After years of putting this off, I finally decided to do it this year. I used O'Connor & Associates. They ended up lowering my appraised value by 21K. Apparently this will save me $485 in property taxes this year. Their fee is 50% of whatever they save you, so basically $242. After the fee, my net gain is $242. Doesn't seem like it's worth the work - although I didn't do anything except send them some pictures of my roof and foundation. They did everything else. So I guess it's a win? I escrow, so when will this be reflected on my payment? Or will my payment not change at all and they will cut me a check at the end of the year for the overage? Do you guys protest every year? Do you do it yourself or use a company?
You have to look at it as more than just the yearly savings. During periods of time when property values are going up by leaps and bounds (as we've been seeing these last few years), there is the limit of 10% that they can raise your appraised value. So if you protest one year and they lower it, that also means that is that much less it can go up the following year as well. And so on and so on. I only just started protesting through a service a little over a year ago. They charge me 25% of what is saved and the process is all online and pretty easy (edit: I use a company called Ownwell). I remember on my first home trying to protest myself and it going terribly. So I didn't try again for a while but I think I just came in ill-prepared.
I use Betancourt every year, just set it and forget it. Harris County will appraise you the max 10% on homestead automatically almost every year. Betancourt has gotten a reduction for me every time. The savings compound over time because with each reduction the 10% hit the following year is on a lower base number. Just remember these protest company contracts automatically renew every year. So if you move or want to stop using them you have to be proactive in cancelling the contract.
I've used Rainbolt for a few years, very easy and no complaints. I don't even have to do anything now, they automatically handle it for me once I signed up. Like RR said, look at it beyond just saving this year. It helps long term to keep the taxable value as low as possible so that when they try to increase rates next year, the current value that they base it on is lower. For example on a 400k value protested and lowered to 380k, assuming next year they try to raise by 5% would be a $399k value instead of $420k. After a few years that really starts to add up and your yearly tax bill will be a couple of thousand lower than it would have been had you not protested each year.
I used Ownwell as well. I've used them for a few years now, but this year is the first year that actually made a monetary difference since I have homestead exemption. HCAD's appraised value year over year went up a full 10% before protest, but it actually went down by about 2.5% after protest. So my tax bill went down about 12%.
I actually just signed up for Rainbolt this year. I've protested myself in past years and it's so stressful; especially when going before the board. Hopefully Rainbolt will really help this year and future years. Glad to hear you've had good experience as our neighbor recommended them to us.
I do it myself when they refuse to settle online (once every 3-4yrs). The actual meeting is quick, but depending on what you're bringing to the table and what resources you have, the prep can take time. IIRC I reduced the value by over $50k last time. I really do not understand why the panels don't just agree to whatever you say, who the **** are they working for even? What to do they get by letting the city keep your money? ****ing CLASS TRAITORS. Lulz.
I do it every year. Last year I talked them into $100K off. These increases are ridiculous. I protested this year and took their first settlement offer of $60k off because I plan to sell. I hooked the future owners up a bit but may have hurt my eventual sale price.
Galveston CAD dropped a 100k increase in land value across the board on every lot regardless of size in the area of Galveston where I have an investment property, even when values have flatlined or dropped. It’s clearly a strategy to recoup money in the face of homeowner tax breaks this year from the state of Texas. Keep an eye out for these types of shenanigans. It seems very ‘conservative’ to engage in over taxes but I am considering a lawsuit since it’s so blatant. @Ziggy they clearly work for the CAD and see it as an adversarial job vs homeowners. I engaged a firm to fight the taxes for now.
I use jubally.com. It's $75 bucks, and they run some algorithm compared to your neighbors and give you a value. HCAD has always taken their value for me. This year though, was the first time in forever that HCAD didn't move my value at all. I still checked their website to see if I should still protest (you put in your address and they will give you a value without you paying so you can see if it's worth the $75) and they didn't give me one (which means that HCAD is lower). So I didn't protest this year.
This whole paying TAXES on UNREALIZED gains bullshit should stop. I am all for paying taxes when you sell etc...but houses can go up and down why are we paying on home values going up, when we don't realize a single penny until we sell. It is an asset just like a stock. DD
I've used O'Connor for years now. I protested myself once and was very successful, but it's more work than I care to do routinely. I usually do nothing to help the protest company unless something big happened to my house (eg., flood).
The appraisals should also act as binding purchase agreements. The owner has the right to sell the property back to the city for the stated price, no questions asked.
