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You have to have sealed architectural plans to challenge the SF. My house was built in the city of Kingwood. I can't find them now that the COH stole Kingwood.

RyanTheTemp found that HCAD has that our house was remodeled in 09 (year we bought) but no permits were pulled so I am going to challenge that.

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To clarify - I have never heard of HCAD changing the improved SF without sealed architectural drawings or the land SF without a sealed survey. I don't know if there is something else you could provide.

The second point is something I recommend everyone take a look at. My house was also tagged as having been remodeled, but there were no permits to support that. I was able to show HCAD there was no remodel and they removed it, which resulted in an automatic reduction based on the condition rating change.

If you show a remodel on your HCAD records, I suggest you pull the permitting history of your property to determine if it actually occurred.

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Forgive the possible dumb question...

How does one pull the permitting history?

Thanks!

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Forgive the possible dumb question...

How does one pull the permitting history?

Thanks!

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Not a dumb question at all. In the City of Houston, you can contact the Open Records section at the Houston Permitting Center and request everything for your property. It normally costs $16.00. I can always look it up first for you to see if making the formal request is even worth it.

For example, in Guitarsoup's case, I sent him an email telling him the City has no permit history indicating evidence of a remodel. He can potentially provide my email to HCAD as evidence in his protest.

And before anyone asks, no, I will not send anyone an email containing untrue information.

Third coast - There isn't some conspiracy by COH as you have implied, and the City has a revenue cap that restricts how much it can collect in taxes, anyway.

HCAD routinely requests permit information from COH to use for appraisals.

RTT,

Would you be able to look up my permit history? if so I can pass along whatever info you need via email, leftyt84 at hot mail (note the extra t). Sorry no pm ability here...

TIA!

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Forgive the possible dumb question...

How does one pull the permitting history?

Thanks!

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Not a dumb question at all. In the City of Houston, you can contact the Open Records section at the Houston Permitting Center and request everything for your property. It normally costs $16.00. I can always look it up first for you to see if making the formal request is even worth it.

For example, in Guitarsoup's case, I sent him an email telling him the City has no permit history indicating evidence of a remodel. He can potentially provide my email to HCAD as evidence in his protest.

And before anyone asks, no, I will not send anyone an email containing untrue information.

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there are two people on the last page who have said that HCAD shows their home being remodeled when it was not. this led to them having higher values which led to higher taxes.

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I may be misreading it but I don't think GS is contending that his home wasn't remodeled, just that no permits were pulled.

They get remodeling data from the MLS as well because they know that people don't always pull permits.

As RTT stated, this isn't some conspiracy. Lord knows these appraisers aren't perfect, but they're not knowingly mis-classifying homes as remodeled when they're not.

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YOUR PROTEST HAS BEEN SUBMITTED. PLEASE PRINT THIS PAGE FOR YOUR RECORDS.

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there are two people on the last page who have said that HCAD shows their home being remodeled when it was not. this led to them having higher values which led to higher taxes.

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I may be misreading it but I don't think GS is contending that his home wasn't remodeled, just that no permits were pulled.

They get remodeling data from the MLS as well because they know that people don't always pull permits.

As RTT stated, this isn't some conspiracy. Lord knows these appraisers aren't perfect, but they're not knowingly mis-classifying homes as remodeled when they're not.

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My home wasn't remodeled.

They also upgraded the condition from last year to this year from FAIR to GOOD.

They have the wrong number of rooms for my house.

They have a different square footage for my house and several neighbors' houses with identical floor plans.

These are problems that I have found so far.

The square footage thing is pretty common...as is the room count. Not saying it's right, but you're not alone there.

Someone with HCAD can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think room count is a factor in value as long as they have the correct number of bedrooms and baths.

I must have missed the story about the remodeling being in error. Have you pointed that out to them in the past or is this the first year you'll have a chance to? It doesn't seem like something that would be hard to get fixed if they have no proof of it.

Bathrooms, fireplaces, elevators play a role in value. Room count does not.

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The square footage thing is pretty common...as is the room count. Not saying it's right, but you're not alone there.

Someone with HCAD can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think room count is a factor in value as long as they have the correct number of bedrooms and baths.

I must have missed the story about the remodeling being in error. Have you pointed that out to them in the past or is this the first year you'll have a chance to? It doesn't seem like something that would be hard to get fixed if they have no proof of it.

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Them having the wrong number of rooms and the wrong square footage makes me think they are valuing the wrong house.

I've never seen the remodel thing on there before, but our property valuations haven't increased since we bought the house, so I haven't argued it.

I'm not sure I see their justification on grading our home good for 2015 when it has been fair for 6 years.

I have to do BPA's (which are very similar to appraisals) for relo firms occasionally and they ask for room count. HCAD is really the only good source for this if you can't walk the house. You would be surprised how much they vary on similar layouts. I'm pretty sure that room count is a WAG. Since it doesn't effect value, it would make sense that they don't put a lot of time into that.

How off is the square footage? It's not unusual for them to be +/- 10% on that figure since they use very rough calculations (i.e. measuring the exterior and doubling for a two story). That's why I encourage my clients not to totally rely on those numbers when looking at homes.

Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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Yes. You want the most unflattering pictures possible.

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Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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I can attest that they take realtor descriptions like "down to the studs" very literally.

112sf, so pretty close. However, I've looked up 5 houses in my immediate area that all have the same floorplan and they all have 112sf less than me and one room more than me.

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Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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Yes. You want the most unflattering pictures possible.

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Luckily I happen to be an expert at unflattering pictures.

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112sf, so pretty close. However, I've looked up 5 houses in my immediate area that all have the same floorplan and they all have 112sf less than me and one room more than me.

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This reminds me of a friend of mine. His house and the house next door were swapped in HCAD's records. Maybe they are appraising the wrong house.

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Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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How do you prove no remodel has been done? Exactly how do you prove a negative?

Ask them what their evidence is and refute it the best you can.

The two closest houses with identical floorplans to me are valued at 60k and 70k less than mine. Both have a slightly larger lot.

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Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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How do you prove no remodel has been done? Exactly how do you prove a negative?

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Bring them pictures of the original listing (or pictures from when you originally bought/moved in) and take pictures of the same angles today/recently.

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Bring pictures with you. A 'no permits have been pulled' won't likely get you very far. As Diggity mentioned, they scour MLS for pics/descriptions and adjust their records accordingly.

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How do you prove no remodel has been done? Exactly how do you prove a negative?

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Bring them pictures of the original listing (or pictures from when you originally bought/moved in) and take pictures of the same angles today/recently.

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I don't have the pictures from the original listing anymore. I'm sure the fisher price junk everywhere from having two kids under 2.5 years old doesn't really raise the value.

So "room count" doesn't affect value...but does bedrooms? HCAD has always showed 1 too many bedrooms for us.

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So "room count" doesn't affect value...but does bedrooms? HCAD has always showed 1 too many bedrooms for us.

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Yes, Bedrooms and Bathrooms.

Last year
Went from $150k to $185k, negotiated to $170 in August last year.

This year:
Went from $170k to $216k


Two guys just got murdered 100 yards away from my house and they want to increase my house value 27%? I could probably sell it for $180k right now not considering the double murder.

This **** pisses me off to no end.

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So "room count" doesn't affect value...but does bedrooms? HCAD has always showed 1 too many bedrooms for us.

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Yes, Bedrooms and Bathrooms.

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Wrong! Bedrooms and room count do not affect the value.

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Mr. McGibblets - any advice on arguing for a lowered grade adjustment?

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AM02-
To argue grade adjustment you must prove that your home is one of the only ones in that specific neighborhood code higher than everyone else. If you can show that your home as well as other like floor plans are different grades you have a better chance of getting it change.

Grades are based on a scale of X-A-B-C-D. Within those grades are differe levels. Example X+// X // X-

If 90% or more homes have a X grade and another 10% have a X+, HCAD is considering that 10% group to be the superior properties. They could also be the reserve section with pond views etc etc. But if all homes are the exact same and nothing is different, show that to the appraisal district to prove that the grading is wrong.

hth

What would cause them to upgrade my house from fair to good this year. Built in 83, no major renovations.

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What would cause them to upgrade my house from fair to good this year. Built in 83, no major renovations.

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Maybe looking at sales on MLS showing they condition is better than they thought it was. The way to show them it hasn't chnaged is taking pictures of the key areas. Those are:

-Kitchen
-Bathrooms
-Half Baths
-Windows
-Roof

If you can show that nothing has been done and also show what a remodeled home looks like compared to yours you might get it adjusted.

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What would cause them to upgrade my house from fair to good this year. Built in 83, no major renovations.

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Maybe looking at sales on MLS showing they condition is better than they thought it was. The way to show them it hasn't chnaged is taking pictures of the key areas. Those are:

-Kitchen
-Bathrooms
-Half Baths
-Windows
-Roof

If you can show that nothing has been done and also show what a remodeled home looks like compared to yours you might* get it adjusted.

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Key word here.

*Helps if you have large cans, a low cut shirt and are lucky enough the appraiser (or the majority of the ARB panel is made up of) is an old dude.

RTT,

Thanks! No permits were related to updates but as was mentioned here, they scan MLS as well. Updates were included in the listing so that makes more sense now. I appreciate your help.

RTT is good people.

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Last year
Went from $150k to $185k, negotiated to $170 in August last year.

This year:
Went from $170k to $216k


Two guys just got murdered 100 yards away from my house and they want to increase my house value 27%? I could probably sell it for $180k right now not considering the double murder.

This **** pisses me off to no end.

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I'm in a similar situation. Purchased in 2013, was appraised 20% over purchase price in 2014. I protested and was able to get the 2013 purchase price set as my market value. This year, despite last year's successful protest and resulting market value, I'm now $20K over last year's pre-protest appraisal.

WTF?

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Two guys just got murdered 100 yards away from my house and they want to increase my house value 27%? I could probably sell it for $180k right now not considering the double murder.

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I don't think the appraisers probably took the double homicide into account.