Fair appraisals. Accurate values. Real results.

What was the property worth on the date that matters?

Independent USPAP appraisals for date-of-death, probate, trust, divorce, and pre-sale valuations across California — written to hold up with the IRS, the court, and everyone else who reads them.

Start with the property

Two minutes. No account, no credit check, no obligation.

We’ll never publish your address or sell your information.

Why an appraisal, not an estimate

A number someone else has to accept

An online estimate or an agent’s opinion is fine for deciding what to list at. When the IRS, a probate judge, an opposing attorney, or a county assessor is on the other side of the number, the standard is different.

Independent by design

No side to take and no stake in the outcome. That independence is exactly what makes the report usable by everyone involved.

Any date of value

Today, the date of death, the date of separation, the date of a filing. Retrospective values are built from what the market was doing then, not now.

Written to be reviewed

Comparable sales, adjustments, and reasoning are all shown. A CPA, an attorney, or an IRS reviewer can follow how the value was reached.

Delivered when promised

Flat fee agreed up front, inspection scheduled within days, signed PDF in your inbox in 5–7 business days. Rush available.

How it works

Three steps to a signed report

01

Tell us the assignment

The property, the purpose, and the effective date of value. That’s what determines the scope of work — and the fee, which we quote before anything starts.

02

We inspect and research

Usually an interior walkthrough with measurements and photos. When there’s no access — the home sold, or a tenant won’t allow it — we’ll tell you what’s possible and what assumptions the report will carry.

03

You get the report

A signed PDF with comparables, adjustments, and a USPAP certification. Copies go to your attorney or CPA if you want them to have one.

What we appraise and why

Most of our work starts with a death, a filing, or a sale

Estate and settlement work is the core of what we do. If your situation isn’t listed, it probably still fits — ask.

Most requested

Date-of-death valuation

Fair market value as of the day the owner died. This is what establishes the heirs’ stepped-up cost basis, so it decides the capital gains tax when the property is eventually sold.

Estate

Probate & court

For executors and administrators moving an estate through California probate, including value support alongside the probate referee’s Inventory and Appraisal.

Estate

Trust administration

A trust doesn’t get a probate referee. A successor trustee needs an independent appraisal to value the property, distribute fairly, and document the basis.

Family law

Divorce & buyouts

Values at date of separation, date of trial, or today — often more than one date in the same assignment. Declarations and testimony available when the case calls for it.

Heirs

Partition & sibling buyouts

When one heir keeps the house and the others get cashed out, an independent number is what keeps that conversation from turning into a lawsuit.

Tax

Estate & gift tax filings

Supporting values for Form 706 and gift returns, including the alternate valuation date six months after death when the estate elects it.

Tax

Prop 19 transfers

Parent-to-child and grandparent-to-grandchild transfers need a market value at the date of transfer to work out what the reassessment looks like.

Tax

Assessment appeals

Decline-in-value and assessment appeal support, valued as of the county’s lien date rather than the date you noticed the bill.

Selling

Pre-listing & FSBO

A defensible list price before the sign goes up — most useful on custom, rural, or unusual homes where the comps don’t speak for themselves.

Lending

PMI removal & equity

Documenting current value to drop mortgage insurance or to see where you stand before a refinance. Check with your servicer first — some order their own.

Legal

Bankruptcy & litigation

Values as of a filing date, a loss date, or any other date the matter turns on, with the file documented for review by the other side.

Charitable

Donated property

Qualified appraisals for donated real property, prepared to meet the substantiation requirements that come with the deduction.

Single family, condos, townhomes, small multi-family, manufactured homes on permanent foundations, and land. Occupied, vacant, tenant-occupied, hoarded, fire-damaged, or mid-remodel — condition is something we document, not something that disqualifies the assignment.

The one most families need

Date-of-death appraisals, explained plainly

When someone dies owning real estate, the property’s cost basis generally resets to its fair market value on the date of death. Everything the property gained during their lifetime stops being taxable. That reset is the single biggest tax event in most estates, and it rests entirely on the value assigned to that one day.

If the family guesses at that number, or uses a county assessment, or pulls a figure off a website, there’s nothing behind it. A retrospective appraisal puts a documented value on the record — before anyone needs it in a hurry.

It's not too late if the death was years ago

Retrospective appraisals are routine. We use sales that closed on or before the effective date, market conditions as they were at the time, and whatever evidence exists of the property's condition then — photos, old listing records, repair invoices, or a walkthrough today with the changes since accounted for.

Even if the house has already sold

A sale after the date of death doesn't establish the date-of-death value, and the gap between them is where the tax liability lives. We can still appraise as of the earlier date using records and photos, with the assumptions stated clearly in the report.

A note on timing. An estate that elects the alternate valuation date is valuing the property six months after death instead. If your CPA or attorney is weighing that election, tell us — it changes the effective date, not the process.

What we'll need from you

Nothing here is a dealbreaker if you don't have it. It just shapes the scope.

✓ The date of death and the property address

✓ Who’s ordering — executor, trustee, heir, attorney, or CPA

✓ Access to the property, if it’s still available

✓ Any photos from around that date

✓ Known repairs, permits, or additions, and roughly when

✓ Whether the property has since sold, and for how much

We’re appraisers, not attorneys or tax advisors. Your CPA or estate attorney decides how the value gets used on a return.

Which one do you actually need?

An appraisal and an agent's opinion aren't the same tool

If you’re deciding what to list at and nothing official rides on the number, an agent’s comparative market analysis is free and usually enough. We’ll say so rather than sell you a report you don’t need.

Appraisal report

An independent opinion of value from a state-certified appraiser, developed and reported under USPAP.

Agent opinion of value

A comparative market analysis from a licensed agent, built around what the property should list for right now.

What you actually receive

Inside the report

A signed PDF, delivered by email, formatted the way reviewers expect to see it.

The assignment on the record

Client, intended users, intended use, and the effective date of value stated on the front page, so there's no question later what the report was for.

Sketch and measured living area

Square footage measured on site rather than copied from tax records, which are wrong more often than people expect.

Market conditions as of that date

What the neighborhood was doing at the time: direction, pace, and supply. Essential on retrospective assignments.

One thing worth knowing. A restricted report is cheaper and faster, but it's only usable by the one client named in it and can't be handed to the IRS, a court, or a beneficiary. For estate work we default to a full appraisal report so nobody has to pay twice.

Subject description and photos

Interior and exterior photos, room count, condition, upgrades, and anything unpermitted or unusual, described rather than glossed over.

Comparable sales with adjustments

Sales appropriate to the effective date, with each adjustment shown and explained — the part a reviewer reads first.

Certification and license

Signed certification, license details, and a statement that the fee wasn't contingent on the value reached.

One thing worth knowing. A restricted report is cheaper and faster, but it’s only usable by the one client named in it and can’t be handed to the IRS, a court, or a beneficiary. For estate work we default to a full appraisal report so nobody has to pay twice.

For attorneys, CPAs & fiduciaries

Set up a firm account

If you order valuations for clients more than once or twice a year, a standing account cuts the back-and-forth to a single email with an address and a date.

Priority scheduling

Firm files go to the front of the inspection calendar, with hard court and filing deadlines flagged at intake.

Billing that fits the matter

Invoice the estate, the trust, your trust account, or the client directly — set once and applied to every order.

Multiple dates in one engagement

Date of death and current value, or date of separation and date of trial, handled as one assignment on one inspection.

Testimony and declarations

Declarations, deposition, and court testimony quoted separately and scheduled around your calendar.

Tell us how your firm works

Four minutes, once. After that your orders come in pre-configured.

Your practice area and the counties you file in
Assignment types you order most
Typical turnaround and how often deadlines are hard
Report delivery, copies, and who gets them
Billing arrangement and who pays
Whether you need declarations or testimony

No retainer. No minimum volume. Quoted per assignment as always.

Straight answers

Questions families and firms ask

Can you appraise a property as of a date in the past?

Yes — that's a retrospective appraisal, and for estate work it's most of what we do. The value is developed using sales that closed on or before that date and market conditions as they were then. Ten days ago or ten years ago, the process is the same; older dates just take more research, which is reflected in the fee.

What does it cost?

Most residential assignments run $550 to $950, driven by property type, size, how complex the assignment is, and how far back the effective date sits. Acreage, multiple parcels, small income property, and litigation work are quoted individually. You get the number before we start, and the fee is never tied to the value we conclude — that's prohibited, not just discouraged.

How long does it take?

Inspection usually happens within a few business days of scheduling, and the signed report follows five to seven business days after that. Rush service compresses that when a filing or hearing date demands it — say so at intake rather than after.

Do you need to go inside?

An interior inspection produces the most credible result and is what we recommend for anything headed to the IRS or a court. When it isn't possible — the property already sold, a tenant refuses, the family doesn't have keys — we can work from exterior observation and records, with the limits stated plainly in the report so nobody is surprised by them later.

Will the IRS accept it?

A complete appraisal report from a state-certified appraiser, developed under USPAP, is the recognized way to support a value on an estate or gift return. We can't promise what any examiner will do with it, and we're not the ones who decide how the value is reported — that's your CPA's call. What we control is that the reasoning is documented well enough to be defended.

California probate already uses a referee. Why order an appraisal?

The probate referee values estate assets for the Inventory and Appraisal, and that's a court-appointed role we're not replacing. Executors still order independent appraisals to understand the number before it's filed, to support an heir buyout, to document basis for the IRS, or to raise a question about a referee value. Property held in a trust is different — there's no referee at all, and the trustee needs an independent appraisal.

We're in a divorce. Can you work for both sides?

Yes, and it's often the cheaper path — a single jointly-engaged appraiser instead of two competing ones. The engagement letter names both parties or both attorneys, and the report goes to everyone at the same time. Either side is free to hire their own appraiser instead.

Zillow shows a different number.

An automated estimate is a statistical guess from public records that has never seen the inside of the house, can't value a remodel or a failing foundation, and can't produce a value as of a date in the past at all. It's a starting point for curiosity, not a valuation anyone is required to accept.

Who am I hiring?

Mr. Cali Appraisals is an independent California appraisal practice. Appraisals are prepared and signed by a state-certified appraiser under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. We don't take a commission on any sale of the property, and we don't take assignments where the fee depends on the outcome.

Get the value documented before someone else needs it.

Two minutes for a fee quote and a turnaround date. Nothing is scheduled until you say so.

Independent residential appraisals for estates, trusts, families, and the professionals who advise them.

(909) 324-6122

Appraisals

Company

Mr. Cali Appraisals provides independent real property appraisal services in California. Reports are prepared under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and signed by a state-certified appraiser. Fees are based on the scope of the assignment and are never contingent on the value reported, on a predetermined result, or on the occurrence of a later event. Fee ranges and turnaround times shown on this page are estimates for planning purposes and are confirmed in a written engagement before work begins. Nothing here is legal, tax, or accounting advice; how a value is used on a tax return or in a legal proceeding is a matter for your attorney or CPA. This page does not constitute an appraisal or an opinion of value for any specific property.