records, old listing photos and what you know about the house are usually enough, and I state in the report what I relied on. Desktop reports suit mediation and negotiated buyouts. If your case is headed to trial, ask your attorney whether an inspected appraisal with testimony would serve you better.

Buying out a sibling's share of an inherited house, selling to your daughter, or untangling a house you own with a former partner are all easier when the whole family works from one independent number.

A documented price matters later, too. When a sale inside the family is below market value, the difference can count as a gift for federal tax purposes, and the appraisal shows what market value was.

If you deed a house, or a share of one, to a relative or a trust, the IRS wants what it was worth that day reported on the federal gift-tax return, Form 709. My appraisal supports that figure, and I can value a gift made months ago as of the date of the deed.

Giving a fractional share? I value the house itself; any discount for the partial interest is a separate analysis, usually by a business valuation specialist. The same goes when the gift is a stake in a family LLC or partnership that holds the house. The specialist starts from the property's market value, then takes off whatever discount fits a minority share that can't force a sale and can't easily be sold.

Donating a house to a charity is different. It's an income-tax deduction, and for real estate claimed above $5,000 the IRS wants a qualified appraisal made within the 60 days before the gift or after it, by the return's due date, with the appraiser signing off on Form 8283. Tell me the donation date and I'll tell you before you pay whether a desktop report fits.

Since February 16, 2021, Prop 19 lets a child keep part of a parent's low assessment only if the child makes the home their main residence, and only up to a cap that adjusts every two years. The home's market value on the transfer date decides how much of the old assessment carries over.

I give you that value so you can decide whether to move in, rent the place out, sell it or buy out your siblings, and so you have evidence if the assessor's number looks high.

If your home would have sold for less than its assessed value on January 1, you can ask the county assessor for a decline-in-value review under Prop 8. If the assessor won't budge, you can file a formal appeal with the county assessment appeals board. That window opens July 2 and closes September 15 in some counties and November 30 in most others.

An independent appraisal of the January 1 value is the kind of evidence those boards weigh. Photos of anything that hurts value, like an old roof, foundation cracks or a kitchen nobody has touched in decades, matter here, because the assessor's numbers rarely reflect what's inside.

Your attorney needs a supportable value for the house on the bankruptcy schedules and for the homestead exemption, usually as of the filing date. Problems with the house get documented from your photos and repair bids, so they count in the value.

If the trustee or a creditor argues for a different number, your attorney may want an inspected appraisal and testimony; I do those through Brian Ward Appraisal in San Diego and Riverside Counties.

An agent's suggested list price is partly a pitch for the listing. My opinion of value comes from someone with nothing riding on the sale, built from the sales a buyer's appraiser is likely to look at.

I can often value the house as if planned repairs were finished. Describe the work when you order, and I'll tell you whether that's possible, and how the report will say it, before you're invoiced.

Cash buyers, family purchases and buyers who waived the appraisal contingency still want to know the price holds up. I work from the listing photos, your own photos from the showing and the disclosures, fast enough to fit inside a contingency period.

It's for your decision only; if you're borrowing, the lender orders its own appraisal.

If your income falls short of the I-864 requirement, assets can make up the difference, and home equity is one of them. Equity here means what an appraiser says the house is worth, less everything owed on it, and the form's instructions ask for a recent report from a licensed appraiser.

Order close to the date you'll send the evidence, so the report is current. Your immigration attorney can tell you whether leaning on home equity makes sense in your case.

Under Penal Code §1298, a California court can accept the equity in a house in place of cash bail, as long as that equity is at least double the bail. Equity is what the house is worth, less the loans and liens against it.

Courts publish their own property-bond packets, and many ask for an appraisal by a licensed or certified appraiser, sometimes done within the last few months. Bail agents who take a house as collateral often want one too. Check what your court or agent needs, then order; the report comes back within a day of payment and photos.