The right appraisal.
For the complex case.

A market value appraisal is the formal determination of the market value of a property by a qualified expert appraiser. It follows clear statutory requirements, withstands scrutiny from tax authorities, banks or courts, and is recognised by these bodies.

The most common situations: you inherit a property and the tax authority sets an excessive tax value. You are in divorce proceedings and must prove matrimonial property equalisation. A court requires an expert opinion. Or you want to be on solid ground before buying or selling.

A value indication costs on average around EUR 1,500 net and is suitable as a basis for negotiations as long as no dispute exists and no authority is involved. For tax authorities, courts or banks it carries no binding weight.

The fee for a full appraisal is governed by the fee schedules of the valuation committees. It is mandatory as soon as official bodies are involved or a dispute exists.

Not every expert appraiser is suitable for these purposes. The tax authority recognises only appraisals from publicly appointed expert appraisers or from appraisers certified by one of the six DAkkS-accredited certification bodies: HypZert, DIAZert, EIPOSCERT, IQ-Zert, Hochschule Anhalt izert and Sprengnetter Zertifizierung.

The death of a family member brings not only grief but often complex legal and tax questions, particularly where real estate forms part of the estate. The tax authority sets a tax value that frequently exceeds the actual market value.

To prove a lower market value, you must submit an appraisal that meets the requirements of the tax authorities. The most common problem: the submitted appraisal does not carry the necessary certification. This is not a quality problem but a formal one, and it is avoidable.

Courts apply similar, sometimes stricter requirements. Errors in selecting the expert appraiser can delay proceedings, generate additional costs or result in an expensive appraisal having to be redone.

For your engagement, an expert appraiser from the network with the appropriate qualification and property experience is nominated. A specialist solicitor for inheritance law from the network is additionally available where the situation requires legal support.

Where a jointly owned property is involved, an independent market value appraisal is the basis for a fair settlement. Each party has an interest in a particular outcome. Valuations from estate agents instructed by one party are rightly considered partisan in this context.

In family law proceedings there are specific features that an expert appraiser must know and take into account. Valuation dates, co-ownership shares, ongoing tenancies or mortgage encumbrances all affect the valuation and therefore the matrimonial property equalisation figure.

Family-law-experienced expert appraisers are nominated from the network whose appraisals hold up even in contested proceedings. Where legal questions remain open alongside the valuation, a specialist solicitor for family law from the network is also available.

For insolvency administrators, banks, asset managers, family offices, tax advisers and institutional investors the question is not whether an appraisal is needed. The question is whether the expert appraiser is actually the right person for this specific property.

Formal qualification is necessary but not sufficient for complex properties. An appraiser who valuates residential properties competently is not automatically capable of methodologically capturing a care home, a hotel or a historic castle ensemble.

The network holds specialist expert appraisers for: care homes and social real estate, hotels and boardinghouses, hospitality properties, schools and educational facilities, listed heritage properties, lakeside properties and commercial parks.

The assignment is precise. Property and requirement are analysed, then the right specialist from the network is nominated and the instruction is coordinated. No searching, no trial and error, no subsequent quality problems.

Anyone who rents out a property knows the standard rule: the tax authority allows buildings to be depreciated at two per cent per year over 50 years. The German Income Tax Act does, however, permit the demonstration of a shorter actual residual economic life, thereby claiming a higher annual depreciation amount.

Concretely: an owner of a rental property with a market value of EUR 600,000 who can demonstrate a residual economic life of 20 years instead of the standard two per cent depreciates at five per cent per year, i.e. EUR 30,000 instead of EUR 12,000. The annual tax saving can amount to several thousand euros.

The current legal position

In August 2025 the German Federal Ministry of Finance published a draft bill that would have significantly tightened the requirements. In November 2025 the Ministry withdrew these plans without replacement. The legal position remains unchanged: both publicly appointed and DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024 certified expert appraisers are recognised.

The decisive factor remains the qualification of the expert appraiser. The BMF guidance of 22.02.2023, which imposed strict formal requirements for the evidence, was revoked on 01.12.2025. The governing authority is once again the statutory wording of § 7 para. 4 sentence 2 EStG and the case law of the Federal Fiscal Court.