The honest answer to “how much does cost segregation cost” has three parts: what the market charges, what you should expect to pay for your specific property, and the one question that matters more than price — will it survive examination?
The 2026 market, at a glance
| Tier | Typical 2026 pricing | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| Promotional questionnaire | $299–$699 (loss-leader) | Table-driven estimate, minimal records analysis |
| Standard questionnaire study | ~$1,000–$2,500 | Structured homeowner inputs + published tables |
| Full engineered study | ~$3,000–$15,000+ | Asset-by-asset engineering from cost records; the standard the IRS ATG rewards |
| Rush / 24-hour engineered | premium on engineered work | Same rigor, compressed; rarely offered honestly |
Ranges here are our observed-market framing from reviewing category players — every firm quotes by property; get the number in writing.
What actually drives your price
- Document quality. A builder’s accounting or itemized appraisal is worth hours of manual reconstruction skipped. The better your cost detail, the cheaper the study — and the bigger the reclassification, because the study measures instead of estimates.
- Property type & size. A single-family rental is not a 200-unit apartment complex with three HVAC plants and a pool. Commercial systems, multiple entities, and portfolio batching all add engineering hours.
- Inspection needs. Virtual walkthroughs handle most residential and small commercial work at standard price. Genuinely complex commercial assets need boots on the ground — pay for it where the engineering demands it.
- Speed. 24-hour turnaround requires a standing pipeline with slack in it. Ours (SegWise Quick™, from $1,499) is AI-accelerated classification with human sign-off, which is how we price the rush this low.
Our published fees (flat, quoted before work starts)
From $855 (SegWise Rapid, questionnaire, small rentals) · $1,499 (SegWise Quick™, 24-hour engineered) · $2,088 (Full Engineered residential; $2,457+ commercial) · $450 (pre-acquisition analysis, credited at closing) — published starting points that sit about 10% under the only national firm that publishes its rates. Form 3115 catch-up and audit support are included in every tier — no surprise line items.
The $299 study trap (and the 2026 version of it)
Low-cost studies are subsidized marketing: the fee is engineered to be a yes, the deliverable is a questionnaire on published tables. Two ways that costs real money in 2026:
- The audit question. Pub 5653 (Feb 2025) tells examiners to reward “detailed engineering approach from actual cost records” — and to discount guesses. A table-based study answers “did your expert measure it?” with “he assumed it.”
- Stale-law math. Some shops still quote year-one savings on pre-OBBBA phase-down tables, or misstate the January 19, 2025 test (it’s a fixed statutory date — the binding-contract date controls, not your closing date and not “the Senate passage date,” a phrase floating around the internet that is simply wrong). Ask any firm you’re quoting: “what bonus percentage do you assume for a contract signed February 2026?” If they hesitate, you have your answer.
When a study is not worth it (we say this out loud)
A study needs a runway: enough depreciable basis (very roughly $250K+) and enough holding years to enjoy the deferral. Skip-or-wait cases: a house about to sell with little basis left, a fast-flip BRRRR where placed-in-service timing fights the study, or a tiny rental where the deduction delta barely clears the fee. Any reputable firm should model this before taking your money — ours put it in the written proposal, in writing, and we’ve talked owners out of studies at tax time.
The price question is really a return question. At our engineered-tier fees, a typical $500K residential purchase producing $30–40K of year-one tax savings returns 10–20× the fee in year one alone. Run your property through the calculator, then let the written proposal make the number concrete.