When settling an estate, determining the value of real property as of a specific date in the past may be necessary for estate administration, probate, tax purposes, inheritance planning, or the distribution of assets.

American Property Appraisal, LLC provides independent residential date-of-death and retrospective real estate appraisals throughout Western Washington.

A date-of-death appraisal establishes an opinion of the property's market value as of the date the property owner passed away rather than its value today. Because the effective date of the appraisal is in the past, this type of assignment is known as a retrospective appraisal.

The appraisal requires research and analysis of market conditions and comparable sales that were relevant as of the historical effective date.

We work with executors, personal representatives, heirs, trustees, attorneys, CPAs and other professionals who need a credible and well-supported opinion of value for estate-related purposes.

A retrospective appraisal may be needed even months or years after the date of death. The property does not necessarily need to have been appraised at the time of the owner's passing.

Historical appraisals require more than simply finding old sales. The appraiser must analyze the market as it existed on the effective date of the appraisal and consider the information that would have been relevant to buyers and sellers at that time.

With more than 20 years of residential appraisal experience and extensive knowledge of Western Washington real estate markets, American Property Appraisal, LLC provides carefully researched, well-supported appraisal reports designed to clearly explain the data and analysis behind the opinion of value.

If you are an executor, personal representative, attorney, CPA, trustee, heir or property owner and need to determine the value of real estate as of a prior date, contact American Property Appraisal, LLC to discuss the property, effective date and intended use of the appraisal.