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2020 Property Tax Values are out

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Both Tacos

Both Tacos 1806

Posted
Posted

I guess I'll get this year's "bend me over" thread started since I have absolutely no idea what the hell the Rockwall CAD is smoking, but it must be some good shit.

Get a load of this shit. We put a pool in at the end of last year so I was expecting my value to automatically go up.

Market Value - Structure/Buildings went from $283,490 to $331,200 = +$47,710 (15% increase)

Market Value - Land went from $58,860 to $411,760= +$352,900 (700% increase) What the hell is that all about????

Total Market Value went from $342,350 to $742,960.

Appraised Value - $342,350 to $705,004 (they show on the CAD site that there is a $37,956 Homestead Cap reduction from the Market Value of $742,960)

Homestead Cap Value went from $293,840 to $365,644 = +$71,804 (20% increase)

They have my taxes based off the $705,004 for everything except the ISD, where I get a $25,000 exemption amount.

1. Shouldn't I be paying taxes on my Homestead Cap Value?

2. I thought values couldn't go up more than 10% if you have a homestead? 

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pacman

pacman 7371

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Up $15k but still $28k below what my neighbors house sold. We have practically identical homes, so I am not sure I have much standing to protest. Probably will anyway to see if they knock off 5k.

 

A different question on land value, or overall value.

I wonder if I should expect a major jump next year.

We have a large construction project, resort basically, going up a mile or so from the house. Anybody have experience there?

Or, maybe it will depress value.

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TxTower

TxTower 652

Posted
Posted

So historically low interest rates combined with a shortage of affordable housing and cash strapped municipalities.

What exactly did you think was going to happen?

 

Your only hope is the COVID recession that’s coming and that’s going to hurt on other fronts.

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Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders 1370

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, TxTower said:

So historically low interest rates combined with a shortage of affordable housing and cash strapped municipalities.

What exactly did you think was going to happen?

 

Your only hope is the COVID recession that’s coming and that’s going to hurt on other fronts.

After the drop in property values due to the COVID recession, they'll go to the think about all the firemen/teachers playbook and increase the tax rate to make up for the shortfall. 

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23115

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, ZB'Tejas said:

Well shit. I just looked up on TravisCAD and mine is lower but I'm not sure by how much. I did have an incorrect structure they listed as an ADU so at least that was removed so will save some money. Although now I have to pay ProTax 40% of that savings.

The Protax statement should show the original and final market value.

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AUS-97HORN

AUS-97HORN 11823

Posted
Posted (edited)
23 hours ago, crash_davis said:

just got my email from protax. they were able to reduce the Market value 4.33%. Travis county living in Crestview.

not sure what that equates to in tax dollars saved. 4% is better than nothing i guess.

im pretty close to you, Wooten-ite here.

Based on advise from this site, I called ProTax in late March/ early April? (after we all discovered Travis hadnt changed the prices from last year to this year) and got them to go back to the old pay-for-play model.

and then sometime in August I logged onto my TCAD account and noticed the home value (which had been identical) was about 2k less for this year.  so thats better than nothing.

 

but I think we are ALL gonna get royally fucked for "2021" value on Jan1,  My neighborhood page mentions numerous people who have lived in their house for 5+ years being cold called by desperate realtors who are offering $40-60k over market value to buy a house. 

 

Not really sure how TCAD doesnt raise everyone's rates by 20% next year - cap or no cap.

Edited by AUS-97HORN
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swraith

swraith 347

Posted
Posted
On 9/29/2020 at 1:45 PM, swraith said:

I got an email from Five Stone about 4 weeks ago saying everything is delayed and to just hang tight to see if I will get a reduction or not. I’m not holding my breath.

Got another email from Five Stone.  protest is still delayed.

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swraith

swraith 347

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^^ you won't get any argument out of me on that viewpoint.  I don't expect the protest to be successful. However, I have no downside.  If the company is successful, I get a lower valuation even on a year when they didn't go raise them, helping me long term.  If the company is not successful, I am not out any time or money.

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Liquor and Poker

Liquor and Poker 3659

Posted
Posted

You guys with big increases need to work harder on this.  Go to the full ARB hearing, and go yourself.  Use pictures, bids from contractors, cost of materials at Home Depot, anything you can get your hands on.  They're regular people and they listen. 

Those firms you hire just take the first offer from the appraiser, who won't budge much.  Nickels and dimes.

Been to ARB three straight years for Harris and Galveston and got the appraisal increases cancelled out every time.  Actually turned a 10% increase this year into a 7% decrease in Harris, and turned an attempt at a 30% increase (52% on the house itself) into a hold-steady in Galveston.

I will say Harris and Galveston are a lot more aggressive than Dallas CAD was on changing values every single year. That helps my arguments but creates more work.

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Enchubben

Enchubben 5510

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

You guys with big increases need to work harder on this.  Go to the full ARB hearing, and go yourself.  Use pictures, bids from contractors, cost of materials at Home Depot, anything you can get your hands on.  They're regular people and they listen. 

Those firms you hire just take the first offer from the appraiser, who won't budge much.  Nickels and dimes.

Been to ARB three straight years for Harris and Galveston and got the appraisal increases cancelled out every time.  Actually turned a 10% increase this year into a 7% decrease in Harris, and turned an attempt at a 30% increase (52% on the house itself) into a hold-steady in Galveston.

I will say Harris and Galveston are a lot more aggressive than Dallas CAD was on changing values every single year. That helps my arguments but creates more work.

While this is true about going yourself and better results - when you use one of the big companies they aren't individually arguing values of individual homes. They negotiate blocks of homes or areas of homes as a group. It's quicker and cheaper for them. 

On 9/28/2020 at 4:27 PM, ZB'Tejas said:

Well shit. I just looked up on TravisCAD and mine is lower but I'm not sure by how much. I did have an incorrect structure they listed as an ADU so at least that was removed so will save some money. Although now I have to pay ProTax 40% of that savings.

You should work them down to 30%.  I have seen as low as 25% for some of the bigger companies, but just about all of them will accept 30% or 33 1/3%.

Edited by Enchubben
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Dnaguy

Dnaguy 12058

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 10/21/2020 at 12:51 PM, Liquor and Poker said:

You guys with big increases need to work harder on this.  Go to the full ARB hearing, and go yourself.  Use pictures, bids from contractors, cost of materials at Home Depot, anything you can get your hands on.  They're regular people and they listen. 

Those firms you hire just take the first offer from the appraiser, who won't budge much.  Nickels and dimes.

Been to ARB three straight years for Harris and Galveston and got the appraisal increases cancelled out every time.  Actually turned a 10% increase this year into a 7% decrease in Harris, and turned an attempt at a 30% increase (52% on the house itself) into a hold-steady in Galveston.

I will say Harris and Galveston are a lot more aggressive than Dallas CAD was on changing values every single year. That helps my arguments but creates more work.

This.

In Fort Bend, however, the ARB is shit. They’re just olds that defer to the county appraiser.

I literally had a 25+ page deck and the data to back up my own assessment for my property worth. This included sales and other homes and contractor estimates and lots of pictures from the house.

They ultimately just split the difference between my number and the county even after the county didn’t rebut any of my info. When I actually went through the math the ARB folks eyes glazed over.

So I had to actually appeal the ARB assessment as well and asked for arbitration this summer. However, I told the appraisers that id be open for further negotiation if they didn’t want to go through with the arbitration. 
I got a call from FBCAD with a number 15 grand more than I asked for in the ARB hearing but close to 30,000 less than the ARB ruling. I took it because I didn’t want to risk losing and be on the hook for a higher value and losing the deposit. I got the $500 arbitration deposit back from the state minus the $50 filing fee because we didn’t actually hold the arbitration hearing.

To paint the actual picture: 

So the original 2020 eval was 528. I contested and said it was worth 455.  FBCAD didn’t want to budge a cent before the ARB. ARB said it was worth 500. Negotiations with FBCAD got me to 470. Last year the house was 435. 

I was homestead capped at 478, yes. So  I only really saved like $200 on my tax bill. The amount of time I spent for $200 is definitely not worth it. That being said, the saving down the road is what really matters. There’s a potential $70,000 difference in what I could pay next year if they tried to increase values another 10% again.... which they will almost certainly will.

Edited by Dnaguy
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Chapo

Chapo 104

Posted
Posted

This is my first merry go round. Bought a new built house in Harris County last year for $300k, the tax appraisal is coming in at $310k. I checked my street (~20 houses built within the past 3 years by same builder) and saw that my $120/sft is the 2nd highest. The average appraisal for the street is $110/sft.  Half of the houses has a lakeview and a few with a pool (my house has neither). 

As I said, I have never done this before. If my argument is just based on the $/sft to get the appraisal more in line with the avg for the street, would that be good enough for arbitration? or do I have to do more work?   

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Enchubben

Enchubben 5510

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Chapo said:

This is my first merry go round. Bought a new built house in Harris County last year for $300k, the tax appraisal is coming in at $310k. I checked my street (~20 houses built within the past 3 years by same builder) and saw that my $120/sft is the 2nd highest. The average appraisal for the street is $110/sft.  Half of the houses has a lakeview and a few with a pool (my house has neither). 

As I said, I have never done this before. If my argument is just based on the $/sft to get the appraisal more in line with the avg for the street, would that be good enough for arbitration? or do I have to do more work?   

If they’re assessing you only $10k more than purchase price last year you ended up in a pretty good spot. If I were you I’d do the isettle option online and ask for a 5% reduction to get close to purchase price and hope they give you anything. Keep in mind building costs have increased significantly over the last 9 months or so.

But to answer your question yes you are trying to argue for an equal and uniform approach to assessment compared to similar properties. Make sure your comps are of similar size, home style, number of stories, age  etc. If you must use a home with a pool or outdoor kitchen make sure you back that out when calculating their PPSF.   Also - I tend to back out land value as that should be very consistent home to home in your neighborhood and account for things like views.

For comparison, I bought my home at $550k last September and my assessment was well over $600k.

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bschoolprof

bschoolprof 6272

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Also, keep in mind that when you ask for a reduction, you’re actually asking for a reappraisal. It could go up higher since they did the appraisal if you’re in a hot market.

Maybe in the old days, but under the new prop tax law, an ARB cannot raise a homeowners' proposed appraised value if they ask for a hearing.  

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:USPC0kibPjgJ:https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2019/06/14/breaking-it-down-this-is-how-the-new-texas-property-tax-law-affects-you/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

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Texas Jeff

Texas Jeff 1945

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, MAUFRAIS said:

i just looked my house (Austin) up and all historical values are currently N/A.  both when i look at roll value history and when i search by previous years.

what're those fuckers up to?

If I had to guess, the 2021 numbers are in the mail and a website update is coming along shortly...

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pacman

pacman 7371

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Posted (edited)

Up 10% here in Wilco but a house down the street, with my exact housing plan, sold for 150k more than the county valued my home, 85k over asking. Guess I can't complain and should just sell.

 

On another note, I protested my first year and got 25k knocked off. That's been worth quite a bit these past four years. I haven't won any appeal since and it's always been 10% every year.

Edited by pacman
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Armybrat

Armybrat 40906

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

2021 values -- if it is a Homestead, it's going up "only" 10% over last year.  If it isn't, prepare your ... 

Six straight years of 10% cap being my friend in Williamson County.

My homestead here in 78717 went up 7%.

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40906

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, pacman said:

Up 10% here in Wilco but a house down the street, with my exact housing plan, sold for 150k more than the county valued my home, 85k over asking. Guess I can't complain and should just sell.

 

On another note, I protested my first year and got 25k knocked off. That's been worth quite a bit these past four years. I haven't won any appeal since and it's always been 10% every year.

Sell and move to Granger or Thrall?

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wd40

wd40 1976

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Posted

with the 10% max increase year over year and the commensurate increase in the level of government services to my address, I should be in the quarterly blowjob bracket, next year.  can't wait.

meanwhile, protesting taxes is one of my wife's main hobbies, which works out well, since I hate dealing with all that stuff and would probably just let the county, etc. gouge me out of pure laziness.

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Anastasis

Anastasis 23485

Posted
Posted (edited)

Question.  My understanding is that when you pull a permit for remodeling the appraisal district gets a shot at resetting your taxable value above the 10% HS cap to account for the improvements.  Is that correct, and if so, would pulling a permit to add a pergola over the patio give them a chance to go elbow deep on me in 2022 above and beyond whatever incremental value is added by the improvement, which is probably minimal itself?

Edited by Anastasis
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Both Tacos

Both Tacos 1806

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  • Author
Posted
Question.  My understanding is that when you pull a permit for remodeling the appraisal district gets a shot at resetting your taxable value above the 10% HS cap to account for the improvements.  Is that correct, and if so, would pulling a permit to add a pergola over the patio give them a chance to go elbow deep on me in 2022 above and beyond whatever incremental value is added by the improvement, which is probably minimal itself?
Yes, home improvements that require a permit would allow them to go over the 10%.
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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13523

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, BonzoMontreaux said:

In general, how long to you have to protest the new value?  Bought a house over a year ago... gone up 15K since purchase.  Not a shocker given the area and neighborhood but... if I can possible get it down a few thousand, why not.  

Personally I've found it's better to only protest every few years. Getting a few thousand knocked off might only net you less than $50 off your taxes. The time involved protesting might be more than that. It can also be easier to get dramatic reductions when they've gone up too much every year for a few years in a row.

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BonzoMontreaux

BonzoMontreaux 1088

Posted
Posted
Just now, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Personally I've found it's better to only protest every few years. Getting a few thousand knocked off might only net you less than $50 off your taxes. The time involved protesting might be more than that. It can also be easier to get dramatic reductions when they've gone up too much every year for a few years in a row.

Thanks!  

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13523

Posted
Posted
Just now, BonzoMontreaux said:

Thanks!  

I also recommend to protest any values yourself and not hire a company. They take too much for extremely little work. And some actually charge you even if they don't save you any money. 

Doing it yourself teaches you more about the system, and you realize that walking in with solid evidence will work wonders. The appraisal district adjudicator has 15 minutes slotted to work with you. If he gives you what you want in 5, he gets a 10 minute break.

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Anastasis

Anastasis 23485

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Both Tacos said:
2 hours ago, Anastasis said:
Question.  My understanding is that when you pull a permit for remodeling the appraisal district gets a shot at resetting your taxable value above the 10% HS cap to account for the improvements.  Is that correct, and if so, would pulling a permit to add a pergola over the patio give them a chance to go elbow deep on me in 2022 above and beyond whatever incremental value is added by the improvement, which is probably minimal itself?

Yes, home improvements that require a permit would allow them to go over the 10%.

Are they limited in any way to accounting for the value of the improvement, or can they increase the assessed value in an amount to cover not only the incremental value of the improvement, but to claw back the effects of HS cap over time?

 

Edited by Anastasis
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Paco

Paco 1934

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Posted
with the 10% max increase year over year and the commensurate increase in the level of government services to my address, I should be in the quarterly blowjob bracket, next year.  can't wait.
meanwhile, protesting taxes is one of my wife's main hobbies, which works out well, since I hate dealing with all that stuff and would probably just let the county, etc. gouge me out of pure laziness.
Can I borrow your wife (again)?
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Both Tacos

Both Tacos 1806

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Are they limited in any way to accounting for the value of the improvement, or can they increase the assessed value in an amount to cover not only the incremental value of the improvement, but to claw back the effects of HS cap over time?
 
I don't believe there is a "cap" on what they can get you for buy keep detailed records/receipts to fight any increase.
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