Ladera Heights home and condo appraisals for estates, trusts, and taxes
Unincorporated hillside tract of postwar and 1960s custom single-family homes
Ladera Heights is an unincorporated Los Angeles County community, with a small section inside the City of Los Angeles, set between Culver City, Baldwin Hills, View Park–Windsor Hills, Westchester and Inglewood. Requests here commonly involve date-of-death values for custom homes held since the 1960s, trust administration for houses on the hillside streets, and buyout values when heirs share a property.
- Location
- Ladera Heights is an unincorporated community of Los Angeles County in the South LA & Baldwin Hills region of Los Angeles County
- ZIP codes
- 90056
- Properties
- Single-family homes and condominiums
- Fees
- $449 Standard Desktop, $299 Basic Desktop
- Delivery
- 3+ business days
Homes in Ladera Heights
Development began in the late 1940s in the small area east of La Cienega Boulevard and south of Slauson Avenue known as Old Ladera, and custom homes followed in the 1960s in what became known as New Ladera. Builders Valentine and Gallant were prominent, and designer Robert Earl drew many of the Valentine homes, including houses along Wooster Avenue on the community's western edge. Upper Ladera lies north of Slauson between La Cienega and Shenandoah Avenue, while the larger Lower Ladera spreads south of Slauson between Wooster and La Cienega.
What moves value in Ladera Heights
Ladera Heights draws buyers looking for custom homes in a central location with quick access to LAX, the Westside and Culver City. Lot size, elevation, floor plan and the degree of updating explain most of the variation among sales, and homes are often compared with View Park–Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills and Westchester.
Neighborhoods and tracts
- Upper Ladera
- Lower Ladera
- Old Ladera
- New Ladera
- Ladera (City of Los Angeles portion)
Local reference points: Ladera Park with its amphitheatre and recreation center, the Ladera Center shops west of La Cienega Boulevard, the Ladera Heights Shopping Center where La Tijera, La Cienega and Centinela boulevards meet, and nearby West Los Angeles College are the main reference points.
Appraisal considerations in Ladera Heights
Because most of Ladera Heights is unincorporated, building permits, ADUs and lot splits fall under Los Angeles County, while the small City of Los Angeles section follows city rules, so the subject's jurisdiction should be confirmed before added living area is credited. The community sits beside the Inglewood Oil Field, which Los Angeles County regulates through the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District, so distance to wells and pump sites may be a location factor worth testing. Custom homes vary widely in size and design, so adjustments for quality and floor plan should rest on comparable custom-built sales rather than tract homes.
How do you value a 1960s Ladera Heights custom home that was never updated?
We compare it with sales of similar custom homes in original or lightly updated condition, then bracket the result with remodeled sales and adjust for the work a buyer would expect to undertake. If the evidence shows buyers were paying primarily for the lot and location, the opinion reflects that.
Reports we prepare for Ladera Heights properties
Each is a certified desktop appraisal of a single-family home or condominium, as of a current or past date.
- Date-of-Death Appraisals
- Step-Up in Basis Appraisals
- Trust Administration Appraisals
- Estate Settlement & Estate Tax Appraisals
- Gift Tax Appraisals
- Prop 19 Parent-Child Transfer Appraisals
- Divorce & Date-of-Separation Appraisals
- Family Sale & Co-Owner Buyout Appraisals
- Retrospective Appraisals
Reviewed November 2026.
Need a value for a Ladera Heights property?
Send the address and the date the value is needed for. We confirm the property and the fee within one business day; the report is delivered in 3+ business days.