Real estate tax reduction that easy in Houston??? (assessors, house prices)

[misterno]

I have a family member living in Galleria area. He owns a townhouse and the other day we were talking about how real estate taxes were high etc. While talking, I logged into www.hcad.org and checked out his real estate taxes and I was surprised to see his townhouse is priced at 300K when the market price is ~400K

I asked him how on earth is this possible. He said he hired a company and every year for the last 4-5 years his taxable value is dropping.

I said "this is impossible, house prices going up every year in houston". He said "he hired a company and he pays them 1/3 of the reduction that they can get from the county and said anybody can do that.

Is this legal? I mean I know that the market value will never be same as taxable value but 100K difference?

Something fishy.

[Liljo22]

It's 100% legal. These companies do the same thing you can do yourself. They pull comps for your area and protest the appraised value. They get between 1/3 and 1/2 of the tax savings you receive. I have used one every year. Just do not go with O'Conner and Associates. They are terrible and have been in the news for not even showing up for people's protests. They did it to me and tried to tell me that thy showed up an didn't get any savings yet the next common I used dropped over 10%.

[predatorprey]

I do it myself every year, those who are too lazy will pay higher taxes than those who protest it every year.

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by Liljo22

It's 100% legal. These companies do the same thing you can do yourself. They pull comps for your area and protest the appraised value. They get between 1/3 and 1/2 of the tax savings you receive. I have used one every year. Just do not go with O'Conner and Associates. They are terrible and have been in the news for not even showing up for people's protests. They did it to me and tried to tell me that thy showed up an didn't get any savings yet the next common I used dropped over 10%.

Another major problem with these companies who protest your taxes for you is that its quite common for them to get too good of a deal....They may get a 30% reduction in year 1, but in year 2, the district can come back and say it was an error, increase your taxes back to the pre-reduced prices and then tack on that years gains....It happened to me.

When you go back to the reduction company and say they reversed your decision last year, they will not refund you the "savings"

Its easy to do yourself, but it will take half a day of your life away....just be careful with who you choose if you let someone do it for you...They are all shady if you ask me.

[crone]

Be sure to pull up the comps that HCAD is using for your house. Some don't make sense.

We protest every year, trying to keep ours one of the lowest per square foot in the subdivision. Last year, the values took a really big hit. Not ours. When went went to the ARB we were told it was because we protested regularly, even though the market values were in line with the entire subdivision. If your appraisal ends with an even number, they know you protest.

[houston-nomad]

On this subject, I spaced it and missed the deadline to protest last year's assessment online. Is it too late to do it now, through some more onerous process? They raised it a lot.

[cjedstrom]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

On this subject, I spaced it and missed the deadline to protest last year's assessment online. Is it too late to do it now, through some more onerous process? They raised it a lot.

You should look into filing a value abatement or a tax abatement. You should still be within the deadline periods. You would probably want to contact the counties Homestead department or the Assessors office for the paperwork and the guidelines. If that fails the next step is usually tax court which can be a pain. We have them here in St Paul MN and it seems from the website you also have them in Houston. Sorry if I happen to be misinformed. Good luck.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by cjedstrom

You should look into filing a value abatement or a tax abatement. You should still be within the deadline periods. You would probably want to contact the counties Homestead department or the Assessors office for the paperwork and the guidelines. If that fails the next step is usually tax court which can be a pain. We have them here in St Paul MN and it seems from the website you also have them in Houston. Sorry if I happen to be misinformed. Good luck.

Thanks!

[imnyc]

Any recommendation for a company that can used to file the protest?

[trele6]

Originally Posted by marksmu

Another major problem with these companies who protest your taxes for you is that its quite common for them to get too good of a deal....They may get a 30% reduction in year 1, but in year 2, the district can come back and say it was an error, increase your taxes back to the pre-reduced prices and then tack on that years gains....It happened to me.

When you go back to the reduction company and say they reversed your decision last year, they will not refund you the "savings"

Its easy to do yourself, but it will take half a day of your life away....just be careful with who you choose if you let someone do it for you...They are all shady if you ask me.

If you it yourself, what type of information do you take with you to support your claims? Especially if your house is already lower than most of the comps?