How can I calculate the previous value of a piece of land?

[Ed Brancheau]

I don't deal in land at all and I have a bit of a unique situation.

Back in 2005, my grandmother willed a piece of residential land to me in Hesperia, CA.

I just got an offer for it of $60K.

Now, because I want to 1031 it, I need to know the value of it at the time I received it.

The problem is that the San Bernardino tax assessments are WAY undervalued for houses and even more undervalued for land.

The tax record says that it was worth about $5K back in 2005 but I received an offer back then for $30K.

So, the true market value was $30K versus the $5K the county recorded.

If I used the county's records for the 1031, I'd be paying an extra $3-4K in taxes whenever I exit the 1031 in the future unless I can figure out how to record the true 2005 value.

Does anyone have any advice on if or how I can do this?