I need a good company to fight this

What did they charge? Half what they saved you?

Yep, O'Connor is 50% of savings

For those that have purchased the Jubally report this year, has the protest advice changed at all from previous years? I know in the past they recommend not attempting iSettle, has that changed at all?

Teddy Perkins said:

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For those that have purchased the Jubally report this year, has the protest advice changed at all from previous years? I know in the past they recommend not attempting iSettle, has that changed at all?

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No, it still has that same advice which doesn't make sense. It says not to do I file because it takes the place of your informal. Then after that it says you'll be forced to do a formal for unequal. Based on that, you have no reason not to try Ifile (especially this year).

I ignored the advice and went Ifile last year and received an offer comparable to what I got the previous year at my formal hearing. So I did the same this year.

AgLA06 said:

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Teddy Perkins said:

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For those that have purchased the Jubally report this year, has the protest advice changed at all from previous years? I know in the past they recommend not attempting iSettle, has that changed at all?

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No, it still has that same advice which doesn't make sense. It says not to do I file because it takes the place of your informal. Then after that it says you'll be forced to do a formal for unequal. Based on that, you have no reason not to try Ifile (especially this year).

I ignored the advice and went Ifile last year and received an offer comparable to what I got the previous year at my formal hearing. So I did the same this year.

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ifile and isettle are different things. But you're right. I would try isettle this year because their willingness to try to settle without a meeting has likely greatly increased.

Just got my isettle accepted. No documentation or argument or meetings required.

Market value: $270K
Jubally: $266K
New Value: $260K

I'm on the fence with iSettle. I've got three comparable sales from Jubally supporting a $50K reduction. I don't see iSettle giving that big of a reduction. Has anyone gotten a reduction of that size with iSettle?

If you have 3 legit comparables, this is the year to test their resolve. Worst case you go in for arbitration and if those are legit comparables you will win easily. When I went to arbitration, HCAD's big deal was that you had to have a minimum of 3 properties to prove your point. The arbitrators may not have the same restrictions but the HCAD guy mentioned that several times.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Teddy Perkins said:

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For those that have purchased the Jubally report this year, has the protest advice changed at all from previous years? I know in the past they recommend not attempting iSettle, has that changed at all?

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No, it still has that same advice which doesn't make sense. It says not to do I file because it takes the place of your informal. Then after that it says you'll be forced to do a formal for unequal. Based on that, you have no reason not to try Ifile (especially this year).

I ignored the advice and went Ifile last year and received an offer comparable to what I got the previous year at my formal hearing. So I did the same this year.

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ifile and isettle are different things. But you're right. I would try isettle this year because their willingness to try to settle without a meeting has likely greatly increased.

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Well, now I'm confused. I thought I did Isettle, but the email I got said "online protest verification for hcad account #" but the email says "this email acknowledges the protest you filed using hcad ifile system."

At the bottom it has our account number and ifile number

In my hcad account it shows isettle acknowledgment 4/30/20

Under Filing Services the options are
"View completed ifile protest"
"Upload files"
"View ifile offer" grayed out
"Reschedule hearing appointment" grated out.

I have no idea if I submitted isettle or ifile at this point.

iFile is the actual electronic protest. iSettle is an option of that protest to bypass the 1st in person with an electronic settlement of your claim.

When filling out your iFile at some point you should have been asked if you wished to participate in iSettle.

chjoak said:

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iFile is the actual electronic protest. iSettle is an option of that protest to bypass the 1st in person with an electronic settlement of your claim.

When filling out your iFile at some point you should have been asked if you wished to participate in iSettle.

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Yes, and selected it.

Your should be good then. Just have to wait for results. They will email you when it is updated.

Trying the Jubally route as well. A bit confusing, hopefully I did it right.

What is jubilee?

AgLA06 said:

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Martin Q. Blank said:

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AgLA06 said:

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Teddy Perkins said:

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For those that have purchased the Jubally report this year, has the protest advice changed at all from previous years? I know in the past they recommend not attempting iSettle, has that changed at all?

---

No, it still has that same advice which doesn't make sense. It says not to do I file because it takes the place of your informal. Then after that it says you'll be forced to do a formal for unequal. Based on that, you have no reason not to try Ifile (especially this year).

I ignored the advice and went Ifile last year and received an offer comparable to what I got the previous year at my formal hearing. So I did the same this year.

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ifile and isettle are different things. But you're right. I would try isettle this year because their willingness to try to settle without a meeting has likely greatly increased.

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Well, now I'm confused. I thought I did Isettle, but the email I got said "online protest verification for hcad account #" but the email says "this email acknowledges the protest you filed using hcad ifile system."

At the bottom it has our account number and ifile number

In my hcad account it shows isettle acknowledgment 4/30/20

Under Filing Services the options are
"View completed ifile protest"
"Upload files"
"View ifile offer" grayed out
"Reschedule hearing appointment" grated out.

I have no idea if I submitted isettle or ifile at this point.

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Click "View completed ifile protest" and see if "Opt-in to iSettle process" is Yes or No.

Some data points on two rental properties I just received an iSettle offer on:

HCAD original valuation: 153,853, previous year 125,000 (23.1% increase)
My iSettle opinion: 125,000 (81.2% of HCAD original)
HCAD iSettle offer: 141,970 (92.3% of HCAD original)

HCAD original valuation: 126,732, previous year 86,978 (45.7% increase)
My iSettle opinion: 115,000 (90.7% of HCAD original)
HCAD iSettle offer: 123,411 (97.4% of HCAD original)

Not good based on those results.

Wish I knew what they were going to do about informal before making a decision on isettle.

Aggie71013 said:

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Not good based on those results.

Wish I knew what they were going to do about informal before making a decision on isettle.

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If you have strong evidence, going to the informal is "generally" more productive (depending on the appraiser). You are in front of a person negotiating vs. someone behind a computer. They are more likely to give you what you want instead of an anonymous person.

I chose isettle this year because I thought they would be more lenient, not wanting to deal with a bunch of people coming in. I also don't want to go up 290 twice in case I can't convince the appraiser in the informal.

I declined both isettle offers and will go in for the formal hearing.

84AGEC said:

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What is jubilee?

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Third party that will put together a report for you to contest the HCAD valuation for $80. They will tell you how strong your case is based on their data before you pay for the report. Heavily used tool that also provides tips for making your case.

https://jubally.com/

I may do the same. For isettle how much information can you provide? Comps? Pics? Also how recent do the comps have to be? Sales as close to 1/1/20 as possible?

Dr. Venkman said:

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Some data points on two rental properties I just received an iSettle offer on:

HCAD original valuation: 153,853, previous year 125,000 (23.1% increase)
My iSettle opinion: 125,000 (81.2% of HCAD original)
HCAD iSettle offer: 141,970 (92.3% of HCAD original)

HCAD original valuation: 126,732, previous year 86,978 (45.7% increase)
My iSettle opinion: 115,000 (90.7% of HCAD original)
HCAD iSettle offer: 123,411 (97.4% of HCAD original)

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Appreciate the data points. I won't be attempting iSettle this year. I think I'll have a better chance at a large reduction in person at the informal.

Aggie71013 said:

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I may do the same. For isettle how much information can you provide? Comps? Pics? Also how recent do the comps have to be? Sales as close to 1/1/20 as possible?

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You get X number of characters to provide a summary of your findings and then have a place where you can upload supporting documentation. HCAD value is supposed to be based on 2019 data. Not sure time of year matters to them although later in the year would technically be more indicative of value. I would imagine that if you go to formal hearing and you show values were trending down you would easily win your argument.

It's yes.

New build about 40% done on Jan 1


Taxable value ... 621k


I hadnt even spend 350k on it. I hate these scum suckers.

evestor1 said:

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New build about 40% done on Jan 1


Taxable value ... 621k


I hadnt even spend 350k on it. I hate these scum suckers.

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They overestimate to force you to come in and show the plans and progress. Just a way to get information out of you. The burden of proof is preponderance of evidence. I'd simply get a signed statement from your builder that on Jan 1, the build was 40% complete and $350k spent. HCAD would then have to present evidence from satellite images and their photos to show it was more than 40% complete and $621k minus land spent.

For a home purchased on 02/26/2018, is the 2020 appraisal capped at price paid for the property? For some reason I thought that was the case for the first 2 years.

Secondly, how successful have people been protesting with Jubally?

I submitted via iSettle but wasn't happy with the offer as it was still 6% over purchase price, and 2.5% over Jubally. Note on Jubally, there are 3 townhomes identical to mine (heights) listed at -10% under Jubally's suggested value, and I am sure will eventually sell at 12-14% under Jubally's suggested value.

Who has entered the Jubally value in the iSettle? And how did that workout?

I just got my iSettle. Gave them my assessment based on sales comps that my realtor pulled for me. HCAD gave me exactly what I asked for approx $21k drop.

Brazoria County just came in. 400ish dollar decrease in improvement value of home even though we added an expensive outdoor kitchen last year, but the land value increased by 11k somehow.

I Request a value that is always lower then jubally. I provide no justification or documents to isettle just a value. Some years I do better then others but for no effort it works out great. I beat jubally this year.
2013 - value at 208K based on purchase
2014
Old Value $249K
New Value $226K
My Opinion of Market Value. $208K

2015 - had a kid and missed the deadline
2016
Old Value $269K
New Value $260K
Opinion of Market Value: 247K
2017
Old Value $260k
New Value $253k
Opinion of Market Value: 244k
2018
Old Value $253K
New Value $253k
Opinion of Market Value: 246K
There was no change in appraisal from previous year and they declined to change it after isettle and I skipped the in person meeting
2019
Old Value $275k
New Value $253k
Opinion of Market Value: 253k
2020
Old Value $270k
New Value $260k
Opinion of Market Value: 260K
Jubally: $266K