No other California county packs this much variety into one assessment roll. I take desktop and retrospective assignments throughout Los Angeles County, most of them estate, trust and dissolution matters where a value is needed as of a past date. Working without a site visit means the public record, the listing history and the permit trail have to carry the weight. I am candid in the report about exactly that.
Los Angeles County at a Glance
The county is really a dozen markets wearing one name. Along the coast, Santa Monica, Venice, the South Bay beach cities and Torrance trade on proximity to the water and on lot size that has not changed since the 1920s. The basin proper, from Hollywood and Los Feliz through Mid-City, Inglewood, Downey and South Los Angeles, is Spanish Colonial Revival, California bungalow and courtyard apartment stock, much of it with units added legally or otherwise over ninety years. Over the hills, the San Fernando Valley supplies enormous runs of post-war tract housing around Burbank, Van Nuys and Northridge. The San Gabriel Valley, through Pasadena, Glendale, Alhambra and Pomona, moves from Greene and Greene craftsman landmarks to dense infill townhomes. Santa Clarita is master-planned and bonded. Long Beach carries everything from Naples canal frontage to Craftsman duplexes. Then the Antelope Valley, with Lancaster and Palmdale, is high desert on five- and ten-acre patterns with a different buyer entirely. Assignments follow the population: probate and trust administration, divorce, Proposition 19 transfers, bankruptcy schedules, PMI removal and tax appeals. The challenge is less finding data than deciding which of several adjacent and dissimilar markets the subject actually competes in.
What I Account For Here
Rent regulation is the first thing I check. The City of Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Santa Monica's rent control, and the statewide cap under the Tenant Protection Act all affect what an occupied two-to-four unit building is worth, and a tenanted sale is not comparable to a vacant one. Seismic mapping matters constantly: Alquist-Priolo fault zones run through the San Fernando and San Gabriel foothills, and liquefaction zones follow the old river courses and the coastal margin. Soft-story retrofit obligations attach to many older apartment buildings. Hillside parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Verdugos face slope, access and geology questions that flat-lot comps cannot answer. Accessory dwelling units and garage conversions are now routine, and permit status governs whether the floor area counts. Mills Act contracts and historic preservation overlay zones restrict exterior change. Small-lot subdivisions blur the condominium and detached line. In the Antelope Valley, fire severity, well and septic systems, Williamson Act agricultural contracts and sparse arm's-length sales on large acreage all come into play.
Courts, Assessor and Recorder
Cases are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Probate is heard in the Central District at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street, with probate matters also calendared at the Michael D. Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. Family law is heard at district courthouses throughout the county. Assessment data comes from the Office of the Assessor, County of Los Angeles, and recorded instruments from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk.
Scope of Service in Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County work is desktop only. I do not visit the property, and nothing in my report pretends otherwise. The analysis is built from assessor and recorder records, multiple listing data including interior photographs, permit history and anything the client or occupant can send me. That scope is disclosed on the face of the report, including retrospective date-of-death assignments.
Communities Served in Los Angeles County
Each of these 14 communities has its own page covering the local market and the valuation issues specific to it.
Appraisal Services Available in Los Angeles County
- Date of Death Appraisals
- Estate & Trust Appraisals
- Private Party & Gift Tax Appraisals
- Divorce Appraisals
- Proposition 19 Appraisals
- Property Tax Appeal Appraisals
- Bankruptcy Appraisals
- Expert Witness & Litigation Support
- Appraisal Review
- Desktop Appraisals
- Rental & Income Analysis
- Pre-Purchase Appraisals
- Pre-Sale Appraisals
- PMI Removal Appraisals