Tips for Lowering your Property Taxes

Yep, we get it.  Rising values means property taxes are on the rise as well.

In the short term, property taxes going up isn’t too painful, maybe a few hundred dollars here or there, but over time you could spend several thousand extra on taxes that you could have saved instead. Here are some practical things you can do to help dispute your Property Tax Values.

1. Review your Assessment – Every district has different ways of measuring property values.  Some do it as a percentage of overall market value, others do replacement cost.  Most taxing districts evaluate property values every two years, and on down markets rarely lower the property values without a protest from the homeowner.  If recent sales in your neighborhood look to be equal or higher than your current property value, you should probably stop reading and be glad your value is lower than it should be.  If your value is higher than you think it should be, continue reading for suggestions to help with your local tax authority. If you need help assessing the value of your home, you can fill out a quick home valuation to get your most accurate value.
2. Look up Protest Process with your district – For reference we have linked a few popular local municipalities in Texas for ease. The form you are looking for is usually called “Notice of Protest”. We get requests for Dallas County, Collin County, Tarrant County, Denton County, Ellis County, Kaufman County, Hunt County, Parker County, Hood County, Travis County, Hays County, Burnet County, Comal County, and Harris County.
3. Look up local home sales to see what your neighbors’ homes have sold for recently. In Texas, we are a non-disclosure state so you can usually see what homes have listed for and a “guess” on what they sold for. You can also request a custom valuation be completed by your local Realtor.
4. Look up values of your neighbors and see if it compares to your home. Sometimes your home has been raised in value when your neighbors have not. If this is the case, we have seen people protest in the past by simply bringing in the values of the other homes on their street.
5. Get a bid from a general contractor to show the work that would still be needed to get the home into upgraded or “sell ready” condition.
6. Take pictures of things you still need to update in the home to help justify your value.
7. Bring extra copies of everything you mean to present and realize that it’s always better to protest in person than online if possible so you can reason with the Appraisal Review Board.

If you have specific questions regarding your own Property Value, you can always reach out for help via Home@VanPoole.com or 214-494-1652.