Camo said:

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mine went down!!!! 77008

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+5.3% in Timbergrove

MAS444 said:

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7 minutes

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Now tell me about your fantasy football team.

I don't fantasize about sports-ball players.

7.7% higher west Houston. Got screwed last two years without exemption cause I had it rented out. Protesting of course.

It's just so specific to each individual. Seems strange to give a crap about how much the government raised the value of someone else's house. I guess I can see the commensurate aspect. I guess I just prefer to get kicked in the nuts in solitude.

If we haven't gotten a notification yet do we still have to file before the deadline? If so, is it just on HCAD website?

Just checked..... 77433 +4.28%

Any realtors able to pull some sales comps for me? Shoot me a PM or email (in my profile).

Got me for 10% too in 77429

you have until May 15 to protest

I can do it this evening at the earliest or tomorrow at the latest. Email and cell in profile.

Got my appraisal yesterday evening. Live in Spring on the West side of 45 just off Cypresswood, 77388.

DOWN 9.1% from last year.

Still nothing for us in 77096. We're already set up to protest with McGibblets no matter what, but I'm still curious to see where they land.

Holy crap, color me impressed. I protested my 13% market value increase by proposing a 3% decrease from 2025 and HCAD came back with an offer of a 2.9% decrease from 2025.

Ownwell says they decreased the assessed value -13%

77433

Sitting at MCAD now. My house was the only house on the street raised the max. Many were decreased. I proposed we either take the lowest of the 3 comps price per sq ft or the average of the street and he came back with a 1.5% reduction. So now I get to wait to talk to the board. Paying taxes on made up, unrealized gains should be criminal.

Protest settlement ARB Final = 12.4% redux ($84.5k off 679k) in 77007. Best outcome ever for me.

Thank you to Haidamous and Associates once again!

Similar setup here in 77007. They originally proposed a ~6% increase from last year. Filed the protest myself and figured I'd have to go to the hearing. Last week they sent an updated proposal reducing it down ~4% from last year's value. Around $76k in value change from what they originally had. Wild.

I used Ownwell in MOCO for the 2nd year. They got 47k knocked off of my value and saved me a little bit of money.

Got my original appraisal down 7.5% in memorial. Harding and carbone.

I am SOOOO locked and loaded for my appeal next year.

I got a HELOC appraisal for about 250,000 less than Ft Bend's appraisal. And, am actively trying to sell with no offers for about 250,000 less than the Ft Bend Appraisal amount.

Should be an absolute slam dunk….

We're going to arbitration.

My market value is almost $637k.

House across the street that is <200 sq ft bigger (~2500 sq ft vs ~2300 sq ft) sold for $465k last July after being listed for $495k. HCAD refuses to recognize that sale. Says it was a guardianship sale and is not a valid comp.

Appraiser offered a settlement but won't go lower than $567k on my house because he doesn't want the 2026 value to be less than the 2025 value.

In the interim, multiple houses on my street have protested their values and settled. The exact house above that HCAD said is not a valid comp is now valued by HCAD at $495k.

According to my protest company, the two options are to take the $567k offer and arbitrate or decline the $567k and start over with the board at $637k. He thinks accepting and filing an arbitration notice is the better option, despite the $500 fee. Fee structure to the protest company stays the same, even though arbitration is more work. So, they aren't pushing me toward that to get a higher fee.

Any experiences with arbitration, good or bad, to share?

I protest every year and this year it went down 19%!!!!! I have no idea how except that I was obviously getting screwed with no lube.

Appraised value initially came in down 9% or so. Haidamous & Assoc got it done to over 17% reduction! It's a Christmas miracle.

We got our settlement notification from Haidamous & Associates earlier this week as well. The initial appraisal from the county was up 9% YoY, and we finished with a 2% decrease in value.

In 77096 (SW Houston). Initial notice was up 30% Market / 10% Appraised. After protest, up 3.9% for both. Not bad, I guess, especially considering I could sell it for maybe 20% more than that when seeing what other similar homes in neighborhood are selling for.

Got an arbitration offer today - $530k. I was hoping for $515k, but it's enough in my favor that I will get $450 of the $500 fee back. So I'll take it. This is down from $630k+ originally and $560k+ after ARB. Appraised value will still be greater than last year, though, so no tax savings.

Agent says HCAD still isn't using fair comps. They are using homes that are much larger than mine. What's frustrating is there are plenty of comps in my subdivision that are fair comps, but they are outside my exact "Neighborhood Number". He tried arguing for the $480-range, but couldn't get them down that low.

Frustrating thing is, I will just wash, rinse, and repeat this all again next year. But for the moment, I feel somewhat vindicated.

Edit: after talking with me, my rep called the appraiser back and said we can't take less than $515k, and the appraiser accepted!

I've had to arbitrate 2 years in a row now! "won" both times...whatever that means.

I'm glad I did it and wouldn't hesitate to do it again, if I felt the data supported it.

Couple of things I've learned:
1) You've really got to focus on the other houses in your HCAD "Neighborhood Number". My subdivision has multiple HCAD neighborhoods, and despite there being very good comps outside of my immediate neighborhood, HCAD doesn't want to consider them. It's ridiculous because obviously if I was trying to sell, those comps would affect sales price, but it is what it is.

2) Sales comps are important, but you should also keep an eye on the valuations of other properties in your neighborhood number. As people start to protest and settle, some will get lucky and their value will come down. Those decisions are helpful because you can make the unequal appraisal argument.