The Peninsula is narrow, and value here changes across it faster than along it. A few blocks of westward movement can mean fog, a different school district and a different price level. I appraise San Mateo County on a desktop basis, without a property visit, principally for trust administration, date-of-death valuation and family law matters.
San Mateo County at a Glance
The bayside corridor from Daly City through South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos and Redwood City carries the county's working inventory: Henry Doelger's Westlake rowhouses in Daly City, 1920s Mediterranean and Tudor homes in Burlingame and Hillsborough's adjacent streets, post-war ranch tracts on the Belmont and San Carlos slopes, and dense newer condominium and townhome development near the Caltrain stations and in Redwood Shores and Foster City, both built on engineered bay fill. The exclusive pockets, Hillsborough, Atherton, Woodside and Portola Valley, run to large parcels where land dominates value and minimum lot sizes are enforced. East Palo Alto has its own older stock and its own regulation. Over Skyline, the coastside runs from Pacifica and Montara through Half Moon Bay to San Gregorio and Pescadero, where housing is sparse, agricultural and constrained. La Honda and the Santa Cruz Mountains add wooded parcels on private roads. Assignments are heavily probate, trust and dissolution, with Proposition 19 transfers and appraisal review appearing regularly. Submarkets here are small, defined and unforgiving of loose comparable selection. The county's geography also means fog and orientation do real work, because the westward neighborhoods of Daly City, Pacifica and the San Bruno Mountain slopes sit under a marine layer that the bayside cities a few miles east largely escape, and buyers price that difference even though the houses themselves are often from the same builder and era.
What I Account For Here
Foster City and Redwood Shores sit on dredged fill, which brings liquefaction mapping, levee dependence, flood insurance and lagoon frontage all into one analysis, and lagoon-front lots need separate treatment from interior ones. On the coastside, Coastal Act jurisdiction and long-standing limits on water and sewer connections restrict development and make buildable sites scarce, so vacant and underbuilt parcels cannot be valued by inland logic. In Hillsborough, Atherton, Woodside and Portola Valley the improvement may contribute little relative to the land, and minimum parcel sizes, equestrian keeping, wells and septic systems all matter. East Palo Alto maintains rent stabilization that affects occupied rental property. The San Andreas fault runs under the Crystal Springs corridor with Alquist-Priolo zoning. Accessory dwellings are widespread on older deep lots. Attached housing spans condominium, townhome and co-operative forms that must be read from the map and deed.
Courts, Assessor and Recorder
Filings are made in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. The probate courtroom and probate clerk's office are at the Southern Branch, 400 County Center in Redwood City, where family law matters are also heard. Assessment, recording, county clerk and election functions are combined in a single office, the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Elections, known as ACRE.
Scope of Service in San Mateo County
San Mateo County assignments are desktop valuations and retrospective appraisals, prepared without an inspection. That limitation is stated in the report, not buried. I work from assessor and recorder records, multiple listing history with interior photographs, flood and permit data and client-supplied documents, and I identify where condition had to be assumed rather than observed.
Communities Served in San Mateo County
Each of these community has its own page covering the local market and the valuation issues specific to it.
Appraisal Services Available in San Mateo 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