A citywide median shows where the middle of a month's sales fell. It cannot show what one inherited house was worth, with its own repairs, layout and lot, on the date that matters. What an estate appraisal delivers is narrower and more useful: a supported opinion of what this house was worth on the effective date, prepared for a use agreed up front.
Families ask for that opinion for different reasons: settling a trust or an estate, pricing a sale, working out a buyout between siblings, keeping basis records for a tax adviser, or understanding a Proposition 19 property tax question. Each use can point to a different date and different readers, so name them when you call.
Date, Condition and Comparisons
The date
Heirs' basis (absent an alternate-date election), the probate inventory and Proposition 19 all look back to the date of death. A sale or buyout months later may need a current value instead. Your adviser confirms which one this assignment covers.
The condition
An inherited home may be emptied, painted or re-roofed after the owner dies. The appraisal has to describe the house as it was on the effective date, which is why dated photos and invoices matter.
The comparisons
Sales have to resemble the subject. A two-story Craftsman along the Bluff Park ocean bluffs and a canal-front house in Naples are not interchangeable comparisons, even though they sit a short drive apart.
One Citywide Month, Many Kinds of Homes
Our service area page reports RPR sold-listing figures for the Long Beach city boundary:
| Long Beach, September 2026 | RPR figure |
|---|---|
| Median sold price, September 2026 | $868,750 |
| Properties sold, September 2026 | 112 |
| Median price per square foot, September 2026 | $658 |
Source: Realtors Property Resource (RPR), Sold Listings; September 2026; Single Family + Condo/Townhouse/Apt.; area: Long Beach, California; accessed October 7, 2026. Download the September 2026 figures (CSV).
These figures combine single-family homes with condominiums, townhouses and apartments, and they describe one month. Long Beach housing is also old: the City's 2022 Housing Element reports that 71 percent of it is more than 50 years old, and the City Council has designated 18 neighborhoods as historic districts. In homes of that age, renovation quality and condition can account for much of the gap between one sale and the next, and a citywide median captures none of it. September 2026 is context for today's market, not evidence of what a home was worth on an earlier date of death.
Rebuilding the Picture of a Past Date
If the property changed after the death, today's inspection records the new condition, not the old one. Gather what you can: dated photographs, the last listing, inspection reports, repair invoices and permits, with a note on which changes happened and in what order. The appraiser weighs those records, and any point they cannot settle is stated as an assumption in the report.
In Long Beach's historic districts, the City requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before exterior changes such as new windows or doors, re-roofing, re-painting or additions, even when no building permit is needed. If the home sits in a district such as California Heights, Rose Park or Belmont Heights, those approvals can help date when exterior work was done.
California and Federal Rules That Shape the Value
Federal basis. Under Internal Revenue Code section 1014, an heir's basis is generally the property's fair market value at the date of death, or at the alternate valuation date if the estate elects one under section 2032. IRS Publication 551 explains the rule.
Community property. Publication 551 lists California among the community property states. When a spouse dies, section 1014(b)(6) can give the surviving spouse's half of community property a new basis as well, if at least half of the community interest was includible in the decedent's gross estate. Whether a particular home is community property depends on the facts.
Proposition 19. For a parent-to-child transfer on or after February 16, 2021, a home qualifies for the property tax exclusion only if it was the parent's principal residence and becomes the child's. The value limit is the home's taxable value plus $1,000,000, adjusted every two years, and market value above the limit is added to the factored base year value, according to the State Board of Equalization's Proposition 19 page. The Board's Publication 801 puts the adjusted amount at $1,044,586 for transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027, treats the date of death as the date of transfer, and says the child must make the home a primary residence within one year. The Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor handles the claim.
Probate. If the home passes through probate, a court-appointed probate referee appraises it for the inventory unless the court waives that step. See probate appraisals.
No inheritance tax, and an estate tax only for the largest estates
Neither California nor the federal government has an inheritance tax, that is, a tax charged to heirs on what they receive. California voters repealed the state's version through Proposition 6 in 1982, which also bars state and local inheritance taxes, and the State Controller's Office handles inheritance tax only where the death came before June 8, 1982; it has required no California estate tax return for any death on or after January 1, 2005. The federal estate tax is a separate tax on the transfer of the estate itself, paid by the executor (26 U.S.C. sections 2001 and 2002), and for a U.S. citizen or resident who dies in 2026 it can apply only when the gross estate, added to adjusted taxable gifts and specific exemption, passes $15,000,000; below that, a return is required only if the executor chooses portability. An heir generally does not count an inheritance as income, though rent the house earns later is taxable (IRS Publication 525). If the heir sells for more than the date-of-death basis, only the gain above it is taxed, which is one reason the value at death matters; for a parent-to-child transfer, Proposition 19 is another.
The date and documents are your adviser's call
These rules explain why the date of death keeps coming up; they do not settle which date or documents your situation needs. Your attorney or tax adviser should decide both. No appraisal can promise a tax outcome, or that the IRS, a court or the assessor will accept it.
Records Worth Pulling Together
| What to bring | How it helps |
|---|---|
| Address and property type | Points the research at the right home and sales |
| Date of death or other date your adviser names, the use and the readers | Separates a past value from a current one |
| Photos, listings, invoices and permits from around that date | Shows the condition then versus now |
| Whether the home is in a Long Beach historic district | Points to Certificate of Appropriateness records for exterior work |
| Who can open the house, and your deadline | Lets the visit and delivery be scheduled |
| Notes from your attorney, trustee or accountant | Shows what the report needs to cover |
Four Steps From Inquiry to Report
- Start with the question. Property, date, use, readers and deadline. We confirm a written scope, fee and delivery estimate before starting.
- Document the property. Arrange entry and share records showing how the home looked on the effective date and what has changed since.
- Analyze the period. The appraiser studies sales and market conditions around the effective date and ties them to the conclusion.
- Review the report. Confirm the effective date, the stated use, and the assumptions and limits, and raise factual questions about the home.
Our work follows USPAP, the profession's standards of practice. Meeting them is not a promise that every reader, agency or court will accept a report.
Fees and Delivery
Ask for a written scope, fee and delivery estimate. The home's size and complexity, entry arrangements, the research a past date takes and your timeline all shape the fee and schedule, so confirm delivery before counting on a filing or closing date. For a probate inventory question, see probate appraisals; for a basis-only question, see IRS step-up appraisals.
Ask About an Estate Appraisal
Share the Long Beach address, what the value is for and the date your adviser has given you, and we will explain the next steps.
Request an estate appraisal quote · Call (562) 548-5502
The California sections on this page were written with AI assistance for Eagle Home Appraisal Long Beach. The market figures describe September 2026 and serve as context only; this page does not value any property or give legal or tax advice.
