There is no fact about your house you need to keep from an appraiser. Share the facts: improvements with dates, permits, known problems and closed sales you know of. What does not belong in the conversation is the number you need, what you owe, anything offered in exchange for a result, or a description of the neighborhood by the people who live there. The law bars an appraiser from weighing those things, and it bars anyone with an interest in the sale from pressing them.
Below: what helps, what an appraiser is required to ask, and what an appraiser cannot consider at all.
Facts help, targets do not
An appraisal is an independent opinion of market value as of a stated date, developed under USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice that govern how an appraisal is developed and reported. The opinion comes from the house and from closed sales a buyer of this house would have weighed. The test before you say something: is it a fact about the property or its market, or a hope about the answer? Facts are welcome on appraisal inspection day in Claremont. Hopes stay out of the report either way.
What a Claremont owner should share
- Improvements with dates. Roof, windows, HVAC, kitchen, baths, sewer line, foundation work. Month and year is enough, and receipts are not required.
- Permits and final sign-offs. For additions, remodels, ADUs, solar and pools. Permit status is how the appraiser tells finished living area that counts from space that may not.
- Which parts of an older house are original. Pre-1940 Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival houses near the Village and the Colleges often carry an enclosed porch or a rear room added decades ago. Say what you know about when, and whether it was permitted.
- Hillside documents. In Claraboya and Padua Hills, a survey or plot plan, retaining wall or drainage work, and any easement or shared driveway.
- Solar, leases and HOA papers. Whether solar panels are owned or leased, any rental agreement on an ADU or rear unit, and HOA documents for townhomes and condominiums south of the 10.
- Closed sales you know of. Each one is checked against records and weighed alongside the appraiser's own research, including a sale just across Mills Avenue in Montclair or Upland, which the report uses only when it is the better evidence.
How to prepare for a home appraisal in Claremont lists the same documents as a checklist, with what to unlock and reach on the day.
Should you mention problems with the house?
Yes. The appraiser records what can be seen: water staining, a sagging fence, a roof near the end of its life, a missing handrail. Those show up in the condition rating, the appraiser's standardized grade for the wear and updating of the improvements, whether or not you mention them. What you add is context the eye cannot get, such as a leak already repaired.
Leaving something out does not make it disappear. If a material fact is uncertain, the appraiser may have to write an extraordinary assumption, an assumption about uncertain facts that, if false, could change the result, and every reader of the report will see it. A plain answer usually removes the need for one. Any disclosure duty you have to a buyer is a separate legal question for your agent or attorney; nothing here is legal advice.
What an appraiser has to ask about
Some questions feel personal but are part of the job, because the standards require them.
- Prior sales of the house. USPAP asks the appraiser to analyze any sale of the subject property in the three years before the effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to, when that information is available in the normal course of business.
- A current listing or purchase contract. If the house is listed or under contract, the appraiser analyzes the listing or the agreement of sale. The price is something to analyze, not a figure to reach.
- Occupancy. Owner, tenant or vacant, because it affects access.
- The intended use. What the report will be used for, settled on the scope call.
What not to say: the number
These are the sentences that do not belong in the conversation:
- "We need it to come in at a certain figure for the loan" or "for the sale to close."
- "This is what I owe" or "this is what I have to net."
- Any offer of a bonus, more work or a better review tied to the result.
California law says plainly that no person with an interest in a real estate transaction may improperly influence, or attempt to influence, the development, reporting, result or review of a valuation through coercion, extortion, bribery, intimidation, compensation or instruction (Civil Code section 1090.5). For a home loan, the federal valuation independence rule under the Truth in Lending Act (12 CFR 1026.42) says the same thing for everyone involved in the credit transaction. An appraiser who hears a target sets it aside.
The independence runs both ways. The opinion does not depend on who ordered the report or who paid for it, and the fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins; it does not depend on the value. The appraisal independence notice sets this out in full.
What an appraiser cannot consider
Some things are outside the analysis no matter who mentions them.
- Who lives in the house or nearby. The federal Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in the appraising of residential real property because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin (42 U.S.C. 3605), and California law adds further protected characteristics. The USPAP Ethics Rule separately bars an appraiser from relying on a protected characteristic, or on a stereotype about one, in developing a value.
- Your personal circumstances. Why you are selling, a divorce, a debt or a deadline. Market value describes what typical, informed buyers and sellers would do, not what this owner needs.
- Estimates offered as evidence. An automated estimate such as a Zestimate is not an appraisal; neither is an agent's comparative market analysis (CMA), the county's assessed value or a cash offer. They can be mentioned for context, but closed comparable sales are the evidence.
- Asking prices. A list price is a hope; a closed sale is what a buyer paid.
The appraisal independence and nondiscrimination page explains the protections that apply and where to report a concern.
How this plays out in Claremont's pockets
On a postwar ranch north of Foothill Boulevard, the useful fact is usually a garage conversion or family-room extension and whether it was permitted. On a Claraboya hillside lot, it is the retaining walls, drainage and how the driveway is reached. Behind an older house near the Village, it is the rear unit's permit status, which decides how its living area is treated. The Claremont area page describes how these pockets behave as separate markets, and what home appraisers look for in a Claremont house covers what the appraiser records in each.
After delivery, if you believe a fact is wrong or a better sale was missed, send the specifics: evidence is considered on its merits, and a request for a different number is not. The How a Home Appraisal Works hub collects the rest of the process.
Next step
Read how an appraisal works, step by step, then request an appraisal or call (909) 324-6122. The scope and the visit are laid out before anyone schedules.
Sources
- California Civil Code section 1090.5, improper influence on a valuation: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (accessed October 30, 2026)
- 12 CFR 1026.42, valuation independence (Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z): ecfr.gov (accessed October 30, 2026)
- 42 U.S.C. 3605, discrimination in residential real estate-related transactions, including appraising: law.cornell.edu (accessed October 30, 2026)
- U.S. Department of Justice, the Fair Housing Act: justice.gov (accessed October 30, 2026)
- The Appraisal Foundation, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), Ethics Rule and Standards Rule 1-5: appraisalfoundation.org (accessed October 30, 2026)
- California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, license lookup for BREA No. AR003877: brea.ca.gov (accessed October 30, 2026)
Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.
Frequently asked questions
Is there anything I should not tell an appraiser?
Nothing about the house needs hiding. What does not belong in the conversation is a target: the value you need, what you owe, or anything offered in exchange for a result. California Civil Code section 1090.5 bars anyone with an interest in the transaction from improperly influencing a valuation.
Should I tell the appraiser about problems with my house?
Yes. The appraiser records the condition that can be seen either way, and your context, such as a repair already made, makes the description more accurate. Leaving out a material fact can force an extraordinary assumption that every reader of the report will see.
Can I give the appraiser comparable sales?
Yes. Closed sales you know of are checked against records and weighed alongside the appraiser's own research. Asking prices and automated estimates can be mentioned for context, but they are not evidence of what buyers paid.
What can an appraiser not consider?
An appraiser cannot consider the race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin or other protected characteristics of the owners, occupants or neighbors, and does not weigh the owner's personal circumstances, such as a debt, a divorce or a deadline.
Why does the appraiser ask about past sales and the purchase contract?
Because USPAP requires it. The appraiser analyzes a current listing or agreement of sale and any sale of the property in the three years before the effective date, when that information is available. The price is analyzed, not targeted.
