Estate

PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy prepares estate appraisal reports for executors, heirs, trustees, estate attorneys, and CPAs. We appraise family homes as well as rental buildings, storefronts, and land, and each value is tied to the date the estate actually needs. That could be a date of death years ago, the day a gift was made, or today. Every report follows USPAP and is written for whoever will review it, whether that’s a probate court, the IRS, or a family trying to divide property fairly. Founded by Michael Hobbs, MAI, SRA, PahRoo has been appraising real estate for more than 25 years.

Estate Appraisal Services We Offer

A lot of this work comes to us through attorneys, bankers, brokers, and CPAs, so we write with each of them in mind. See how we work with each of them →

Property We Appraise in an Estate

An estate may hold a family home, a condo, or a rental house, but also an apartment building, a storefront, or vacant land. We value all of them. So when one estate holds several properties, a single firm keeps the dates and methods consistent.

Probate Appraisal

When an estate goes through probate, the executor usually needs a value for each piece of real estate. That way the court, the executor, and the heirs all start from the same number instead of three different guesses. Probate rules differ from state to state, though, so your estate attorney will know what the court expects. We appraise the family home as well as rental buildings, storefronts, and land, and the value is tied to the date the estate needs rather than the day we inspect. For more on dates, read about retrospective versus current market value.

Date-of-Death Appraisal

An heir’s basis in inherited property is generally its fair market value on the date of death, as the IRS explains for gifts and inheritances. Estates that file a federal estate tax return need the same value, and in some cases the executor can elect a date six months after death instead. According to the Form 706 instructions, that election is allowed only if it lowers both the gross estate and the tax. Because that choice belongs to the executor and the CPA, we can value both dates when asked. Either way, we use sales and market conditions from that time, not today’s listings.

Estate Planning Appraisal

Before a plan is signed, it helps to know what the property is worth. For example, a family deciding who keeps the house and who gets the rental building needs real numbers to make that split fair. We value homes, rental property, and the buildings family businesses operate from. Our article on documented values in estate planning shows where plans go wrong without one.

Gift Appraisal

When you give a home or building to a family member, the gift is valued at its fair market value on the date it’s made. If a gift tax return is filed, the Form 709 instructions list a qualified appraisal as one way to adequately disclose the gift. That matters, because the time the IRS has to question a gift generally doesn’t start until it’s adequately disclosed. Your CPA decides whether a return is needed, and we provide the value. Giving property to a charity instead? See our charitable donation appraisal section.

Trust Appraisal

Trusts need values at a few different points. First, when property goes into the trust, a value documents what was transferred. Later, a trustee may need one to divide property fairly among beneficiaries or to sell it at a price that holds up. In each case, the trustee answers to the beneficiaries, so an independent value helps protect that decision. We also handle past dates, such as the date a grantor died and the trust became irrevocable.

Medicaid and Elder Law Appraisal

When a parent moves into long-term care, the family home often becomes part of the Medicaid picture. For instance, Medicaid can look back at gifts or sales to family made before an application, and a transfer for less than fair market value is treated differently from a sale at market. So the home’s value as of the transfer date can matter, even years later. In addition, states must seek to recover certain long-term care costs from the estates of enrollees 55 or older, as Medicaid.gov explains. Since the rules vary by state and change often, we work with the family’s elder law attorney, who decides what the value is for. Our report simply documents what the home was worth on the date in question.

Heir Buyout and Estate Dispute Appraisal

Often one heir wants to keep the house and buy out the others. In that case, one neutral appraisal that everyone agrees to use is usually faster and cheaper than competing reports. When heirs can’t agree, however, the value may end up in front of a judge, including in a partition case. We can review an appraisal someone else prepared and put the problems in writing. Then, if the case needs it, our appraisers can testify at deposition or trial, as our expert witness section explains.

Pre-Listing Appraisal for Estate Property

Estate homes are often dated, vacant, or in need of repairs, which makes pricing harder than usual. A pre-listing appraisal gives the executor a documented value before the property goes on the market. As a result, the price is easier to defend to the heirs and to the court, if the estate is still open. We value the property as is and note what a buyer will likely discount for. Our piece on how an appraisal sets a listing price explains more.

How to Order an Estate Appraisal From PahRoo