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Boat appraisals in California for donations, insurance, estate tax, and divorce, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises sailboats, motorboats, yachts, personal watercraft, and fishing boats across California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco.
Service was top notch and provided incredible value for the cost!
…I am looking forward to utilizing AppraiseItNow for many years to come
I love the online appraisal format… I love your professional service!
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT BOAT APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, CALIFORNIA COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Vehicle Appraiser
CAGA Certified Appraiser since 2014, covering vehicles, boats, equipment, fine art, and collectibles. A classic-car restoration background informs her vehicle work, with reports prepared for insurance, divorce, and charitable contributions.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow provides professional boat appraisals throughout California for a wide range of purposes, including charitable donations, insurance coverage, estate tax reporting, and divorce proceedings. California's extensive coastline, major inland waterways, and thriving recreational boating culture make accurate vessel valuations essential for owners, attorneys, financial advisors, and tax professionals alike. Whether you need documentation for a charitable contribution deduction under IRS Form 8283, a defensible value for estate planning under Form 706, or a fair valuation during divorce asset division, our credentialed appraisers deliver reliable results.
AppraiseItNow offers both remote and onsite boat appraisals throughout California, giving clients the flexibility to choose the inspection method that best fits their timeline and circumstances. Remote appraisals are completed efficiently using photographs, documentation, and vessel records, while onsite inspections allow for direct physical examination of the watercraft. We offer Fair Market Value (FMV), Replacement Value, Orderly Liquidation Value (OLV), Forced Liquidation Value (FLV), and Actual Cash Value (ACV) appraisals for various intended uses.
AppraiseItNow appraises a broad spectrum of vessels found throughout California's coastal waters, bays, rivers, and reservoirs, including:
From small recreational runabouts used on California's inland lakes to large ocean-going yachts moored in Southern California marinas, our appraisers have the expertise to value vessels of all sizes and configurations. We also appraise U.S. Coast Guard documented vessels, which carry specific assessment considerations under California property tax regulations administered by the Board of Equalization and county assessors.
AppraiseItNow serves individual boat owners, estate executors, divorce attorneys, insurance professionals, lenders, nonprofit organizations, and financial advisors throughout California who require accurate, well-documented vessel valuations for legal, financial, or tax-related purposes.
What clients say we are known for
Across 80+ published AppraiseItNow reviews the picture is consistent: every one is from a client who paid us for an appraisal, and the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how quickly we answer, and how much research is visible in the report.
AppraiseItNow helped us appraise a very unique set of propulsion boats. Service was top notch and provided incredible value for the cost!
Boat Appraisal for Loan Collateral
I love the online appraisal format to give me a good idea of what my boat is worth without showing the boat. The appraisal fee is more than reasonable, and I love your professional service!
Boat Appraisal for Charitable Donation
We recently used AppraiseItNow for one of our clients and couldn’t be happier with the experience. The customer service was excellent, and Joe was quick to respond to all of our questions. He provided everything we needed promptly and made the process smooth from start to finish. Thank you!
Boat Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
AppraiseItNow delivered a fair, well-supported appraisal that met all required standards. Their team was professional, responsive, and fast throughout the process. I would gladly use them again.
Boat Appraisal for Charitable Donation
AppraiseItNow was excellent to work with. They delivered exactly what I needed and were incredibly responsive throughout the process. I’d definitely recommend them!
Boat Appraisal for Insurance Claim
Very straightforward and efficient way to gain a quality certified boat appraisal. I will suggest AppraiseItNow to all my boating friends!
Boat Appraisal for Loan Collateral
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
Yes. Boats are taxable personal property, and unlike real estate under Article XIII A's base-year rules, personal property is appraised annually at market value. That is why a documented fair market value opinion can matter for assessment appeals after a year of soft prices.
Closed transactions: BoatWizard's SoldBoats database, broker records, and auction results. Open-market value for a production boat is most defensibly grounded in recently sold comparables adjusted for engine hours, equipment, and condition, not in optimistic listings.
Typically by the court-appointed probate referee on the estate's Inventory and Appraisal, filed within four months after letters issue, at fair market value as of the date of death. Supplemental inventories follow the same rule for later-discovered property.
With cost or income evidence rather than a pass. The Assessors’ Handbook states that the absence of an actual market does not let property escape taxation, and that market value means value when the property is put to beneficial use, not the sum of hull, engine, and electronics sold separately. For one-off or heavily modified boats we build value from replacement cost less depreciation, or from earnings where the vessel works commercially.
Yes. A vessel held in a charter, rental, or marina fleet is business personal property, revalued each year from reported acquisition year and cost adjusted toward market. Floating and manufactured homes sitting in the same marina follow real property style rules and are not reappraised annually, so two assets in one harbor can be on entirely different assessment cycles.