Home address: 5515 Lake Charles St

2021 Tax Assessment: $296,490

Recent Sales Price: $235,000 – Over-taxed by 26%

Half or more of Texas homeowners are paying more than their fair share of property taxes. Most market value protests are successful, typically saving the owner hundreds or thousands of dollars. An unequal appraisal appeal is easy to prepare. Just find neighborhood homes with a lower level of assessment (per square foot). Summarize the data in a table. Appraisal districts are generally very receptive to settling tax appeals at the informal hearing.

Property owners are sometimes reluctant to protest their property taxes because the believe the appeal process is difficult. It is not difficult and 60 to 80% of owners who appeal are successful. 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. Tax protests are resolved at the informal hearing since the result is within a “reasonable range of value”. An appraisal is not an exact science and valuations are only an educated opinion of value, not a fact. Property taxes are the largest tax most Texans face. But it is a stealth tax hidden in the mortgage payment, disguising the size of property taxes paid.