Simply Appraisal · San Jose, CA
San Jose certified residential appraiser since 2003.
Santa Clara County · License AR035684 ↗
Chuck Chang · AR035684
California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers
Select your situation. The right tool or next step appears immediately — no contact info required.
Date-of-death valuation — effective date fixed to the death certificate, not today. Reconstructs market conditions from that specific point in time. Required for IRS Form 706, stepped-up basis documentation, and probate court.
Santa Clara County family courts expect an independent appraiser with no financial interest in either party's outcome. The most common arrangement: both attorneys agree on a single neutral appraiser — one report both sides work from, rather than dueling valuations.
Filing window: July 2 – September 15 (Santa Clara County). An independent appraisal is the strongest evidence you can bring to the Assessment Appeals Board — it shows what the market said your property was worth, not what the county estimated.
Founded in 2003, Simply Appraisal specializes in high-stakes legal and tax proceedings where precision and credibility determine outcomes.
CA Certified Residential Appraiser · License AR035684 ↗ Verify
Chuck Chang is a California Certified Residential Appraiser (License AR035684) based in San Jose, specializing in estate and probate appraisals, divorce property valuations, and property tax assessment appeals across Santa Clara County. He has been appraising residential properties in the San Jose and Silicon Valley market since 2003.
Background in data analysis and quantitative market research — including ADU value impact studies and submarket-level analysis across Silicon Valley. Most appraisers work from the same MLS data. The difference is in how it's analyzed.
Most residential appraisals rely on MLS data and a handful of comparable sales selected by the appraiser's judgment. That works fine for mortgage originations where the lender just needs a number in a range. It doesn't hold up as well when the IRS, a court, or a tax appeals board scrutinizes the methodology.
The reports coming out of this practice are built to survive professional scrutiny — not just to satisfy a turnaround deadline.
Most of the assignments we take come through attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors. The workflow is straightforward — and the reports are built to hold up.
Estate and probate attorneys, family law attorneys, and CPAs across Santa Clara County retain Chuck Chang when they need a USPAP-compliant appraisal that will hold up in court or with the IRS. Date-of-death valuations, retrospective appraisals, neutral divorce valuations, and tax appeal documentation. If you've worked with appraisers who required extensive hand-holding or delivered reports that needed revision, that's not the typical experience here.
The IRS defines "qualified appraisal" and "qualified appraiser" in Treasury Regulation 1.170A-17. For Form 706 purposes, the appraiser must hold a state certification and the report must document methodology, data sources, and the effective date — which is the decedent's date of death, not the appraisal date. That distinction matters when the IRS reviews the filing.
For stepped-up basis work, the appraisal establishes fair market value as of date-of-death so heirs can calculate gain on a future sale. The report format is designed to be attached directly to the return — no translation required. If the IRS later questions the value, the methodology is documented and defensible.
Retrospective assignments are accepted. If a client's estate issue involves a death that occurred years ago, the effective date goes back to the death certificate date. We've completed retrospective appraisals with effective dates more than 20 years in the past — the data infrastructure for Bay Area historical market conditions is in place.
Have a client situation?
Or call directly: (408) 858-4706
Weekdays 8am–6pm. Calls returned within 2 hours.
A date-of-death appraisal establishes fair market value as of the owner's date of death — not today's value. The effective date is fixed by the death certificate. Required for IRS Form 706 estate tax filings and most Santa Clara County probate proceedings. The appraiser reconstructs market conditions from that point in time using historical comparable sales.
A retrospective appraisal assigns value to a property as of a past effective date. Common situations: estate disputes where death occurred years ago, IRS audits requiring historical values, litigation involving past transactions. We handle retrospective assignments in San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, and Santa Clara with effective dates going back decades.
Yes. The Santa Clara County Assessment Appeals Board accepts independent appraisals as evidence of market value. The report needs to document current market conditions using sales data that supports your position — not just an opinion. We prepare reports built to meet that evidentiary standard.
In most family law cases, yes. Santa Clara County family courts expect an independent appraiser with no financial interest in either party's outcome. Both attorneys often agree on a single neutral appraiser to avoid dueling valuations. We are retained as the neutral party in both contested and uncontested proceedings.
Residential appraisals in San Jose typically run $500 to $900 depending on property size, complexity, and the purpose. Estate and retrospective appraisals require more research and may run higher. We give you a firm fee before you commit — no surprises after the inspection.
The Santa Clara County Assessment Appeals Board accepts applications between July 2 and September 15 each year. Miss that window and you wait another year. If your assessed value looks off — especially after a market shift — an independent appraisal can tell you whether you have a case before the deadline.
Most estate appraisals are completed within 5 business days of the property inspection. If the effective date is a past date-of-death, turnaround depends on how far back we need to go and the availability of comparable sales data from that period. We give you the timeline upfront.
A tax assessment is what the county estimates for billing purposes — it often lags the market and doesn't reflect your property's actual condition. An appraisal is an independent, USPAP-compliant analysis of market value. The two numbers are frequently different. The appeals process exists specifically because assessments can be wrong.
When you inherit property, the IRS allows the tax basis to reset to fair market value on the date the owner died. A higher basis means less taxable gain if the property is later sold. The appraisal documents that value. Without it, the IRS uses whatever number you report, which invites scrutiny.
Yes. In most uncontested proceedings, both parties and their attorneys agree on one neutral appraiser to avoid the cost and conflict of dueling reports. The appraiser owes no obligation to either side — only to the methodology. We are regularly retained as the agreed-upon neutral in Santa Clara County family law cases.
There is no hard limit. We have completed retrospective appraisals going back 20 or more years in Santa Clara County. The constraint is data: the further back the effective date, the more time it takes to locate sufficient comparable sales from that period using historical MLS, county assessor, and deed records.
California requires a Certified Residential Appraiser license (AR prefix) for complex residential assignments — a higher standard than a basic Licensed Appraiser. Verify the license is active at the California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. For legal proceedings, ask whether the appraiser's reports have been accepted by Santa Clara County probate or family court.
Chuck Chang at Simply Appraisal handles estate and probate appraisals in Santa Clara County. The work is specific: date-of-death valuations with the effective date fixed to the death certificate, USPAP-compliant reports built for IRS Form 706 filings and probate court submission. Most assignments come through estate attorneys or directly from administrators handling the estate. If you need a certified residential appraiser who understands the retrospective methodology required for probate work, call (408) 858-4706.
For a straightforward single-family home, the typical turnaround is 5 business days from when the property can be inspected. If the effective date is a past date-of-death — which is standard for probate — the research phase takes longer because we're reconstructing market conditions from a specific point in time using historical MLS, assessor records, and deed data. The further back the effective date, the more research time it requires. We tell you the timeline before you commit, not after.
For IRS Form 706, you need a qualified appraisal from a qualified appraiser — those are IRS terms with specific definitions. The appraiser must hold a state certification (in California, that's a Certified Residential Appraiser license with an AR prefix) and the report must meet USPAP standards. The effective date is the decedent's date of death, not the date of the appraisal. The IRS is not lenient about reports that blur those dates or don't document the methodology properly. License AR035684, California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers.
That depends on the situation. For uncontested cases where both attorneys want a single neutral appraiser, yes — we handle that regularly in Santa Clara County family law proceedings. For contested cases where one party is looking for an advocate rather than an independent value, we're not the right fit. The report reflects market data, not what either side wants to hear. If your attorneys need a neutral they can both rely on, that's what we do.
Chuck Chang at Simply Appraisal handles retrospective appraisals throughout Silicon Valley — San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Fremont, and the broader Bay Area. Retrospective assignments are those where the effective date is in the past: estate disputes, IRS audits, litigation, or situations where a transaction's value needs to be established as of a prior date. We've completed retrospective appraisals with effective dates going back more than 20 years. The work requires access to historical MLS, county assessor records, and deed data — not all appraisers have the data infrastructure for that. Call (408) 858-4706.
Still have questions about your specific situation?
Ask Chuck directly — no obligationWe respond within 24 hours with fee and timeline. Most reports delivered within 5 business days.
Licensed & Insured • License AR035684