When the Estate Is Real, the Appraisal Has to Be Right.

An estate appraisal is not a standard home appraisal with a different client name on the report. The effective date is fixed, typically the date of death, regardless of when you order it. That means the appraiser must reconstruct market conditions as they existed on a specific day in the past, using only the evidence that would have been available at that moment. This is called a retrospective appraisal, and not every appraiser is experienced with the methodology.

The stakes are different too. A regular home appraisal supports a mortgage transaction. An estate appraisal supports a federal tax filing, a probate court proceeding, and the financial interests of every heir named in the will. If the appraisal is challenged by the IRS or contested by a beneficiary, it needs to hold up under scrutiny. Vague methodology and thin comparable selection do not survive that environment.

The IRS has specific requirements. For estates filing Form 706, the appraisal must be performed by a qualified appraiser following USPAP standards. The report must document the valuation date, the fair market value analysis, and the comparable sales supporting the conclusion, all as of the date of death. An appraisal that does not meet these standards does not just get rejected: it can trigger a deficiency assessment against the estate and expose the executor to liability.

Multi-property estates add complexity. When a Northern Illinois estate includes a family home in Rockford, a rental property in DeKalb, and a farmstead in Ogle County, each property requires its own appraisal with the same effective date. Coordinating that across multiple counties, with different market dynamics driving each valuation, requires a single appraiser who knows Northern Illinois at the parcel level.

What goes wrong without a proper appraisal: IRS challenges to reported estate value. Beneficiary disputes over whether the assets were fairly valued. Executors who miss the 90-day inventory deadline because they could not find a qualified appraiser quickly. Heirs who sell inherited property years later and face a capital gains bill no one warned them about, because the step-up in basis was never documented.

VanEtten Appraisal brings over 20 years of appraisal industry experience to these assignments across Winnebago, DeKalb, Kane, McHenry, and surrounding counties. When the estate is real and the deadline is real, the appraisal has to be done right.