Why you should protest your property taxes . ..

[Bella]

My husband went today to protest ours . . .

Montgomery County said our property value had increased $30k (about 20%) in the last year But when he went to protest (armed with information) they lowered it to just under 10k, which is a lot more reasonable

-Cindy

[adirty1]

how long have you been living in that house and is that the first time you had protested that property?
only reason I ask is my county will give you 9 percent off the first time you protest. After that it gets really hard to win. I am 1 and 5 right now. I am going to give it a year since our tax did not go up this year.

[3n-Out]

They want to raise my taxes this year as well. I'm not sure how they can justify the taxes going up when no one can sell thier house. The property my be worth more but try to sell at the taxed price.. Not in today market...

[kenw]

well, this is the 1st time we've protested ours (Harris county, 20 years in same house) and while they didn't buy into my valuation, they did set a hearing date.

So this weekend I'm photgraphing all the defects (cracks, drainage issues, rotted wood, etc) to use for backup. As well as the sales price of recent ones in neighborhood based on $/sq ft.

[Digigeek]

If you can't sell it for what you think it is worth, then it is not worth that much. The fair market value is what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller when neither is under a compulsion to buy or sell. So guess what - if people are only willing to pay $80,000 for all those $100,000 homes in your neighborhood, then your house is only worth $80,000 as well even if you did pay more. Believe it or not, prices do go down. If you're taxed at $100 per foot, and the comps are all at $80 per foot, then get the comps lined up and protest.

[Bella]

Originally Posted by adirty1

how long have you been living in that house and is that the first time you had protested that property?
only reason I ask is my county will give you 9 percent off the first time you protest. After that it gets really hard to win. I am 1 and 5 right now. I am going to give it a year since our tax did not go up this year.

We've lived in the house 3 years, we've protested every year, and every year, they've lowered the initial appraised tax value of the house for that specific tax year. This year they were trying to tax us at over $74 a sf, when comps in our neighborhood were $63-68 a sf. They settled on about $66 for this year.

I think the key is to go in armed with pics (if applicable) and information about similar homes in your area that have sold recently. We've taken information in each time, but this year was the first year we took pictures . .our deck supports are rotting and they gave us an additional $1000 off the value of our house for that.

-Cindy

[picman]

Here is a bit of help getting that info organized.
At the top right of this page http://www.clouttexas.com/ under "Top Links of Interest" there is a link for an Appraisal Protest Spreadsheet.

[adirty1]

Originally Posted by Bella

We've lived in the house 3 years, we've protested every year, and every year, they've lowered the initial appraised tax value of the house for that specific tax year. This year they were trying to tax us at over $74 a sf, when comps in our neighborhood were $63-68 a sf. They settled on about $66 for this year.

I think the key is to go in armed with pics (if applicable) and information about similar homes in your area that have sold recently. We've taken information in each time, but this year was the first year we took pictures . .our deck supports are rotting and they gave us an additional $1000 off the value of our house for that.

-Cindy

Our county is finally on a data base with pictures and sales prices. I was amazed at what a year had done for them. The county had more up to date information than I had collected. next year I will have to try the picture route of the cracks and such.