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Boat appraisals in Washington for donations, insurance, estate tax, and divorce, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises sailboats, motorboats, yachts, fishing vessels, and personal watercraft across Washington, including Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT BOAT APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, WASHINGTON 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 standardsWashington runs one of the deepest recreational fleets in the country alongside a genuine working waterfront, and the two do not share a market. We establish which one a vessel belongs to before anything is valued.
Powerboats and cruisers
Cruisers, sportfishers, and trailerable powerboats are the largest part of the Washington market and the best documented, which makes the comparable evidence for them the strongest.
Sail and small craft
Sail values here turn on rig condition, sail inventory, and whether the boat is set up to live on, and an older live-aboard raises questions about insurability that a newer hull never does.
Documented and commercial
A charter boat, a commercial fishing vessel, or a Coast Guard documented hull is not valued from recreational comparables, and it does not sit under the same Washington tax rules. Both follow from how the vessel is actually used.
A brokered sale, a port auction, and the excise schedule can all put a number on one hull, and they will not agree. The report says which market the conclusion was drawn from and why that market is the right one for the intended use.
Brokerage and dealer sales
Asking prices tell you what sellers want. The comparable set is built from sales that completed, matched on length, hull type, year, engine hours, and equipment, drawn from brokerage sold-boat records, dealer sales, and marine price guides used as a cross-check rather than as the answer.
Port auctions
Washington port districts auction abandoned vessels after statutory notice, sold with no warranty as to title or condition and often needing immediate relocation. Those results are real transaction data for salvage and forced-sale work, and they are not evidence of retail value. A report that mixes them into a fair market conclusion is wrong in one direction.
The survey
A recent survey is the strongest condition record a vessel can carry: hull moisture, structural findings, machinery hours, and deferred work all move the number. We value from what the survey and the logs record. A survey states condition; the appraisal states what that condition is worth in this market.
Three Washington rules decide what a vessel owes, what records exist for it, and how easily it can change hands. All three affect the number, and none of them produces it.
Watercraft Excise
0.5%
the annual Washington watercraft excise on a non-commercial vessel 16 feet and over used on state waters, charged in lieu of personal property tax and due by June 30
The excise runs at 0.005 of a value the Department of Revenue computes rather than observes: the original purchase price multiplied by a length-specific depreciation factor, on separate curves for vessels under 30 feet and 30 feet and over, with a statutory minimum of $5.
That is an administrative schedule built for collecting a tax. It assumes a residual value that a particular hull, brand, or condition may sit well above or well below. Where a court, a carrier, or the IRS wants what the boat is worth, the excise figure cannot answer the question.
Commercial Vessels
$3.60 per $1,000
the ceiling on Washington's commercial vessel property tax, the regime a boat moves into once its use is commercial rather than recreational
Vessels used exclusively for commercial fishing, and documented vessels used primarily for commercial purposes such as charter boats, tugs, and barges, fall outside the recreational excise and are taxed as personal property instead, on a market value the Department issues each January. A derelict vessel removal fee of $1 per foot is paid alongside it.
Commercial fishing boats also register with the Department of Revenue rather than the Department of Licensing, so ownership and encumbrance records are not where an appraiser would first look. Treating every Washington boat as a recreational one is the common mistake, and it puts the valuation in the wrong market as well as the wrong tax.
Title and Insurance
35 ft / 40 yrs
the length and age above which Washington requires proof of marine insurance before a vessel is titled into a new owner's name or registered in the state for the first time
A vessel more than 35 feet long and more than 40 years old cannot be titled into a new name, or registered here for the first time, without proof of marine insurance meeting minimum standards: a term of at least twelve months from the ownership change, at least $300,000 in basic liability, and provisions for removing the boat if it sinks or causes pollution.
Some insurers decline to write cover on very old or non-standard craft, and more than one policy may be needed to reach the thresholds. A boat that is harder to insure is harder to sell, and marketability is part of value, so the valuation accounts for it rather than pricing the hull as if the rule did not exist.
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.
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 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
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:
File a verified inventory and appraisement of the estate's property within three months of appointment, unless the court extends it, valuing each item at its fair net value as of the date of death. Fair net value means after encumbrances and liens, so a recorded vessel mortgage, a security interest, or unpaid moorage charges come off the figure. The inventory does not have to be filed with the court, but an heir, legatee, devisee, or a creditor who has filed a claim can demand a copy and must be given one within ten days.
Generally yes. Washington presumes a vessel moored on the Oregon side of the Columbia is used on the river, and therefore on Washington waters, so a Washington resident owes sales or use tax on it even though the slip is in another state. Buyers relying on Oregon's lighter treatment are caught by this regularly. Where the vessel is not required to be registered, the use tax is reported on a Consumer Use Tax Return rather than collected by a licensing agent.
A port district operating a public moorage facility can sell an abandoned vessel at public auction after at least twenty days' notice to the owner and one newspaper publication. Proceeds pay the port's charges first. Any excess goes to the owner only if they can be located within a year, and otherwise it is deposited into the state's Derelict Vessel Removal Account, so abandonment is a route to losing the value of the boat entirely.
Yes. Documented ownership history, build records, provenance, and a condition file measurably affect value, and the effect is largest on collectible or historically significant vessels. Complete documentation removes buyer uncertainty, and on classic wooden boats and limited-production hulls it is often the difference between an ordinary price and a premium one.
