Home address: 1439 Sun Mtn

2021 Taxable Value: $102,370

Recent Sales Price: $55,000 – Over-taxed by 86%

Most homeowners who do not appeal annually pay excess property taxes. Either comparable sales or condition issues at your home are useful for a market value appeal of property taxes. An unequal appraisal appeal is easy to prepare.  Just find neighborhood homes with a lower level of assessment (per square foot).  Summarize the data in a table. The Texas Comptroller reports 80% of 2019 property tax appeals by homeowners were successful.

Owners are sometimes reluctant to protest property taxes due to a concern their value might be raised. One reason it is difficult for appraisal districts to correctly value homes is they are not homogenous.  Some have been remodeled and some haven’t. Appraisal districts are receptive to settling property tax protests for houses at the informal level because it has only a nominal impact on the total tax base. Property taxes are the largest tax most Texans face.  But it is a stealth tax hidden in the mortgage payment, disguising the size of property taxes paid.