Eagle Home Appraisal Fayetteville
Estate appraisals in Fayetteville
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 a 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 North Carolina
North Carolina does not tax estates or inheritances for people who passed away on or after January 1, 2013 (estate tax repealed; inheritance tax repealed). The federal estate tax applies only above the year's threshold, $15,000,000 for 2026 (IRS).
So in Fayetteville the value usually does other work. It goes on the inventory the personal representative files with the Clerk of Superior Court. 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 can feed a surviving spouse's elective share.
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.
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.
Cumberland County records worth pulling
The Register of Deeds holds the deed, which shows how title was held. The county tax office values homes as of January 1, 2025, its last revaluation (revaluation FAQ). That is a tax figure for a tax purpose. It is useful to have, and it is not a value for the date of passing.
What you will have in hand
A written report that states the effective date, who it is for, the sales it relied on and its assumptions. You can hand it to your attorney, your accountant or the family without explaining it.
A median is not your house
The September 2026 citywide median sold price was $256,450 with a median of $148 per square foot. A brick ranch near Cross Creek, a Haymount bungalow and a new build 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.
Does a married couple get a full step-up?
Not always. North Carolina is not a community-property state, and for a home held as tenants by the entirety the IRS counts half its value in the first spouse's estate (Publication 551). Ask your tax adviser.
Eagle Home Appraisal Fayetteville