Residential real estate appraisals prepared for federal gift tax, charitable contribution, and estate tax filings — built around the substantiation rules your CPA or estate attorney actually has to satisfy.
When a return reports the value of real estate, the government is not asking for a number. It is asking for a number plus the reasoning that produced it, prepared by someone who meets defined criteria, delivered inside a defined window, and documented so an examiner can follow it without calling you. Most valuation trouble on audit is not a disagreement about the market. It is a failure of substantiation: a missing signature, an appraisal dated outside the permitted window, an appraiser who does not meet the qualified appraiser criteria, a report that states a conclusion without showing the work.
I am a Texas Certified Residential appraiser doing private-client work — no AMC panels, no volume files. On a tax assignment my report is written to be read by a reviewer who may be skeptical, so that any disagreement is about the market rather than the paperwork.
The federal standard is set by regulation. Treasury Regulation §20.2031-1(b) defines fair market value as the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither under compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts, and it makes clear the value is not determined by a forced sale price. The gift tax regulations apply a parallel definition.
That definition drives real analytical choices. It rules out a distress figure, a quick-cash offer, or what one particular family member would pay. The Form 709 instructions themselves treat an arm's-length sale price as the best indication of the value of real property and, failing that, comparable sales adjusted for differences in time, size, condition, and location. That is exactly what a competent residential appraisal does.
There are no IRS-approved or IRS-certified appraisers. There are qualified appraiser criteria in the Code and regulations, and I will tell you exactly which ones a given assignment meets.
Form 709 is generally due by April 15 of the year after the gift; an extension of the income tax return extends it, and Form 8892 covers the case where no income tax extension is filed. For 2026 the annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient and the basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per individual. Those numbers are your CPA's department, not mine.
The part that concerns me is disclosure. Treasury Regulation §301.6501(c)-1(f) sets out what a gift tax return must contain for a transfer to be adequately disclosed, which is what starts the limitations period running on the gift. One requirement is a detailed description of the method used to determine fair market value, and paragraph (f)(3) allows that to be satisfied instead by an appraisal meeting specified conditions: performed by someone who holds himself or herself out to the public as an appraiser, is qualified to appraise that type of property, and is not the donor, the donee, a family member, or their employee. The appraisal must state the date of transfer, the appraisal date and purpose, the property, the method and procedures used, the assumptions and limiting conditions, and the specific basis for the valuation, including comparable sales.
One boundary worth naming. If you are gifting an undivided fractional interest, or an interest in an entity that owns the real estate, I appraise the underlying real property. Any discount for lack of control or marketability belongs to a business valuation analyst.
Noncash contributions over $5,000 generally require Section B of Form 8283 and a qualified appraisal, which means essentially every donation of real property. The rules governing my side of that file are the tightest in this whole area, and they are worth reading before anyone signs anything.
Treasury Regulation §1.170A-17(a) and USPAP both prohibit it, and so do I. The fee is a set amount, quoted in advance, and unaffected by the conclusion or by any tax result.
Form 706 is generally due nine months after death, with an automatic six-month extension on Form 4768, and real property is reported on Schedule A at fair market value. Many estates that owe nothing still file it to elect portability, and the real estate still has to be valued.
Where a Form 706 is filed, Internal Revenue Code §6035 requires the executor to furnish Form 8971 and Schedule A to the IRS and to each beneficiary, generally by the earlier of thirty days after the return is due including extensions or thirty days after it is filed. The consistency rule at §1014(f) then bars a beneficiary from claiming an initial basis higher than the value reported. That value is not a one-time entry — it travels with the property into the next generation's return. Section 2032 also permits an alternate valuation date six months after death, subject to the limits in §2032(c); if your advisor is weighing that election, I can develop both dates in one assignment.
Three separate authorities say the same thing. Treasury Regulation §1.170A-17(a) prohibits a qualified appraisal fee based to any extent on the appraised value. USPAP's ETHICS RULE prohibits any compensation arrangement contingent on reporting a predetermined result, on results favoring the client's cause, on the amount of a value opinion, or on the attainment of a stipulated result such as taxes being reduced. And Internal Revenue Code §6695A imposes a penalty directly on an appraiser whose work produces a substantial or gross valuation misstatement, with an exception where the appraiser establishes the value was more likely than not the proper value.
So my fee is a fixed amount quoted before I begin. It does not vary with the conclusion, with whether a deduction is allowed, or with anything that happens after I deliver. If someone offers you an appraisal priced any other way for a tax filing, that fact alone is a problem in the file.
For charitable contributions, the appraisal must be signed no earlier than 60 days before the contribution date and no later than the return due date including extensions.
I will not tell you the IRS will accept the report. Nobody can, and there is no such thing as an IRS-certified or IRS-approved appraiser. What exists are criteria — the qualified appraiser and qualified appraisal requirements in the Code and regulations — and an appraiser either meets them for a given assignment or does not.
I will not agree to a value before I do the work, and I will not take an assignment framed that way. I do not give tax advice, prepare returns, or opine on your deduction. If my analysis lands somewhere you were not hoping for, you will hear it from me before it is in a report.
Texas Certified Residential covers one-to-four unit residential property and vacant or unimproved land whose highest and best use is one-to-four family residential. Within that: houses, townhomes, condominium units, duplexes through fourplexes, and residential lots in Tarrant County and the surrounding area. Tarrant, Parker, Johnson and Hood counties.
I do not appraise commercial property, apartment properties of five units or more, land valued for subdivision development, conservation easements, business interests, or personal property. When a filing involves those, it needs a differently credentialed appraiser and I will say so early rather than late.
The cleanest engagements come from the CPA or the estate attorney, because they know the filing, the deadline, and the effective date. Send me the address, the intended use, the effective date, and the deadline, and I will confirm scope and quote the fee before anyone commits. IRS and gift-tax appraisals start at $600 for a retrospective effective date.
Timing matters most on charitable assignments, because the 60-day rule at §1.170A-17(a) cuts both ways: signed too early is as much of a problem as signed too late. Tell me the intended contribution date when you call. Typical turnaround is 5 to 7 business days from inspection. Rush service is $200 for a two-business-day priority turnaround, subject to calendar availability.
IRS appraisal
“Terrence handled an appraisal I needed for IRS purposes and made it painless. He explained what the IRS required, delivered on time, and the report was detailed enough that my CPA had no follow-up questions. Easy to reach and easy to talk to.”Sue Simon · Google review
Your CPA decides that, but the disclosure rules make an appraisal the practical answer for most real estate gifts. Treasury Regulation §301.6501(c)-1(f) requires a detailed description of the method used to determine fair market value for the transfer to be adequately disclosed, and paragraph (f)(3) allows an appraisal meeting specified conditions to satisfy that requirement. Adequate disclosure is what starts the limitations period on the gift.
Noncash contributions over $5,000 generally require Section B of Form 8283 and a qualified appraisal, which effectively means every donation of real property. Where the claimed deduction exceeds $500,000, the qualified appraisal itself generally must be attached to the return. Confirm the specifics with the CPA preparing the return.
No, and neither is anyone else — the IRS does not approve or certify appraisers. What the Code and regulations set out are criteria for a qualified appraiser and a qualified appraisal, including the education and experience requirements at Treasury Regulation §1.170A-17(b) and the requirement that those qualifications be stated in the appraisal itself. I am a Texas Certified Residential appraiser and I will address those criteria directly in the report.
No earlier than 60 days before the date of the contribution, and no later than the due date, including extensions, of the return on which the deduction is first claimed. That is Treasury Regulation §1.170A-17(a). It is a genuine trap, because an appraisal obtained too far in advance of the gift does not qualify, so tell me your intended contribution date when you first call.
I cannot promise that and no honest appraiser will. Acceptance is the IRS's decision. What I can do is meet the qualified appraiser and qualified appraisal criteria that apply to your filing, develop fair market value to the standard at Treasury Regulation §20.2031-1(b), report in compliance with USPAP, and make the analysis explicit enough that any disagreement is about the market rather than about the paperwork.
A set fee, quoted before I start and never a percentage of value or of any tax result. IRS and gift-tax appraisals start at $600 for a retrospective effective date. It varies with the property, the effective date, and whether more than one date is required. Treasury Regulation §1.170A-17(a) actually prohibits a qualified appraisal fee based to any extent on the appraised value, so value-independent pricing is not just a preference here.
I appraise the underlying real property, and a business valuation analyst handles any discount applied to a fractional or entity-level interest. That split is deliberate: valuing a house and quantifying a lack-of-control or lack-of-marketability discount are different disciplines with different qualifications behind them. Your CPA will typically coordinate both.
The examiner may propose a different value, and the taxpayer's advisors respond through the normal examination and appeals process. A well-documented appraisal gives that process something specific to engage with. Internal Revenue Code §6695A also imposes a penalty on appraisers whose work produces substantial or gross valuation misstatements, which is one more reason my analysis is built to be defended rather than to be pleasing.
Written fee quote, typically within one business hour. If a filing deadline or a 60-day contribution window is driving the schedule, say so and I will tell you straight away whether the calendar works.
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