Why one city median cannot stand in for an inherited house
The September figures above pool a month of sales from the whole City of Phoenix. For planning, the city is split into 15 urban villages, among them Ahwatukee Foothills, Alhambra, Deer Valley, Laveen, Maryvale and North Gateway, and it also keeps a list of residential historic districts such as Willo, Roosevelt and Encanto-Palmcroft. A single median drawn from all of that says little about one inherited house. An estate value needs the house's own effective date, which is usually the date of death, its condition on that date, and sales of comparable homes near it from around that time.
Taxes first: what Arizona does and does not levy
Arizona collects no tax on an estate or an inheritance. There is no Arizona estate tax for deaths after 2004 (the Legislature later repealed the provisions), and Arizona also "does not impose an inheritance or gift tax," as the state Department of Revenue puts it in Publication 900. Federal law, likewise, has no tax on inheriting. The federal government's tax at death is the estate tax: the estate owes it, the executor pays it, and a return is needed only above the filing threshold for the year of death or when the executor files to elect portability. For 2026 deaths, the IRS gives that threshold as $15,000,000 when the decedent was a U.S. citizen or resident (IRS).
For an heir who later sells, the federal rule that counts is income tax basis: the IRS measures the heir's gain from a basis that, for inherited property, is generally the fair market value on the date of death (IRS). For a married couple's community property in Arizona, the surviving spouse's half may take a date-of-death basis as well (26 U.S.C. 1014(b)(6)); our IRS step-up appraisals page sets out the conditions.
What Arizona probate asks for
When an estate is probated here, it is overseen by the Probate and Mental Health Department of the Superior Court in Maricopa County. Within 90 days after appointment, the personal representative prepares an inventory that puts a date-of-death fair market value on the house, labels it community or separate property, and shows any mortgage or other encumbrance (A.R.S. § 14-3706). The statute does not insist on an appraiser: § 14-3707 says only that the representative "may employ" a qualified, disinterested appraiser when a value may be open to reasonable doubt, and that appraiser is then named on the inventory. Our probate valuations page covers the inventory step by step.
Not every inherited Phoenix home ends up on a probate inventory
- Beneficiary deed. A recorded deed that states it is effective on the owner's death transfers the home to the named beneficiary at that time (§ 33-405).
- Small-estate affidavit. Where nobody has been appointed personal representative and the Arizona real estate, net of liens, comes to $300,000 or less, an heir or devisee claiming it may use an affidavit filed with the court, though not until six months after the death; the statute adds further conditions (§ 14-3971(E)). The $300,000 test uses the full cash value for the year the person died as carried on the county's assessment rolls, which for a Phoenix house means the Maricopa County Assessor's figure, so the affidavit itself calls for no appraisal.
Either way, an heir who sells later may still want a documented date-of-death value for basis.
Ask the estate's attorney or tax adviser which date applies
The starting point is the date of death. On a federal estate tax return, the executor can instead elect an alternate valuation date six months after death, but only when the election lowers both the value of the gross estate and the tax (26 U.S.C. 2032). Confirm the date, and who will rely on the report, before the assignment begins.
Gathering what an estate appraisal needs
- The date of death, and the date letters were issued if the estate is in probate.
- The parcel number from the Maricopa County Assessor and the recorded deed from the Maricopa County Recorder, which shows how title was held.
- Photographs, old listings, inspection reports or invoices that show the home's condition on the date of death, plus a note of any work done since.
- Who will use the report: the personal representative, the heirs or devisees, a CPA or the estate's attorney.
The Arizona sections on this page were written with AI assistance for Eagle Home Appraisal Phoenix.