Anyone have experience with ownwell? Tax appraisal service. Supposedly no fee unless you save. Then only 25%.

Use then for a lot I have in Aransas County. Not overly impressed so far

Used them one time despite my better judgement and thought it was terrible

What were your complaints?

I've found them to be extremely easy to work with. I do feel they settle too easily and I could do better by fighting it out myself.

They accepted the proposed increase from HCAD, which was the maximum increase allowed. I did not find any support that they disputed/negotiated the amount and their customer support was awful when I tried finding someone to give me background. Customer support was essentially non existent.

the "maximum increase allowed" is infinite.

Sorry, I'll be more clear. They negotiated a market value that got me an increase in total assessed value of 10%.

When I couldn't find any realtors that would provide me comps anymore this past year tried them. I knew I couldn't argue condition so needed comps to argue unequal treatment. They negotiated the CAD to within 1% of what I was originally thinking was my target without me even having looked at comps. They took awhile but during the extended "not hearing results period" I would occasionally get an email that it was still in progress. All in all no complaints.

I've used them for 3 years. no complaints - they haven't done much for me though because i think the CAD was close to market unfortunately on my main house. but the service is easy to use. i did save on a second property that was super inflated and in rough shape. they saved me 800 bucks which i was happy for. it was an out of town property that i didn't have time to get to.

Got it. What was the original value?

Ignore that odd emoji...too early for me

Diggity said:

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the "maximum increase allowed" is infinite.

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Of course it is, home prices & values can go up as high or low as the market dictates.

As a rate, the circuit breaker caps non homesteaded homes at a 20% annual increase, and homesteaded properties are capped at 10% annual.

ETA: The appraised value, and final notice value are functions of all sales in your neighborhood.

When you go in to protest they narrow it down to the 5 most comparable sales they have certified in their system.

Agents know this, and often go in to see what the districts 5 sales look like, and finish the discussion of a homeowners property in less than 5 minutes & a settlement waiver...they pocket their fee and move on. The homeowner could've done the same thing with no knowledge of the process.

Just got my result back after using them for the first time this year.
They had the hearing and they saved me $400 off the original appraised value...... $400.

you can go get a Subway sandwich with those big savings...only a 6" though, sadly

Texaggie7nine said:

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Just got my result back after using them for the first time this year.
They had the hearing and they saved me $400 off the original appraised value...... $400.

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The got me $107k. Are you sure the $400 is not the tax savings?

Nope. They waved the fee. But the email started with "we got your value from x down to x and it was $401 less.

PeekingDuck said:

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They got me 75K off my appraised value. Well worth it. Communication was a little lacking, but overall obviously happy with the service.

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Check your HB201/Evidence sent from the CAD.

Property Tax Agents often walk in knowing zilch about your property. If there are no sales, or there are limited data to justify an increase they'll just request last years value & call it a day. It's BS that they charge anyone for that.

Your increase might be due to some non-comparable sales in the area, which again give them an easy out to just request last years value.

If you need to arbitrate or litigate however they can be helpful, but even that process can be easily navigated by someone with half a brain.

Hearings are public, and if anyone ever wants to walk in & watch a few to see how the ARB thinks it is legally permissible.

I've protested before with comp data. I managed a 46K decrease myself the year prior. Just didn't have the time this year. Well worth it for the effort involved. Not sure why folks are so passionate about this. They were even easier than when I've used jubally down in Houston. I think the problem party here is the appraisal district that's obviously throwing bull**** out there and hoping it sticks.

aggiepaintrain said:

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It's 25% forever
I'd try yourself and go straight to ARB.

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It's a 25% one time fee of the difference in tax bill. Though it does set a flag in the system for an auto appeal so you do have to manually turn that off. But it takes 3 seconds.

I have a couple properties they are appealing in BCS. Got the first one back last week. Lowered it $40k and saved me $750. They get 25% of that. Worth it for that one. Still waiting on the others.

Property Tax Consultants in College Station is local and handles all kinds of property tax appeals to lower assessments every year. Feel free to call at 979-485-8537!

Texaggie7nine said:

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Just got my result back after using them for the first time this year.
They had the hearing and they saved me $400 off the original appraised value...... $400.

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This kind of result is kinda common, its really the ARB siding with the CAD (ie a no change ruling) but often the CAD's own "equity" value may be a few hundred dollars lower than notice and so you get this token nothing reduction from the board.

They got me 31k off the appraised value, unfortunately didn't save me anything on my taxes as the appraisal district had raised the value so much that it had triggered the cap for homestead. I hate the system but I can't complain about the service I received, it ended up being free and saved me time and aggravation of doing it myself.

Ive gotten five back so far. Much bigger reductions this year. 10-15%. Appears they do well during slow markets when comps are the game and slack in hot markets when other angles are needed.

I used them for the first time this year. They got my value lowered by $237k and my market now equals my appraised value. I am surprised, because I could easily sell the house for the market value. No tax savings, but I'll take it.

Echo most of what others said who have in-town properties with fairly regular listings and sales around me. 77008 zip

First year $50 intro fee was a no brainer.
Second year about $180 invoice also was worth it for me, personally.

Snap some pics and upload, and I dont have to spend a few hrs learning the process for HCAD or deal with their board.