Eagle Home Appraisal Grand Rapids
Estate appraisals in Grand Rapids
When a family home passes to the next generation, someone has to know what it was worth on that day.
Call and tell us the address and the date of passing. We will walk through who will use the report and what to gather.
It is usually a hard season. The house question should not be.
An executor, a brother, a daughter who now owns a third of the house she grew up in. They all need the same thing: an independent number, as of a date, that they can put in front of an attorney, an accountant or each other.
What the number is for in Michigan
The federal estate tax applies only above the year’s threshold, $15,000,000 for 2026 (IRS).
So in Grand Rapids the value usually does other work. It goes on the inventory the personal representative prepares for the estate. It sets the heirs’ tax basis. It gives siblings who now share a house a fair price for a sale or a buyout. And it helps the family see what the house is worth before anyone decides to keep it.
Your attorney or tax adviser decides which of these applies to you. An appraisal reports a value; it does not reach a legal or tax conclusion.
What a transfer does to the tax bill
This part can catch a family off guard. When a house changes hands, by deed, trust distribution or probate, its taxable value is reset to the state equalized value the following year, unless an exemption applies, such as a transfer to a surviving spouse or certain close relatives of a home that is not used commercially (MCL 211.27a).
The law asks whoever receives the property to notify the local assessor within 45 days of the transfer. The state’s Property Transfer Affidavit is the usual form. Ask your attorney about it early. It is separate from the appraisal, and it is a deadline that does not wait for the estate to settle.
Which date?
Most often it is the date of passing. An executor who files a federal estate tax return can elect an alternate date six months later, but only if it lowers both the estate’s value and the tax owed (26 U.S.C. 2032). A buyout between heirs may call for today’s value instead. Your adviser names the date. We value it.
The house as it was
A house gets cleaned out, painted and sometimes repaired in the months after a passing. A report for a past date has to show the house as it stood then. Dated photos, repair bills, an inspection report or an old listing all help.
The comparable sales come from the market around that date, not from this month’s listings.
Grand Rapids records worth pulling
The City’s assessor record card shows size, taxable value and sales history, and the City BS&A guide explains how to look a home up by address or parcel number. The Kent County Register of Deeds holds the recorded deed. Those are tax and title records. They are useful to have, and they are not a value for the date of passing. A sketch that shows a later addition describes the house today, not the way it stood then.
A median is not your house
In September 2026 the median sold price within the City of Grand Rapids was $330,000. A Heritage Hill Victorian, an Eastown bungalow and a condo downtown do not share that number. The appraisal answers for the one house, using sales that fit it.
A few questions that come up.
What should I have ready?
The address and type of home. The date of passing and whether another date is being discussed. Who will rely on the report. Who can let us in, and when. Photos, repair bills or records from around the date.
Is the City’s assessor record enough for an estate?
It helps identify the home, but it describes the property for a tax year. The estate needs the home as it stood on one particular date. If something was added or removed later, tell us when.
Eagle Home Appraisal Grand Rapids