Protect Your Money - Protest Property Taxes

If you haven't sent in your property tax protest form for this year, it's too late. But it's your money and you need to protect it.

Every year, the tax appraiser sends out an appraised value for your property. You may return the enclosed form protesting the assigned value. In the Austin area that happens in April. You have a deadline in which to return the protest form and then you are assigned an appointment time for an informal hearing with a county tax appraiser. If you are not satisfied with the results from the informal meeting, you then proceed to a formal hearing of a review board.

Even if they have lowered my appraised value, I still research to see if the value can be lowered further. I own and manage a number of properties so it's work but it's rewarding when you are successful in getting the valued lowered, thereby lowering your property taxes.

This morning at an informal hearing, I protested a property tax value. The county appraisal district had raised my property value. I was able to successfully argue a value lower than the previous year.

If you have applied for a protest, best of luck to you in getting your tax value lowered. If you missed the deadline this year, be sure to investigate the opportunity next year.

I want to be your REALTOR. If you are thinking of selling a house, give me a call. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about the seller's disclosure or other matters involving selling a home. 512. 589.7988.

If you are interested in finding out more about Austin, living in Austin, real estate or buying or selling a home in Austin, I want to be your REALTOR. And I appreciate your referrals as well. Call or email to find out how I can help you. 512.589.7988 or robin @robinscottrealtor.com

Austin, Texas Homes for Sale. Robin Scott, BROKER Certified Residential Specialist, Accredited Buyer's Representative, Seller's Representative Specialist. 512.589.7988.

Protesting Property Taxes in Austin

As the Travis County Appraisal District (TCAD) started their process of appraising properties I published a Blog with their calendar information.
Austins Property Tax Calendar

Then I published a small Blog about protesting. I own properties in Travis and Williamson Counties so I plan to Blog about experiences protesting in both counties.
Protesting Your Property Taxes in Austin

Since property values have diminished over the year, I decided to protest. First the county sent me their evaluation on my property value with an opportunity to protest in writing which I did. After looking at the recent solds (the county determines what the property value was on December 31 of the year in question which in this case was 2008) I determined that the county had over appraised my property and I filed the form of written protest.

Then the county sent me a letter reducing my property value by a small amount along with information on 5 homes to which they were comparing. It seemed great that from my written protest they had reduced the value but I researched the homes that they were using as comparatives and found that 4 of the 5 where not true comparatives. As an example, one of the properties stated in their information that the house had $44,000 in remodeling upgrades and improvements of which my property had none. Therefore, I decided to attend the informal protest.

This morning I went to the informal protest and learned about the TCAD system. Some of the issues I encountered were as follows:

1. One of the comparatives they had provided was from January of '08. That is an entire year earlier. That was even before the market crash and should not have been considered a fair estimation of value. I was told TCAD could use sold homes from January 1 through February of the following year. Good to know when the market starts to go back up.

2. In Texas, the price you paid for your home is not public information so even TCAD doesn't have it unless you tell them - or someone else does. So, when I printed out my multiple listing system (MLS) sold sheets, I blacked out the house numbers. It seemed to me that it was the right thing to do to protect the other homeowners. After all, the MLS sheet provided all the information on a legitimate sheet from a computer generated system. The TCAD agent told me that they couldn't use the information without the house number. In other words, I had to provide the address to benefit from the information. I didn't have it, but the MLS sheet does have the legal description on the page so the agent was able to look up the house address.

3. The main reason I took the MLS sheets was because they contained pertinant information such as the house had $44,000 in upgrades so a true comparative would have been to reduce the sold price by $44,000. The agent told me that he couldn't make any adjustments in the system. What! How is that a fair comparison?

Next I'm going to the formal hearing. I'm determined to get those taxes reduced. I'll keep you posted. Please send your comments.

Robin Scott, BROKER. Certified Residential Specialist, Accredited Buyer's Representative, Seller's Representative Specialist. Amelia Bullock Realtors. 512.589.7988.

Property Tax Appraisal District Calendar

Since the valuation of your home by the county tax appraiser will effect the cost of owning your home, it's important to know what's going on. Below is the schedule of events for Travis County Appraisal District:

Jan1 - All residential properties are appraised according to their value on Jan1.

January - March - County appraisers analyze the market and determine a value of every home in Travis county

Early April - The appraisal districts mails to homeowners notices of determined home value with information on how to protest.

April - May - Homeowners may file protests with the Appraisal Review Board.

June 1 - deadline for protest requests

July 27 - The appraisal district provides information on property values for each area

August - September - Cities, school districts and other tax districts like MUDs and PUDs set their tax rates.

September 29 - Tax rates are finalized

October 1 - The tax assessor mails the tax bill

PROTESTING PROPERTY TAXES

Visitors from other states are sometimes shocked at the amount we in Texas pay in property taxes but we don't have state income taxes and we use property taxes to fund our schools. I'm all in favor of contributing to education but sometimes that tax bill pinches.

In Texas, the county appraisal district always seems to be behind in what is going on in the market and they don't have access to an MLS system. It usually takes them some time to catch on that the market has gone up and by the time they are reassessing the value of your home, it's starting to go down again.

This year I just had to protest. Williamson county appraised one of my properties for $30,000 more than I new it could sell for. Taxes are paid at the end of the year but assessed at the beginning so you do have time to protest but they want to see information on what your home value was January 1 which means you must find comparable sales from the previous year.

Because I'm a REALTOR® and do have access to MLS, I was able to put together a package of collateral material and successfully got the property value reduced by about $20,000. Whew!

If you think your proposed tax evaluation is out of line, consult your REALTOR®. Property sales prices in Texas are not public information so it would be hard for you to determine the market value with strong supporting data but your REALTOR® should be able to help.

Robin Scott, Broker. Certified Residential Specialist.

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AUSTIN AREA PROPERTY TAXES

If you're in the Austin area, you've probably received your county tax appraisal for the year. Mine was high. How about yours? I think I'm going to protest but first I need to do the research to see what my market value is. If you have a question about your tax appraisal value, a Realtor can run a comparative market analysis on your property. There will be instructions on how to protest the appraised value included with your statement but evidence supporting your claim that your property has been over appraised is required.