Still no values in Galveston and jefferson

Yeah I'm as unhappy with the property tax situation as anyone...

But if homes are selling at/about the appraised values... The appraisals aren't wrong.

Doesn't mean I'm not protesting every damn time.

Diggity said:

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how does that compare to what the home could sell for? Certainly there are areas that have doubled in 12 years around town. Not mine unfortunately.

I have colleagues asking me to help them with protests, and they're complaining how crazy the values are. Meanwhile, the areas sales are at their assessed level or higher.

I've found using the sales approach in nearly impossible in most cases. Unequal appraisal seems to be the better bet recently.

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I don't know how much the house could sell for. It is in 77396. But it has been bought/sold like 3 times since we moved out. So I see the county jumping up in the values during that time. And more than likely, they did not protest the value (new owner) so what the county says it is worth vs. what they paid are in disjointment and after a year, it is set.

Here is the list of appraised values:

2013 - 197,974
2014 - 217,771
2015 - 235,000
2016 - 231,400
2017 - 236,500
2018 - 236,500
2019 - 236,500
2020 - 236,500
2021 - 272,726
2022 - 339,283
2023 - 373,211
2024 - 410,120

This is in Neighborhood 2475.06.

Is there really value in protesting when they hit you with the 10% cap on appraisal and the market is 20% higher than that?

Seems best case is a small market reduction and no change to your tax bill. Then the next year they do it all over again.

Diggity said:

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how does that compare to what the home could sell for? Certainly there are areas that have doubled in 12 years around town. Not mine unfortunately.

I have colleagues asking me to help them with protests, and they're complaining how crazy the values are. Meanwhile, the areas sales are at their assessed level or higher.

I've found using the sales approach in nearly impossible in most cases. Unequal appraisal seems to be the better bet recently.

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My area is the opposite. HCAD is consistently taking the highest $/sq ft sales price and applying it to all houses across the board in my area. Often times adding another 5-7% on top of that.

I don't doubt that values have gone up. Inventory is so low that the few houses that do come up for sale are going for top dollar.

But my 2 bed/2 bath 2300 sq ft house on a 7500 sq ft lot would NOT sell for the same price as 2900 sq ft 3 bed/2.5 bath on a 15000 sq ft lot that has a pool, hot tub, fire pit, gazebo, and outdoor kitchen.

Looked at the house my wife and I built and moved into in December 2009 in Oakhurst, and it's up 64%. Still crazy, but it's MoCo. Evenstill, I kick myself in the ass for moving out of it and into Harris Communisty.

I'm in 77345 as well. Did you structure stay the same and your land go up? I got the same increases as you, and land is where they hit me.

One of the guys I work with is in Creekside, which I think is around you.

He was surprised to find out the the assessment was actually a bit lower than market.

I have no doubt you know your area so keep fighting the good fight.

I'm actually appraised quite low but I still look for any evidence to go lower. No reason not to with iSettle

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Is there really value in protesting when they hit you with the 10% cap on appraisal and the market is 20% higher than that?

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Absolutely. You always want your market as low as possible.

There is a house a few down from me currently on the market that's priced $43,000 below what HCAD estimates market to be for 2024. It's priced just about where the appraised value is, and it's been sitting a month.

Yep. That's me. There are the occasional properties that are under-assessed. There is one on my street that is, but I think it's because it was assessed originally at partial-completion, and then an over 65 cap immediately went into place (the couple that lives there is older). There may be a handful of others who just hit the HCAD lottery. But the rest of us are getting hammered.

I shared this last year - house that sold at the end of Nov 2022 had a Jan 1, 2023 appraisal that was 25% higher than the sales price. I don't think those people protested, either. When HCAD sent me the sales comps after I declined my isettle last year, I saw this same situation over and over.

I have protested almost every year I've been here, and honestly, I could probably sell my house for more than it's 2023 market value, but I think I would be hard-pressed to sell it for the 2024 market value (if someone did buy it for that price, they'd be an idiot). I'm valued just under $200/sq ft. I've seen houses similar to mine (but in other areas of the subdivision) list for $230-$250/sq ft. Some go under contract right away and some linger. Others have listed and sold in the $190-$200/sq range.

I really think the way to go is a reassessment every 3-5 years, using an average of sold properties over that time. You'd get much better comparable data this way (especially in years when inventory and sales are low), and at least budgets would be somewhat stable.

I posted on another thread that the local school districts are starting to complain about how their actual budgets are so much lower than what was projected because so many people are successfully protesting their valuations.

Sounds like that home's appraisal is probably too high.

Of course it is, it's in Harris County. Looking at the per sq/ft appraisal for both market and appraisal, it's not much different than mine. I need to speak with him to see what the price for sq/ft it sold for and use it to argue my appraisal.

Why?
What does it buy you?
Is it worth $500 per year to reduce it down?

It won't change your tax bill…

Could change your tax bill next year...or perhaps several years down the road. Maybe not, but I'd rather fight it in hopes there's a savings down the road.

Could?
How?

aTm2004 said:

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Of course it is, it's in Harris County. Looking at the per sq/ft appraisal for both market and appraisal, it's not much different than mine. I need to speak with him to see what the price for sq/ft it sold for and use it to argue my appraisal.

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My experience has been that HCAD doesn't care about houses that are up for sale or sold after Jan 1. You have to save that data for next year, but of course by Jan 1, 2025, they will have applied some sort of bogus "market adjustment" for the interim months and value it for even more than the sales price.

Just one example...but in some years they don't raise values in certain neighborhoods. You and I have the exact same house next door to each other but I lowered "market value" last year and you didn't. If my "market" is enough less than yours this year, the 10% max increase may bump against the "market" for me and not you.

Yep. The appraisers should be known publicly and their neighborhood code made public as well. I guarantee you they all have the lowest appraised house in their neighborhood.

I'm a dumbie and just assumed it would have the newest valuation up there on MCAD. Went down 5k last year, up 27% this year (just got the letter). Max of 10% but still ridiculous. I'd sell today if I could get that value.

Yeah I was dumb and looking at last year. Up 27%.

Just got the letter today and no change from last year. We have fought and won our appeals the last 2 years as well.

I was preparing for the 10% max plus the extra they want to charge but can't.

Brazoria county. I think they just generate random numbers and say that will work.

BayAg_14 said:

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Brazoria county. I think they just generate random numbers and say that will work.

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Down 12% in Bridgeland. We will take it…

It was certainly unexpected.

You lucky bassturd.

KT_Ag08 said:

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Down 12% in Bridgeland. We will take it…

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lol...certainly not all of Bridgeland

Only the "Tunneland" section from what I've heard

interesting article. This board (myself included) seems to have bad luck

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Of the values already sent, appraisal district data shows about 13% of homeowners saw no change, 48% saw decreases in appraised value and around 40% of homeowners saw increases.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/property-tax-appraisal-2024-houston-19399572.php?

I'm 3 for 3 on increases - on average well over 20% increases