Home address: 1200 Old Decatur Road

2021 Taxable Value: $583,590

Recent Sales Price: $435,000   – Over-taxed by 34%

Texas property owners can avoid paying excess property taxes by taking several basic steps. One option to reduce you property taxes is to protest the market value. Unequal appraisal is a powerful tool to reduce property taxes, but many homeowners are not aware of it and don’t use it. Winning a property tax protest is easy.  Getting property owners to appeal is hard.  Only 10% of Texan home owners appeal their property taxes.

Some homeowners believe “you can’t fight city hall.”  But property owners win 60 to 80% of property tax appeals. It is difficult for appraisal districts to accurately value houses due to limited staff. Tax protests are resolved at the informal hearing since the result is within a “reasonable range of value”.  Appraisal is not an exact science and valuations are only an educated opinion of value, not a fact. Property owners have a duty and responsibility to appraisal property taxes annually.  It is not prudent or reasonable to rely on the appraisal district’s estimate.