Do not assume that an estate appraisal includes the land-and-building allocation your tax adviser needs. A report can establish the value of an inherited residential property as a whole without answering a separate allocation question. Ask the adviser to specify the required breakdown, purpose and valuation date, then discuss that deliverable with the appraiser before ordering.
The useful first step is to identify what the recipient needs to do with the report. A historical whole-property value, a supported allocation between land and improvements, and a tax depreciation calculation are different requests.
Ask whether the adviser needs only the property's total market value or also an allocation between land and improvements. Clarify whether the request includes a detached garage, accessory dwelling unit or other residential structures, and which property interest and parcels are involved.
Provide the actual written request to the appraiser. A vague instruction such as “for the estate” may leave this additional question unstated. Agree on the analysis and report explanation needed rather than assuming a particular form or a single line item will satisfy the recipient.
This is still a residential assignment-fit discussion. It is not a promise to provide a cost-segregation study, engineering analysis or tax-return preparation.
IRS Publication 527 explains that land itself cannot be depreciated and discusses separating land and building cost for purchased rental property. It directs readers receiving property by inheritance to the separate basis rules in Publication 551. Do not apply a purchased-property illustration to an inheritance without the tax adviser's analysis.
An adviser may therefore ask for additional valuation evidence when an inherited home will be rented. The appraiser supplies the agreed value analysis; the tax professional determines basis, eligibility, adjustments, placed-in-service treatment and deductions. A market-value allocation is not a completed depreciation schedule.
IRS Publication 551 describes inherited-property basis rules, including date-of-death value, other applicable valuation rules and consistency requirements. The tax adviser determines which rules apply. The appraisal should address the date and interest actually requested.
If a historical total value is needed, ask whether the allocation must address that same historical date. Do not silently combine a past whole-property value with today's land estimate. A later rental conversion, renovation or distribution can introduce another question; tell the appraiser about those events instead of assuming that one date answers them all.
For historical work, preserve dated photographs, listings, plans and records of subsequent changes. Explain what existed at the requested date, including detached improvements that have since been removed or added.
A property-tax statement may list land and improvement amounts. Supply it as background, including its assessment date, rather than presenting its percentages as an independently developed appraisal conclusion.
Publication 527 allows assessed-value ratios in its discussion of dividing purchased-property cost when fair market values are uncertain. That does not establish that every estate assignment requires an appraisal allocation or that an assessor ratio is always unacceptable. Ask the tax adviser which documentation fits the actual situation, then ask the appraiser what analysis can support the requested opinion.
Likewise, do not assume a site value elsewhere in a report was developed to answer your specific allocation request. Ask what that figure represents and whether its premise, date and supporting explanation fit the recipient's purpose.
Send the complete report to the appraiser and describe the missing deliverable. The existing work may contain relevant information, but a new allocation request is not automatically a clerical correction. Ask what additional analysis, documentation, fee or assignment is appropriate.
Do not subtract an unrelated online land estimate from the appraised total and label the balance an appraised building value. Do not change the report yourself. The recipient needs to understand which conclusions the appraiser actually developed and which calculations belong to someone else.
The allocation also does not decide equity, an heir's legal entitlement or a sibling's buyout payment. Those remain separate from the value evidence and from the tax adviser's calculations.
For property in King County, Snohomish County or Skagit County, describe the requested allocation when asking about an estate appraisal. Alpha will discuss assignment fit, scope, fee and availability before scheduling.
Request a quote, call 425-753-1971 or email dustin.labrasseur@gmail.com. Include your email and phone number, property address, purpose, requested value date and deadline so the intended deliverable can be clarified.
Written November 4, 2026. Primary sources checked November 4, 2026: IRS Publication 527 (2025), Residential Rental Property, and Publication 551 (December 2025), Basis of Assets, linked above. This guide addresses ordering residential valuation evidence; it does not select tax treatment or guarantee a recipient's acceptance.