County assessors value enormous numbers of properties with limited information about any single one. When the assessed value overshoots, the appeal process exists to correct it — and an assessment appeals board responds to an appraisal far better than to an argument.
When an Appeal Is Worth Filing
Appeals succeed where the assessed value genuinely exceeds market value — often after a decline in the local market, following a reassessment triggered by a transfer or new construction, or where the assessor's record overstates the property's size, condition or improvements. They do not succeed merely because the tax bill feels high.
Decline-in-Value Applications
California allows a reduction when current market value has fallen below the existing assessed value. These applications turn on the value as of a specific lien date, which makes them a retrospective appraisal assignment rather than a current one. I prepare the value as of the correct date.
What the Appeals Board Wants to See
An appeals board is weighing evidence. A USPAP-compliant report from a certified appraiser, with comparables selected for the right date and adjustments that are explained, is substantially more persuasive than printouts and recollection. I can also prepare the valuation for a hearing where I am available to testify.
Prop 19 and Transfer Reassessments
Many appeals arise from reassessment after an inherited or intra-family transfer. That work overlaps with my Proposition 19 assignments, and one appraisal commonly serves both the planning and the appeal.
Where I Can Take This Assignment
Two counties — San Diego and Riverside — I cover in person, which opens up the inspection-based report types. Everywhere else in California I work by desktop appraisal, and that reaches every one of the state's 58 counties. This site carries dedicated pages for 126 communities in 17 of them.
Getting a Figure From Me
The schedule opens at $299 and I pin down your number before any work begins. The whole fee schedule is published here; alternatively, describe the property and why you need it valued and I will come back with a price.