Also posted in the Houston forum on the 2026 HCAD thread, but it's been pretty dead lately.

Any experience, good, bad, or otherwise with HCAD arbitration?

My market value is currently 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 supposedly 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 review board at $637k. He thinks accepting and filing an arbitration notice is the better option, despite the $500 fee. He doesn't have enough faith in or respect for the review board to even waste his time with that. 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.

Arb all day for me...

Just my opinion, but I'd go to the ARB, stress the 495k sale, including the fact l that the CAD appraised it at that value. They've apparently agreed that is a proper value. You still have arbitration available if you go to the ARB.

Had I not gone before the ARB myself a few years ago, I would probably be inclined to agree with you. But that joke of a process was the whole reason I hired this protest company in the first place.

I was somewhat surprised the protest company didn't just advise me to settle and not even go for arbitration. They didn't say it would be easy, but he does think I have a strong case.

I'm in this for the long haul. My property was already over-valued for 2025, and now I'm looking at another year of paying more in taxes because of HCAD's incompetence. I know the longer I let this go, the increased expense will just compound.

Where is this $567k offer coming from? I thought you had to decide in the meeting with the appraiser whether to take it or move onto the ARB. And if you did take the offer, arbitration is off the table. i.e. you can't agree to the offer and turn around and disagree with it.

Dr. Venkman said:

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Where is this $567k offer coming from? I thought you had to decide in the meeting with the appraiser whether to take it or move onto the ARB. And if you did take the offer, arbitration is off the table. i.e. you can't agree to the offer and turn around and disagree with it.

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I'm not exactly sure how the $567k came about. I do know there is a hearing already scheduled for later this week.

My first thought was the same as yours...that we had to refuse the $567k and go to the ARB hearing in order to qualify for arbitration. But my rep says no - that we can "accept" the $567k and then immediately file arbitration.

I'm supposed to be getting more info via email but it hasn't arrived yet.

Edit: I called back but didn't get the guy who called me earlier. The person I did talk to said that it is possible to "agree to disagree" with the appraisers offer and then file for arbitration. Still unsure of the details, though, as everything online says you have to have the ARB hearing. My rep is supposed to call me back tomorrow.

Heineken-Ashi said:

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TXTransplant said:

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

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"I'm sorry, but that's not how this works Mr Appraiser. Your job is to value the properly fairly, not dictate what you want to maintain tax revenue. My job is to reluctantly pay taxes on a valuation that is supported by the comps and the market. So put your big boy pants on and do your ****ing job or I will be litigating this far longer than you can stomach"

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Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think this is indicative of a bigger problem.

The appraisals have been so bad the past few years and so many people have protested (successfully) that the school district is starting to complain. They have had a couple of years of budget "shortfalls" and they have publicly blamed it on people protesting. NOT HCAD and their incompetence, but homeowners protesting their values.

So, it makes sense that if HCAD can keep values the same, that will mitigate the "budget shortfall".

Don't take this as gospel truth, but I seem to recall that there is a mechanism (possibly on represented properties?) where by your agent can accept the offered value without giving up your right to appeal to either district court or arbitration.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, do not play one on TV and I have not stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

That's my understanding after talking with my rep again today.

I'm not sure that "ordinary homeowners" really know how to bypass the ARB hearing, but all these protest companies have reps who worked at HCAD, so there is stuff going on behind the scenes that homeowners wouldn't even know to ask for.

I mean my rep basically admitted that they can do things that homeowners can't and that's why we pay them.

One more reason this whole process is a joke and feels like something run by the mafia.

I signed the arbitration paperwork and paid the fee. I've read online that I'm likely to get another offer before the arbitration hearing because the CAD prefers to avoid that.

I also found another comp in my "HCAD neighborhood" that is now valued at $515k. It's clear people are protesting, but your level of success is 100% dependent on what appraiser you get.

Also looked at some townhouses for sale. I'm SO tempted to sell, take the cash, and downsize to an even smaller townhome. I'm just so sick and tired of this BS every single year.

Quote:

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I've read online that I'm likely to get another offer before the arbitration hearing because the CAD prefers to avoid that

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I went to arbitration once and that was my experience. I took the deal before going before the arbitrator.

the process is called "top lining" essentially agree to disagree. It saves time in not clogging up the ARB with people who just want a board order so they can go further in the appeal process.

If you are going in front of a 3-member ARB panel, you still get to make your case why the HCAD appraiser is FOS and the value should be lower than 2025. The three of them will each come up with their own number (or agree with yours), and then they'll decide amongst themselves what they want the final number to be. They can completely ignore the appraiser if they want, and only two have to agree.

If you can show data that proves their comps are invalid and there are better comps that should have been used, that's probably your best option with the ARB. I've only been to the ARB three times, but every time what got their attention was me using HCAD's own numbers for comps against them. Every single time the ARB offered a number that was lower than the HCAD offer, but your mileage may vary.

Wasted so much time and energy protesting.
Hire it out and you will get better results and zero stress.

As a side note, I would round your evaluation when posting online. I bet there is only 1-3 homes on HCAD with that exact value.

Also, CAD hate reducing property values even if the comps show it because anything less than a yearly inflation baseline price increase takes money out of their pockets. Also, it sets the stage for everyone else to use your comp as the peak.

Thanks...that was a good tip. I'm usually more careful than that.

one MEEN Ag said:

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Also, CAD hate reducing property values even if the comps show it because anything less than a yearly inflation baseline price increase takes money out of their pockets. Also, it sets the stage for everyone else to use your comp as the peak.

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Yeah, I realize if I am successful, that sort of resets the baseline. And my ask is pretty low. BUT, I'm not the "cheapest" comp. There are already 2 values less than me (with slightly more square footage). So, at this point, it's more of an unequal value argument, rather than sales comps.

But, all it's gonna take is one sale to get us all back up to some ridiculous number again. Same BS, different year.

Got an 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. Appraised value will still be higher 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. It's absolutely criminal that my house was overvalued by $100k in the first place.

Edit: Well, after talking with me, my rep called the appraiser back and said we can't take less than $515k, and the appraiser accepted! Such a joke of a process, but I will take it!

TXTransplant said:

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Got an 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. Appraised value will still be higher 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. It's absolutely criminal that my house was overvalued by $100k in the first place.

Edit: Well, after talking with me, my rep called the appraiser back and said we can't take less than $515k, and the appraiser accepted! Such a joke of a process, but I will take it!

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don't they adjust the price/improved sqft to your house size? I don't see how that would be a bad thing for you

I don't know for sure, as haven't seen the exact comps the appraiser is using. However, larger houses in my neighborhood do tend to sell for more.

I live in a 2 bedroom, zero lot line patio home. The majority (almost 90%) of houses in my immediate neighborhood are 2800-3400 sq ft and they are on larger lots.

Probably about 1/2 the houses also have a pool. Pools are adding about $100k to sales prices and maybe $50-$75/sq ft. I don't think HCAD is excluding those from the comps they are using. I actually asked my rep to specifically ask about that when he called the appraiser back. I feel like any house with a pool is not a fair comp, as my lot isn't even large enough to accommodate one.

So, even if they adjust for square footage, it's not always a fair comparison, although some are better than others. It does seem as though HCAD is cherry picking the houses that sell for the highest $/sq ft and applying that number to every property.

There are much better comps in my subdivision, but they are outside my "neighborhood number", and at least this year, HCAD seems reluctant to consider them for that reason.

And when a house directly across the street that is the actual best comp (because it's also a patio home) sold for $465k and HCAD says they are excluding it in favor of houses that are much larger and have pools, that is really frustrating.

I haven't seen your comps, but it's generally better for them to be comparing your home with larger homes, as they usually sell for less per square foot (all other things being equal).

If there are comps in your "neighborhood" that they think are fair game, they're always going to favor them over houses outside the "neighborhood"

Not saying HCAD was right or wrong in your case, I'm just not surprised by any of that.

What was the reasoning for excluding the home across the street?

It would totally depend on what comps they chose. Anything with a pool has sold for more, even when normalized for $/sq ft. Besides the house across the street, there were 6 other sales in my HCAD "neighborhood number". Four of those 6 have pools, and all were 3100-3400 sq ft.

The house across the street was a "guardianship sale", so HCAD said it didn't count.

I've talked with the people who bought it. They did get it for under market value and had to put a fair of money into it. It didn't need to be remodeled or anything, but an elderly couple and their disabled son lived there, and then it was empty for I think almost a year before it sold. So it needed some TLC.

It was listed at $495k and sold for $465k. The guy who bought protested and HCAD agreed to a value of $495k. It's about 200 sq ft larger than my house and has 3 full bedrooms vs my 2, so my agent was trying to get $485k for me.

Looking at what's sold so far this year, I'm going to be fighting this exact same battle again next year, but likely without even a single comp under 3k sq ft or without a pool. Back in June, another house across the street, the homeowner died in it and they didn't find her for a few days. They cleaned the house up, but so far it hasn't gone on the market.

Didn't mean to pick that emoji :/

how much are the adjusting for the pools? ideally they would match you with comps that didn't have pools, but might be tough in that area.