Home address: 3610 Littlestone Dr

2021 Taxable Value: $226,762  

Recent Sales Price: $143,620 – Overtaxed by 58%

Property tax assessments not carefully reviewed lead to paying more than your share of property taxes. Either comparable sales or condition issues at your home are useful for a market value appeal of property taxes. Unequal appraisal appeals compare the level of assessment of your house to comparable houses, typically on a per square foot basis. Winning a property tax protest is easy. Getting property owners to appeal is hard.  Only 10% of Texan homeowners appeal their property taxes. 

Some property owners do not appeal due to a concern the appraisal district will want to inspect their house.  However, the appraisal district is MUCH too busy during the appeal season to even think about asking to inspect a property.  Assessors do not visit houses because of appeals. One reason it is difficult for appraisal districts to correctly value homes is they are not homogenous.  Some have been remodeled and some haven’t. Appraisal districts aggressively settle appeals since they have only 65 days to settle most of the appeals. Protesting your property taxes annually is analogous to regularly changing the oil in your car.  Preventative maintenance avoids serious problems.