Choosing a Company for Divorce Home Valuation

When the house has to be valued in a divorce, the first question is usually who to call. Here is how to compare the options without getting lost.

Who does this work

Residential appraisers who handle litigation and divorce assignments, appraisal firms with a family-law practice, and a few valuation companies that also do estate work. A lender’s appraiser is not the same thing: a loan appraisal serves the lender, and a divorce appraisal serves the people dividing the house.

What to ask before you hire

• Have you valued Long Beach homes like mine, such as a Craftsman, a duplex or a condominium?
• Can you value two dates, or a past date, if my attorney needs it?
• Who may rely on the report, and who is engaging you?
• What would testimony involve, and is it separate?
• What will the report cost, and when would I have it?

What not to do

Do not hire someone who will quote a value over the phone, or who promises a number that helps one side. Your attorney can tell you what the court will accept. A good appraiser tells you what they can and cannot do.

How we answer those questions

• Experience with houses like yours. Ask us that one directly, about your street and your kind of house.
• Dates. We can value one date or two, for example a date of separation and a current date.
• Who relies on the report. We ask before work starts and put the readers in the report.
• Testimony. Raise it with your attorney before you hire anyone, then tell us before work begins.
• Fee and timing. A written scope, fee and delivery estimate before anything is ordered.

Talk to us

Call and tell us the address and what your attorney has said about dates. We will tell you plainly whether we can take it. See our divorce appraisal page for how a Long Beach assignment runs.