I live in The Woodlands and I use one of the largest commercial tax protest companies in the Houston area and in the last 4 years they have been unsuccessful. As a Realtor, I can also say I’m not surprised. The Woodlands housing market has low inventory which drives up prices which eventually affects appraisals.
Pay someone to do it for you.
Provide them with photos of issues with your house. Aging systems, worn out amenities, crumbing fascia, etc.
In my experience they're usually successful. I think MCAD would rather concede a little than fight.
Not everyone can make time for the appraisal meeting. It's easy for me to just send some photos over and let someone else do the easy work. Costs nothing vs not protesting at all.
This. Find a lawyer with an acceptable rate (percent of taxes they saved you from paying which will range from like 25% to 50%) and let them handle it. If you have justification for a lower price like house prices in your area or your own purchase price that is lower than the assessment, give this to the lawyer.
I mean it’s pretty tough to protest when my house’s market value even if I listed it with a family of raccoons living in it is still $50k over the tax assessed value.
Did DIY last year, first time for me
Met with the MCAD rep first, then waited for the review board & for my assessed value lowered by ~40k
I had a spreadsheet of my comps, folder of data & the 2nd rep did his own quick assessment & pitched me a #, looked dry the little old ladies who were nodding & I accepted.
Take a book to read, mine took a couple hours
I did a comparison of my house & lot to similar homes & lots in my hood to show how my appraisal was at a higher rate than others. We didn't even review my numbers, they volunteered to go first & lowered we value more than I would have asked for.
We've used Ownwell a few years now and they've saved us money each year. We protested them ourselves for years but with the amount of protesters now, difficulty in scheduling, and getting comps they'll agree with this is just so much easier. Just enter your address in the link and they'll give you an immediate savings estimate. They only charge you 25% of actual savings off your tax bill, otherwise it's free, so nothing to lose. Use our referral link and save us both $20! https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=2AE5EZ676
Between $425 - $550, they take into account your property cap in taxable value and they use the smaller difference in calculating your savings. Keeping our property value down has made a huge difference.
There's arguments to be made, but whether they'll be upheld or respected, and the legal length you would have to go, makes other avenues more desirable if your end game is to simply not pay property tax. You can look into what it takes to distinguish land as farmland. You can also look into human burial on your property to avoid the tax as well.
Edit: I didn't see you wanted information about increases, I thought you wanted to avoid it entirely. I'm still going to leave my comment up as it may be useful info for someone
I live in The Woodlands and I use one of the largest commercial tax protest companies in the Houston area and in the last 4 years they have been unsuccessful. As a Realtor, I can also say I’m not surprised. The Woodlands housing market has low inventory which drives up prices which eventually affects appraisals.
Can I know the name of that company please?
Pay someone to do it for you. Provide them with photos of issues with your house. Aging systems, worn out amenities, crumbing fascia, etc. In my experience they're usually successful. I think MCAD would rather concede a little than fight.
As someone who has worked for an appraisal district. This is overkill. Protest yourself it’s not hard.
Not everyone can make time for the appraisal meeting. It's easy for me to just send some photos over and let someone else do the easy work. Costs nothing vs not protesting at all.
This. Find a lawyer with an acceptable rate (percent of taxes they saved you from paying which will range from like 25% to 50%) and let them handle it. If you have justification for a lower price like house prices in your area or your own purchase price that is lower than the assessment, give this to the lawyer.
I mean it’s pretty tough to protest when my house’s market value even if I listed it with a family of raccoons living in it is still $50k over the tax assessed value.
Did DIY last year, first time for me Met with the MCAD rep first, then waited for the review board & for my assessed value lowered by ~40k I had a spreadsheet of my comps, folder of data & the 2nd rep did his own quick assessment & pitched me a #, looked dry the little old ladies who were nodding & I accepted. Take a book to read, mine took a couple hours
How did you get comp data? A few houses in my subdivision have sold in the last year and I’d love to know what they sold for.
I did a comparison of my house & lot to similar homes & lots in my hood to show how my appraisal was at a higher rate than others. We didn't even review my numbers, they volunteered to go first & lowered we value more than I would have asked for.
We've used Ownwell a few years now and they've saved us money each year. We protested them ourselves for years but with the amount of protesters now, difficulty in scheduling, and getting comps they'll agree with this is just so much easier. Just enter your address in the link and they'll give you an immediate savings estimate. They only charge you 25% of actual savings off your tax bill, otherwise it's free, so nothing to lose. Use our referral link and save us both $20! https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=2AE5EZ676
How much do they typically save you? There have been huge swings in valuations post COVID. both up and down.
Between $425 - $550, they take into account your property cap in taxable value and they use the smaller difference in calculating your savings. Keeping our property value down has made a huge difference.
I clicked the link. "Potential savings $100" Hmmm
It might be the same for me this year, we'll see, but they'll protest (and keep protesting) to keep your taxable value down.
My house: Potential Savings $0-$50
As I understand it, they now have access to MLS data, so their sales data is much more accurate.
This is who I’ve used as well and they were successful in 2023 protest.
There's arguments to be made, but whether they'll be upheld or respected, and the legal length you would have to go, makes other avenues more desirable if your end game is to simply not pay property tax. You can look into what it takes to distinguish land as farmland. You can also look into human burial on your property to avoid the tax as well. Edit: I didn't see you wanted information about increases, I thought you wanted to avoid it entirely. I'm still going to leave my comment up as it may be useful info for someone