A Claraboya home appraisal starts with a longer inspection than a flat-lot house needs, because the things buyers pay for in the foothills, the view, the grade of the lot and the way you reach the house, have to be seen and recorded on site. The appraiser measures every level, notes decks and retaining walls, photographs the view from the main rooms, and walks the driveway and approach road. The comparable search then reaches across a wider foothill band, and the report explains the radius and each view, grade and access adjustment.
This article is for owners, heirs, trustees, buyers without a lender and attorneys who need a Claraboya house appraised and want to know what the visit involves.
What makes Claraboya different from the rest of Claremont?
Above the postwar tracts north of Foothill Boulevard, the foothills hold Claraboya and Padua Hills, near the Padua Hills Theatre, and Northeast Claremont sits beside the Wilderness Park. Homes here were largely built one at a time, with different designers, lots and views of the valley, and they sell on view, grade and access. Two houses on the same street can share almost nothing else, which is why an automated estimate has little to work with and why a tract-style comparison does not fit. The Claremont area page describes how the hillside fits into ZIP code 91711.
What happens during a hillside inspection?
The visit takes 30 to 60 minutes for a standard single-family home, longer for hillside, custom, multi-family or homes with additions, and a Claraboya house is the reason that last clause exists. The appraiser works through four things.
Levels and living area
Gross living area, the finished, heated space above grade, is measured level by level and sketched. Hillside homes often step down the slope, so the grade question matters: for loans sold to Fannie Mae, appraisers follow the ANSI Z765-2021 standard, under which a level with any portion below grade is treated as below-grade and its finished area is reported separately from above-grade living area. A lower floor that opens onto the yard may still fall on the below-grade side, and the report says how each level was classified.
The view
The view is photographed from the rooms where it is enjoyed and described by what it looks over: valley, city lights, mountains, or neighboring roofs. The appraiser also notes what could change it, such as vegetation or an undeveloped lot below, because the permanence of a view is part of how buyers weigh it.
Slope and lot usability
Recorded lot size says little on a hillside. The appraiser notes how much of the lot is level and usable, where the yard is, and what supports it: retaining walls, terraces, stairs and decks. These are observed, not engineered. Visible cracking, drainage paths or a deck in poor repair are recorded as condition items; diagnosing them is a geotechnical engineer's or contractor's work.
Access
The approach road, the driveway's grade, turning room, garage access and guest parking are all noted. Hillside access affects who will buy a house, and the report records it the same way it records square footage.
How are comparables found for a Claraboya home?
A comparable sale, a closed sale of a property similar enough that a buyer of this house would have weighed it, is rare on the hillside. Few nearby sales share the subject's view, grade and quality, so the search widens across the foothill band: Claraboya and Padua Hills first, then hillside and custom sales in Northeast Claremont, the foothill streets of La Verne toward Marshall Canyon, and the north end of Upland toward San Antonio Heights. Upland is in San Bernardino County, so any sale there carries a location adjustment explained in the report. What the county line does to comparable sales covers why.
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, which governs many lender assignments, allows sales from competing market areas when the appraiser explains their comparability, and requires adjustments to reflect the market's reaction to a difference rather than its cost. The finding a reviewer flags most often here is the reverse of a wide search: a Claraboya view home compared with flat lots below with no view or grade adjustment. That contrast is why the model-to-model method used for tracts north of Foothill does not carry up the hill.
An adjustment, the amount a comparable's price is changed to account for a difference buyers react to, is written out for each view, grade, access and quality difference, with the reasoning a reader needs to check it.
What should be ready for the visit?
- Permits for decks, retaining walls, additions, pools and any lower-level finish.
- Engineering or geotechnical reports, if any were done for the slope, a wall or an addition.
- A survey or plot plan, especially for an irregular lot, an easement or a shared driveway.
- Access instructions: gate codes, where to park, and a path to every level and the equipment.
Where a document cannot be found, the report may rest on an extraordinary assumption, an assumption about uncertain facts that, if false, could change the result, and it states the assumption openly.
What does the report state, and what is it not?
The first pages state the intended use, what the report will be used for, the intended users, the people entitled to rely on it, and the effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to. Home Appraisal in Claremont: What the Report Measures, Pocket by Pocket walks through each section, and what a Claremont home appraisal includes, page by page shows where the hillside detail appears. The Home Appraisal in Claremont hub lists the other pockets, and the general sequence of the visit is in what happens on appraisal inspection day in Claremont.
An automated estimate such as a Zestimate or other AVM is not an appraisal, and neither is an agent's CMA, the county's assessed value or a cash offer. The appraiser is independent of every party, including the one who pays. The fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins, and it does not depend on the value. The report is typically delivered three to five business days from the inspection. The hillside and custom home appraisal page and the services list describe the assignment types.
Next step
To have a Claraboya home appraised for an estate, a trust, a purchase or a family law matter, request an appraisal or call (909) 324-6122, and mention the levels, decks and access when you do so the visit is scheduled with enough time.
Sources
- The Appraisal Foundation, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) (accessed October 30, 2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-08, Comparable Sales (accessed October 30, 2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-09, Adjustments to Comparable Sales (accessed October 30, 2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-05, Improvements Section of the Appraisal Report (ANSI Z765-2021 measurement, additions, ADUs) (accessed October 30, 2026)
- Wikipedia, Claremont, California (the Village and its expansion west of Indian Hill Boulevard, Claraboya, Padua Hills, Wilderness Park, ZIP 91711) (accessed October 30, 2026)
- California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, license lookup for Gordon Hall (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
Why does a Claraboya appraisal inspection take longer?
Because view, grade and access, the things buyers pay for in the foothills, must be seen and recorded on site. Split levels, decks, retaining walls and the driveway all need measuring or photographing. The inspection is 30 to 60 minutes for a standard single-family home, longer for hillside, custom, multi-family or homes with additions.
Why are some comparables for a Claraboya home outside the neighborhood?
Few nearby sales share a hillside home's view, grade and quality, so the search widens across the foothill band, to Padua Hills, Northeast Claremont, La Verne's foothill streets and north Upland. The report explains the radius and adjusts for each difference, including location when a sale is in San Bernardino County.
Does a lower level that opens onto the yard count as living area?
It depends on how the level sits against the grade. For loans sold to Fannie Mae, under the ANSI Z765-2021 standard a level with any portion below grade is treated as below-grade and reported separately from above-grade gross living area. The report states how each level was classified.
Does the appraiser check whether a retaining wall or deck is sound?
No. The appraiser observes and records visible condition, such as cracking or drainage paths, and notes permits. Judging structural soundness is the work of a geotechnical engineer or contractor.
