Appraisals Built to Hold Up Under Scrutiny
Specialty valuations for date of death and step-up basis, estates and trusts, gift tax, private party transactions and divorce — written for the attorneys, courts, CPAs and IRS examiners who will actually read them.
Specialty Appraisals
Date-of-death and step-up basis, estates and trusts, gift tax, private party transactions, divorce. This is focused valuation work for families, attorneys, CPAs and fiduciaries — and every report is read by someone with a professional reason to question it.
Date of Death Appraisals
What was it worth the day the owner died? That single date governs probate reporting, IRS Form 706, and the basis every heir inherits with the house.
Learn more →Estate & Trust Appraisals
Values for administering a probate, funding or distributing a trust, and answering beneficiaries who are owed a number nobody in the family picked.
Learn more →Private Party & Gift Tax Appraisals
Fair market value documented for a private party sale, an intra-family transfer or a sibling buyout — and for the gift tax return when the price sits below market.
Learn more →Divorce Appraisals
A neutral opinion of value that both spouses, both attorneys and the family-law court can work from — current date, date of separation, or both.
Learn more →Proposition 19 Appraisals
Valuations for parent-to-child and grandparent-to-grandchild transfers, so you know the reassessment exposure before you commit to a transfer.
Learn more →Property Tax Appeal Appraisals
Evidence for an assessment appeal when the county's value exceeds what the market actually supports.
Learn more →Bankruptcy Appraisals
Independent values that let the trustee, the court and your attorney determine the real equity in a property under Chapter 7, 11 or 13.
Learn more →Expert Witness & Litigation Support
When the valuation itself is the dispute: a report engineered for challenge, and an appraiser who will sit in the witness chair and defend it.
Learn more →Appraisal Review
A professional critique of someone else's report — methodology, data, and whether the adjustments were supported or simply asserted.
Learn more →Desktop Appraisals
The same methodology without a property visit — available in all 58 California counties, and the backbone of my statewide estate and retrospective work.
Learn more →Rental & Income Analysis
Market rent and income analysis for two-to-four unit property, support obligations, and owners who need the numbers documented rather than estimated.
Learn more →Pre-Purchase Appraisals
Know the number before the contingency period closes. This report answers to you, not to a lender protecting its collateral.
Learn more →Pre-Sale Appraisals
A defensible value before you list, so the price comes from evidence rather than from the most optimistic opinion in the room.
Learn more →PMI Removal Appraisals
An appraisal to support dropping private mortgage insurance once appreciation has pushed your equity past the threshold.
Learn more →Why Clients Keep Coming Back
Twenty years of this work has taught me what separates a report that settles a matter from one that starts an argument.
Certified, and Verifiable
California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, License AR036053, appraising since 2004. You can confirm the license with the state before you hire me, and I would encourage it.
You Talk to the Appraiser
There is no intake department and no account manager. The person who answers your call is the person who inspects the property, writes the report and would testify to it.
Tested by Cross-Examination
I serve regularly as an expert witness in family-law and bankruptcy matters. Writing reports that have to survive a hostile attorney changes how you write all of them.
Complex Property Is Normal Here
Homes over 10,000 square feet, values above $15 million, acreage, ADUs, unpermitted conversions, thin comparable markets. These assignments are routine rather than exceptional.
Retrospective Dates, Decades Back
Date-of-death and date-of-separation work going back more than forty years, reconstructed from archived records rather than estimated from today's prices.
Published Fees, Quoted Up Front
The fee schedule is on this site. Complexity, location and rush delivery are disclosed and confirmed before you commit — no invoice surprises.
Two Levels of Coverage, Stated Honestly
Full Service — San Diego & Riverside Counties
These are the counties I work in person. In-person interior and exterior inspections, drive-by assignments, and the complete range of report types, including the Standard appraisal that the IRS requires for improved residential property.
Desktop Appraisals — All 58 California Counties
Statewide, I prepare USPAP-compliant desktop and retrospective appraisals without a property visit, working from public records, MLS data and client-supplied photographs. The report discloses that scope plainly, which is why attorneys and courts accept it for the purposes it fits.
I will tell you which product your situation actually requires — including when it is the more expensive one. A desktop report does not satisfy IRS requirements for improved residential property.
Published Fees
Starting fees for a single-family home or condominium. The full schedule, including two-to-four unit property and add-ons, is on the fees page.
| Basic Desktop Appraisal | $299 |
|---|---|
| Desktop Appraisal | $449 |
| Standard Appraisal | $699 |
Counties I Serve
126 California communities across 17 counties have their own page here. Desktop coverage extends to all 58.
Shall we talk about it?
Tell me the property and the purpose and I will quote the fee before you commit. Call (619) 630-9273 or request a quote online.