I just used "iSettle" at HCAD's web site to protest my 2008 property taxes. Has anyone done this yet? Have you been successful? For those who haven't used it - using iSettle lets you file a protest online, provide what you feel the appraised value of your home should be and why you feels its lower than HCAD's appraised value (you get 700 characters or less to make your argument - which is silly but I was able to do it...) How successful have any of you been with or without iSettle when trying to protest your home's tax values here in Harris? Am I in for a long fight? I've never done this before...
I used it this year but have not heard back yet. It did seem awfully simple. Of course that means that it is going to be ridiculously difficult.
I tried it last year and it barely dropped from the original appraisal. I refused the new value online and was instructed to meet with an appraiser at the HCAD office. I thought it would be the normal one on one meeting, but it turned out I had to go to the full appraisal hearing with the three member panel. The appraisal district counts iSettle as the initial meeting prior to the full hearing. Needless to say, I passed on iSettle this year.
Seems like it. They really don't care what you have to say. They would rather see pictures, and even then the appraisal will argue that it has already been adjusted for depreciation. They usually just read these as affidavits at the end of a busy day and 99% of the time you won't see a change. You might want to pull up your house bill and see if you can get an automatic reduction from the ISD ratio. If there is something there, then just go ahead and fill it out. I'll be happy to explain this at a later time if you don't quite understand how to check this
I honestly have no clue as to what you're referring to here... This is the first time I've ever filed a protest. Any clarification you can provide (whether you provide or point be to a source to read up more about this) would be greatly appreciated. I was really hoping to avoid going to a hearing and going through all that mess - but I guess that's where this will likely end up. Master Baiter - how long ago did you file? a few weeks ago i assume? i thought this was a quick-turnaround process - but i guess not?
This affidavit is your informal meeting. Again, it's really not worth it. There are some great appraisers out there who are lazy and take the lowest 3 houses in your neighborhood, adjust for size and grade, and will give you that averaged-out value right there and there (I'm talking major savings here!). I'm telling you now it's not a matter of luck whether you pull these guys in your initial meeting or not. These are hard to come by because they solely work with agents. This is why people don't understand how these property tax consulting companies are able to lower the appraisal value by so much. This is also why I recommend hiring one. It's a win-win situation for both parties. Most of the time if you go by yourself you'll get stuck with an Asian who will spend 15 minutes working out the numbers properly and will refuse to lower your value by a single dime!
I've been getting mailings from an organization called "Property Tax Assessor Records Corp" who say that they can lower my home's tax value for a "one time processing fee of $55"... they say there is some exemption allowed under Texas state tax code section 11.13 that will reduce my home's taxable value by 10%... i thought this was just "spam mail" - but should I really use an organization like this instead of going at this alone? thanks.
I've protested our home value for the last 4 years. Every year they try to raise our value by the max 10% allowed with our homestead. Every year, except for last year, I have met with the appraiser for the informal meeting and have been able to reduce the increase to about .5% instead of 10. When you get your case number, you will have access to HCAD's records. Just find 3 houses in your neighborhood at about the same sq. footage and same grade, subtract the land value, and calculate the price per sq footage. Once you have found the 3 with the lowest price per sq. foot, use those houses as your evidence when going into the informal hearing. This has worked every year for me, even last year. It was just a little more of a pain last year having to go through it in the full hearing. I guess I've been lucky with the appraisers I've had in the informal meetings.
