About Yovino Young

The company has its origins in 1960, founded by Gaetano Michael Yovino-Young after two years of mortgage banking in Washington, D.C. He returned to graduate business school at UC Berkeley, earning an MBA degree in 1963. From 1960, he was tutored and later completed appraisal investigations for two of the most prominent real estate economists and appraisers in the USA, who were then teaching at Cal: Dr. Paul Wendt, MAI, and Dr. Richard Ratcliff, MAI. During this time, in the early 1960s, he worked with a Berkeley pioneer appraiser, George Hoyt, FASA, whose career in Berkeley real estate extended back to 1909.

The full-time appraisal practice initially concentrated on residential property but evolved into all types of urban and regional real estate throughout the Bay Area, later extending to most urban areas of Northern California.

In 1987, Yovino-Young opened his own office, which expanded to ten professionals, currently half of whom are UC Berkeley graduates. At one point early in the mid-1960s, he co-appraised the Island of Alcatraz following the closure of the federal prison. Other unique assignments included the state administration and court buildings in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, and many government buildings including the Oakland, San Francisco, and Berkeley City Halls. About this time, he was recruited as chief appraiser for the SF Bay Area by a prominent Los Angeles savings and loan association (Lytton), and completed assignments throughout California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State.

During these early years, Yovino-Young was an instructor, adjunct professor, and lecturer for the University of California, Merritt College, Golden Gate University, and major appraisal organizations.

He served as the Appraisal Institute’s representative to the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). Yovino-Young presented academic papers and served as Chairman of the Valuation Committee, attending conferences in 16 European, Scandinavian, Asian, and Latin American countries. He notably was co-host for international conferences in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Washington, D.C.

In 1976, he was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as chief appraiser for the “Special Tax Audit Unit’s” criminal investigation of the Los Angeles County Assessor. More than 2,000 major commercial properties were surveyed and appraised for assessment irregularities, including prominent entertainment business properties on Wilshire Blvd and other major thoroughfares in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and other urban centers. Investigations were also undertaken involving several major cinema studios and their extensive warehousing and movie sets, the Century City office complex, other major office buildings, industrial parks, several regional shopping centers and retail centers, the L.A. Dodger Baseball Stadium, and possessory interests in the Los Angeles International and Hollywood/Burbank airports. The result was a grand jury indictment of the assessor, who subsequently resigned.

For over 60 years, in addition to regular appraisal assignments involving residences, apartments, and commercial properties, the company has focused on unusual appraisal assignments including unique properties and specialized valuation issues involving environmental, stigma, endangerment, catastrophic damage, and eminent domain acquisitions, for property owners, insurance companies, and local, state, and federal government agencies. Major assignments included over 500 properties in the Western Addition and South of Market redevelopment projects in San Francisco.

Today, ten professionals in the company include two MAI members of the Appraisal Institute, one designated ASA (American Society of Appraisers), and a Fellow Member (FRICS) in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (UK). Other organizations with past memberships include the American Right-of-Way Association and the former Incorporated Society of Surveyors & Appraisers.

Since 1967, the company has appraised more than $5 billion in real estate and completes more than 1,000 assignments each year. Clients include property owners, partnerships, corporations, government agencies, trusts, and attorneys. Several of the appraisers have been court-appointed experts. We have extensive experience in litigation cases involving expert testimony. Yovino-Young has served as a sole arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and as a court-appointed mediator.

Effective June 1, 2026, Gaetano Michael Yovino-Young will officially retire from active appraisal work. His protégé, Tamara Spokane, MAI, with over 25 years of experience, has assumed the role as chief commercial appraiser for Yovino-Young, Incorporated. The residential division of the company is headed by Alison Teeman, LLB, with over 45 years of experience, and Diana Yovino-Young, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, who has over 34 years of professional experience.

The company has had offices at 2716 Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley since 1970. Secondary offices are located in Oakland.