Studies start at $495.
Most residential studies are between $495 and $995; commercial starts at $1,995. One flat fee per study — the price you see at checkout is the price. CPA-Ready Guarantee on every study, delivered in under one hour.
Examples are illustrative. Actual savings depend on property specifics, holding period, and tax position.
Why the price is this low.
Most traditional firms spend their engagement time on sales calls, on-site visits, and manual report assembly. We automated that layer — not the underlying engineering methodology.
Same RSMeans 2026 cost basis, same MACRS classification per Rev. Proc. 87-56, same IRS Pub. 5653 framework. Same 40+ page CPA-ready PDF, internal technical review & QC, 36-month audit defense.
See the line-item comparison vs a $5K firm's report → · Head-to-head provider comparison →
Estimate your savings before you decide.
Tier pricing depends on purchase price. Run your numbers — most STR owners see $40K–$120K reclassified in Year 1.
Find your exact price by property type.
Two matrices below — residential and commercial — make up the complete fee schedule. Partners receive a flat 20% wholesale discount below retail. $10M+ residential and $25M+ commercial route to a custom-scoped engagement; contact us at support@costsegsmart.com.
Residential matrix · SFR · STR · Condo · MF 2–4 10 price bands
Pick your property type or price band to start — the order page pre-fills automatically.
| Property type | <$300K | $300K–$700K | $700K–$1M | $1M–$2M | $2M–$3M | $3M–$4M | $4M–$6M | $6M–$8M | $8M–$10M | $10M+ — custom proposal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family / STR / Condo 1 unit residential | $495 | $895 | $995 | $1,495 | $1,995 | $2,995 | $4,995 | $6,995 | $7,995 | By proposal |
| Multifamily 2–4 Duplex, triplex, fourplex | $795 | $995 | $1,095 | $1,795 | $2,295 | $3,295 | $5,495 | $7,495 | $8,495 | By proposal |
Complex cases priced separately. Reverse §1031 exchanges, improvement exchanges, trust or partnership ownership where land and basis allocation require entity coordination, and luxury estates may require proposal pricing regardless of basis tier. We'll let you know at intake.
Commercial matrix · MF 5+ · Office · Retail · Industrial · Mixed-Use · Restaurant · Medical Office 7 price bands · Property survey & engineering review at $3M+
Pick your property type or price band to start — the order page pre-fills automatically.
| Property type | <$1M | $1M–$3M | $3M–$5M | $5M–$7M | $7M–$10M | $10M–$25M | $25M+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office · Retail · Mixed-Use | $1,995 | $3,295 | $4,995 | $6,295 | $7,795 | $10,995 | By proposal |
| Multifamily 5+
MF 5+ at $3M+ has its own tier because engineering scope scales with unit
count: multi-tenant cost allocations, common-area depreciation, and shared
mechanical systems (boilers, chillers, elevators) all add complexity that
a 12-unit garden apartment doesn't share with a single-tenant office.
Apartment buildings, syndications | $1,995 | $3,595 | $5,995 | $7,995 | $10,495 | $14,995 | By proposal |
| Industrial / Warehouse
Industrial / Warehouse studies carry a premium over Standard Commercial because
of heavier MEP (three-phase electrical, dock equipment, dust collection),
larger site improvements (paving, fencing, retention), and broader 15-year
land improvement allocations. Manufacturing-heavy or specialty industrial is
scoped per-property — see "Specialty Commercial" below.
Standard warehouse, light industrial, distribution | $2,495 | $3,995 | $6,295 | $7,995 | $9,795 | $13,995 | By proposal |
| Medical · Restaurant · Hospitality · Manufacturing | By proposal | By proposal | By proposal | By proposal | By proposal | By proposal | By proposal |
| Property survey & engineering review On-site engineering-grade asset walkthrough | — | — | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
"By proposal" means the engagement is scoped per-property — see below for the full explanation. Dashes indicate tiers not offered for that property type. Property survey & engineering review: on-site engineering walkthrough + asset capture included for $3M+ commercial — it's the added scope behind the $3M+ pricing step, not required for IRS compliance below that threshold.
Data center pricing ladder
Data center engineering scales harder with basis than standard commercial — cooling architecture, redundancy tier, MEP density — so we publish 8 basis bands instead of 7 to price the $10M+ tier accurately. Full methodology + ICP segments →
Pricing varies based on redundancy tier (III/IV), tenant structure, documentation availability, cooling topology, and §481(a) lookback complexity. The driver is system count, not basis dollars — a multi-tenant Tier III DC has 2–3× the major MEP systems of a single-tenant Tier II at the same basis. Full drivers →
Specialty Commercial engagements
Medical, restaurant, hospitality, manufacturing, and data center work is scoped per-property based on engineering complexity, specialty MEP systems, site improvements, and entity-structure coordination. We scope per-property, not per-tier. Standard industrial / warehouse studies stay matrix-priced — only manufacturing-heavy, specialty industrial, and data center route here. For data centers specifically: indicative pricing is published across 8 basis bands from $4,995 up to $29,995 for sub-$25M basis (edge, small colocation, enterprise on-prem). $25M+ basis (large colocation, enterprise at edge of hyperscale) is by proposal, scoped per-property based on system count, redundancy tier, and tenant structure.
Tell us about the property at /order/ — we’ll send a scoped engagement quote within one business day.
Request scoping →Traditional firms quote $5K–$15K. For straightforward residential, that's pricing scope — not quality.
Same RSMeans 2026 cost basis. Same MACRS framework. Same IRS Audit Techniques Guide methodology. Different delivery model.
Order your study, or see one first.
Studies start at $495 and ship in under an hour. If you want to evaluate the deliverable before paying, download a real (anonymized) report — no signup beyond email.
What people ask before they order.
Why are your studies so much cheaper than traditional firms? +
Traditional firms quote $5,000–$15,000 because each engagement is hand-built: discovery calls, on-site engineering visits, custom report writing. For a typical residential rental, those steps add weeks without changing the answer. Our engine applies the same RSMeans 2026 cost basis and IRS Audit Techniques Guide methodology — but the workflow is automated, so we ship the same defensible study at a fraction of the cost. See a side-by-side of what's in a <a href="/cheap-cost-segregation/">cheap cost segregation study</a> vs a $5K firm's study.
What does the price include? +
Everything you need to file: a 40+ page CPA-ready PDF, component-level depreciation schedules, MACRS class allocations, basis reconciliation, land valuation methodology, and Form 3115 readiness for prior-year lookback. Delivered via email in under one hour. No upsells, no per-revision fees.
Are there any hidden fees? +
No. The price you see at checkout is the price. We do not charge separately for revisions if your CPA requests format changes — that's covered by our CPA-Ready Guarantee. The only optional add-on is rush handling on weekends, and we'll tell you upfront before you pay.
What if my CPA can't use the report? +
Our CPA-Ready Guarantee: if your CPA requests changes to format, documentation, or classification questions, we'll revise within 30 days. If a question is technical, we'll set up a brief call between our technical team and your CPA to walk through the methodology — every classification ties back to IRS Pub 5653 and Rev. Proc. 87-56. If we can't resolve their concerns, we refund the study fee in full. Not covered: changes you make to the property facts after delivery (e.g., adding a major renovation we weren't told about), or audit outcomes — those depend on facts and representations beyond the study itself.
Do you offer bulk pricing for portfolios? +
Yes. Order 2 together for 5% off, 3–4 for 10%, and 5–9 for 15% off retail per study; 10+ qualifies for portfolio pricing — email us. For partners reselling to their book of business, wholesale is a flat 20% below retail (first study free). Email support@costsegsmart.com with your portfolio details.
Why are specialty commercial properties priced separately? +
Engineering complexity, specialty MEP, site improvements, and entity coordination vary widely across medical, restaurant, hospitality, and manufacturing-heavy industrial properties. We scope each engagement individually rather than forcing the work into a tier that under- or over-prices it. Standard industrial / warehouse stays matrix-priced — only manufacturing and specialty industrial route to scoping. Tell us about the property at /order/ and we'll send a quote within one business day.