I'm looking for feedback on a property tax website that my son is building. His page queries the public county appraisal websites for your property and then builds a protest packet for you based on the appraisals of similar, nearby properties (the statutory unequal appraisal argument) and gives you instructions on how to file the protest.
His plan is to provide the website and self-service for free and ask for a tip/donation from those who benefit from it. The packet it provides is similar to that of AppealDesk.com ($50) or SquareDeal.com (~$99), but looks at similar appraisals rather than similar sales. (He's looking at adding the sales data, but that requires MLS access and would require a fee.)
Please check it out and give feedback on the website, protest packet and business model:
Citizens Tax Protest Service Texas Property Tax Protest
It's not intended to be used for this year, but since it's protest season, we wanted to share it now while property tax is on people's minds. Williamson County and Brazos County are fully operational and should give representative protest packets if you enter addresses that you are familiar with in those counties.
Thank you!
Main questions:
1. Feedback on overall concept and business plan.
2. Have you filed a protest on your own before? If not, why not?
3. Any thoughts on the comps it provided automatically? Do they seem reasonable?
4. If you've protested before (especially with the unequal appraisal argument), how much and what kind of pushback did you get from the CAD on your protest? Any ideas for how we could proactively address/mitigate this pushback?
5. How important would it be to you to have MLS sales data in the service? It would basically mean we'd have to look for a relationship with a realtor and probably charge a fee to recover the MLS costs.
His plan is to provide the website and self-service for free and ask for a tip/donation from those who benefit from it. The packet it provides is similar to that of AppealDesk.com ($50) or SquareDeal.com (~$99), but looks at similar appraisals rather than similar sales. (He's looking at adding the sales data, but that requires MLS access and would require a fee.)
Please check it out and give feedback on the website, protest packet and business model:
Citizens Tax Protest Service Texas Property Tax Protest
It's not intended to be used for this year, but since it's protest season, we wanted to share it now while property tax is on people's minds. Williamson County and Brazos County are fully operational and should give representative protest packets if you enter addresses that you are familiar with in those counties.
Thank you!
Main questions:
1. Feedback on overall concept and business plan.
2. Have you filed a protest on your own before? If not, why not?
3. Any thoughts on the comps it provided automatically? Do they seem reasonable?
4. If you've protested before (especially with the unequal appraisal argument), how much and what kind of pushback did you get from the CAD on your protest? Any ideas for how we could proactively address/mitigate this pushback?
5. How important would it be to you to have MLS sales data in the service? It would basically mean we'd have to look for a relationship with a realtor and probably charge a fee to recover the MLS costs.