I also hear if you mention TexAgs, you get $50 off of the flat fee if you choose that route.

Texaggie7nine said:

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Bought our house in 77068 in Dec 21. HCAD shows +45% from 21 value with no improvements since and +15% over appraised value and purchase price.

Can I include our appraisal in Dec of 21 as evidence or only current comps?

Also, I went to Jubally.com and tried the property report summary and for "Market Value" it is about 18% lower than what I see on HCAD, but it says the "Market Value" is "The 2022 Market Value for this property as reported by the county in the public records".

So does that mean the market value it is showing is what HCAD is giving it? Because I see a way higher number on HCAD?

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If you include comps, there is no reason to include any from 2022. Your appraised value is as of Jan 21, 2022. So any sales after that date should not be relevant. Your paperwork from Dec 2021 should be sufficient.

Up 20%. House a few houses down is under contract for $140k more than our '21 value. Next year is going to be just as brutal.

cgh1999 said:

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BuffaloREV said:

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any strong opinions re: "the best" tax advisor to use for protest? (I am def not doing it myself).

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https://www.hataxgroup.com/
Owned by an Aggie who posts on this site.

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Second this rec.

Mr. McGibblets said:

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I also hear if you mention TexAgs, you get $50 off of the flat fee if you choose that route.

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What is the flat fee?

AggieT said:

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Mr. McGibblets said:

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I also hear if you mention TexAgs, you get $50 off of the flat fee if you choose that route.

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What is the flat fee?

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Is there also a (large) commission?

$0-$499,999- $250 Flat Fee
$500,000-$999,999- $350 Flat Fee
$1,000,000-$1,499,999- $450 Flat Fee
$1,500,000-$1,999,999- $550 Flat Fee
$2,000,000 and up-$650 Flat Fee

My other fee is a contingency fee of 40%. This is calculated from the market value. If I don't reduce your market value then you pay $0. If I reduce your market value and it calculates to $1,000 in tax difference, then your fee would be $400.

If I have 2 properties that total between 500 and 1mm does it only cost me 350 flat fee?

Mr. McGibblets said:

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$0-$499,999- $250 Flat Fee
$500,000-$999,999- $350 Flat Fee
$1,000,000-$1,499,999- $450 Flat Fee
$1,500,000-$1,999,999- $550 Flat Fee
$2,000,000 and up-$650 Flat Fee

My other fee is a contingency fee of 40%. This is calculated from the market value. If I don't reduce your market value then you pay $0. If I reduce your market value and it calculates to $1,000 in tax difference, then your fee would be $400.

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Couple of questions,

Is it both fees or one or the other?
Do you only charge for this year's reduction? I've seen where tax reduction firms claim they not only reduced this years tax rate, but hamstrung the CAD's ability to increase your rates for the following two years. So they would claim up to three years of "reductions" at a contingency rate. But only if you stopped using them every year. If you kept using the firm, they wouldn't say anything. But the second you try to leave they'll bill you for their work on future years. What is your fee structure and timeline for someone who does business with you but wants to change the next year?

What happens when you reduce my market value but I still pay the 10% max increase? Same fee structure?

It is either or. You get to pick.

My fee is on a year to year basis. I do not believe in auto renewals. I ask for the business every year. Your fee is for that 1 year only not for multiples(never heard of that).

I am not allowed(neither are you) to discuss appraised value when arguing valuation unless it was an exemption issue. So the % fee is based solely on the reduction of market value only.

Thanks for the response.

TXTransplant said:

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Cromagnum said:

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TXTransplant said:

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Cromagnum said:

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Yep. Capping the year over year increase to 10% is the key here. People that bought homes in 2021 are going to get hammered really soon.

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Exactly. I don't even really give a flip about the "discount" on my tax bill due to the $20k exemption (or whatever it is) because the biggest taxing entity I pay (the ISD) doesn't even honor it. They tax us on the full assessed value, HE or not. The reduction in my tax bill is minimal.

But the 10% cap is huge.

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The ISD doesn't honor the reduction in assessed value? That's a new one to me.

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I don't believe they do. I know at least one of my taxing entities doesn't, and I'm pretty sure it's the ISD. I'll double check, though.

They also refused to recognized the temporary revised assessments HCAD did for the properties that flooded during Harvey.

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Thought I'd follow up on this. TISD does give me an exemption, but it's only a flat $25k for everyone, regardless of property value. My Harris Co exemption is 20% of the appraised value.

It's the MUD that does not give an exemption (it's my second largest tax bill, behind the ISD). The Woodlands Township also does not give an exemption.

You have to go to your MUD board and ask how they are handling the taxes. Mine does an over 65 exemption and thats it. But we are small. We can adjust the tax rate, and very much will have to lower it due to spiking values to avoid the 3.5% cap.

5.98% decrease in our rental in 092
10.66% increase in our homestead in 018

I suspect mine will, too. They've lowered it a couple of times (and also raised it once) in the 10 years I've lived here.

+30% in 77379.

The district now believes the place is worth more than double what I paid in 2013. Which one of you realtors wants to sell it?

Dang. I'm in 77389 and also bought in 2013. But I'm not double my purchase price. Only 1.4X.

-+3% in 77043. Pretty shocked by that given the listings on my street. I will take it.

Meanwhile, USAA is raising my homeowners policy premium 20% at the next renewal in May. Estimated rebuild cost is now $200/SF.

Isaa is the worst with homeowners. Get a quote from liere

TriAg2010 said:

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-+3% in 77043. Pretty shocked by that given the listings on my street. I will take it.

Meanwhile, USAA is raising my homeowners policy premium 20% at the next renewal in May. Estimated rebuild cost is now $200/SF.

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You can possibly get this negotiated back down. I've done it when State Farm has raised my rates in the past.

State Farm uses a computer program to estimate finishes, and sometimes they end up assigning your house higher end finishes than what you have or would rebuild it with.

Problem is, that's probably not a bad estimate of costs to rebuild, at least in my area. It would make me sick if my house caught fire or was otherwise severely damaged and I had to rebuild right now.

Sea Speed said:

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Isaa is the worst with homeowners. Get a quote from liere

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Yeah, I'm for sure shopping around this year.

This. Rebuild costs for a custom home is expensive. New builds in Katy are selling for $210 a square foot for 2500 to 5000 square foot homes. That includes land cost, but is also tract / semi-custom homes.

Most people are under insured if they had to rebuild from scratch. Can you partially self insure for these scenarios? Say rebuild cost is 700k. Insurance covers 500k and you cover the remaining 200k?

That's why it's very important to know how your insurance is structured. Is it the depreciated cost or is it replacement costs. One thing people overlook is permits and costs to upgrade to current standards. For instance. If you live in a floodplain does your insurance cover the cost to be current with code, such as elevating the BFE to above the floodplain.

There was a house in my hood that caught fire (lightening strike) a while back. I think it was spring 2019. It was a $700k-ish home when it burned. Owners scraped the lot and finally sold it to a developer last August.

TXTransplant said:

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There was a house in my hood that caught fire (lightening strike) a while back. I think it was spring 2019. It was a $700k-ish home when it burned. Owners scraped the lot and finally sold it to a developer last August.

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I'm having a hard time following. Are you insinuating that the homeowner was underinsured and lost their house or that they took the insurance money for the structure and are just selling the lot?

one MEEN Ag said:

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TXTransplant said:

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There was a house in my hood that caught fire (lightening strike) a while back. I think it was spring 2019. It was a $700k-ish home when it burned. Owners scraped the lot and finally sold it to a developer last August.

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I'm having a hard time following. Are you insinuating that the homeowner was underinsured and lost their house or that they took the insurance money for the structure and are just selling the lot?

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I have no idea what happened. But whatever did, it sure looks like rebuilding wasn't the financially prudent choice. Scraping a lot in a fully-developed subdivision full of fairly new $700k homes is a pretty extreme thing to do, IMO.

Every time my policy has increased the cost to rebuild, I have struggled with whether or not that would be a wise decision. Considering how much sales prices have gone up in the last 9 months, the tide has probably turned. But prior to that, there was no way I could have justified a $350k+ replacement cost value for my home. The market didn't support it.

For me, that was a pretty uncomfortable position to be in. I know the odds of a total loss are low, but to be insured for replacement cost only to think you'd probably just tear it down is not ideal.

+26% in 77096/Meyerland. +18% in land value! Jubally needs to hurry up with their data/reports. Going to be a busy year for them.

Mr. McGibblets said:

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$0-$499,999- $250 Flat Fee
$500,000-$999,999- $350 Flat Fee
$1,000,000-$1,499,999- $450 Flat Fee
$1,500,000-$1,999,999- $550 Flat Fee
$2,000,000 and up-$650 Flat Fee

My other fee is a contingency fee of 40%. This is calculated from the market value. If I don't reduce your market value then you pay $0. If I reduce your market value and it calculates to $1,000 in tax difference, then your fee would be $400.

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Is there a point where you max out your bandwidth and can't take on new clients? Thinking about letting you handle mine instead of using the Jubally report and doing it myself. Too much going on with work to deal with it this year.

Teddy Perkins said:

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+26% in 77096/Meyerland. +18% in land value! Jubally needs to hurry up with their data/reports. Going to be a busy year for them.

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Jubally has to wait on HCAD to release their data to them. It's coming soon.

I don't even know how I could protest my uptick. Every house around me is selling for way more than even my upward increase was. Basically, what proof do I have? None. I want to protest, but it doesn't feel like there's any point or way to victory.

I have a feeling that will be their trump card this year and they are just gonna give us all golden showers while laughing all the way to the bank.

Diggity said:

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AlaskanAg99 said:

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I don't even know how I could protest my uptick. Every house around me is selling for way more than even my upward increase was. Basically, what proof do I have? None. I want to protest, but it doesn't feel like there's any point or way to victory.

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unequal appraisal. see how they have valued similar homes in your neighborhood vs. yours.

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This is what I did for a friend. Normalized all the values on a price per square ft basis and argued his market and appraised were both too high.

For my own residence, I only argued that my market value was too high. There were two comps from 2021, and one had a pool (I don't), so I argued my market value should be the same as what the house without a pool sold for (which is significantly less than my market value).

htxag09 said:

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Not to mention other variables like still having a $1k/month tax bill when you're retired and "own" your home.

Or like me during COVID and being unemployed for 6ish months, still have that property tax bill at the end of the year....

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wait... so you don't think it's fair for you to pay your normal property tax bill because you didn't work for 6 months of the year during covid? what did you do during those 6 months? hang out at the beach all day? sure, we'll pay your share for you. poor thing. wow.