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Fixin' to protest

Fixin' to protest

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by: HollyHobby Active Indicator LED Icon 9 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 2, '16 7:24pm  
OK, hubby and I are getting ready to do the iFile and ISettle thing with the Harris County Appraisal District. The first time we did this 2 years ago, hubby had to go in for an appointment and all his data was completely dissed by a jackass employee. He actually told my husband that these weren't true comps from our neighborhood, even though they were comps from our neighborhood. Jerk.Since we were completely inexperienced with this, we really didn't know what else to do and just accepted the tax increase.I talked with a tax protest office today and they suggested that we file electronically, send a copy of our closing statement from 2013 and information about a supposed 40K remodel on the house. Hubs owned a contracting company for 10 years and there's no way it cost that much for what was done to this house.We drove around our neighborhood and jotted down addresses of houses that seem to be a similar size to ours on a standard Trailwood lot. I've checked the values on just a few of these and our house value, as determined by the tax people, is WAY out of line. We'll create a spreadsheet of a dozen or so of these very similar houses. We'll include the closing statement and can even include copies of receipts for some of the "remodel" work.So, for those of you who have successfully petitioned, what information is most effective in pleading your case?  4951
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TEXASGIRLMAMMA Active Indicator LED Icon 10
~ 7 years ago   May 2, '16 7:34pm  
They will not take into consideration what your neighbor's houses are appraised at.  They will only take into consideration houses that have sold that are comparable to yours.   You need to contact your realtor and ask for comps on your house. We are also protesting this year and have decided to hire a company to do it for us.  In the past, they have always lowered our appraised value a bit but not significantly.  We want to see wat a pro can do for us.   4951
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rugburn Active Indicator LED Icon 1
~ 7 years ago   May 2, '16 7:37pm  
Primarily recent home sales of nearby COMPARABLE homes. Secondarily HCAD appraisals of COMPARABLE homes. The C word is caps because that is subjective and the difficult issue to agree as to what is truly comparable. 4951
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donnatella Active Indicator LED Icon 13 Forum Moderator
~ 7 years ago   May 2, '16 7:39pm  
We retained O'Connor and Assoc. to protest on our behalf. You can set it up to where they automatically protest every year. We used them 8+ years and they were only unsuccessful 2 of those years. 4951
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HollyHobby Active Indicator LED Icon 9 OP 
~ 7 years ago   May 2, '16 8:04pm  
The appraisal notice says that today is the "early deadline" but there is a "final deadline" of May 31. First, what insanity is this to have 2 deadlines?? It's either a deadline or it isn't!!So, if I need more time to gather comps, photos, etc., I have until May 31. Right? 4951
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Metro07 Active Indicator LED Icon 3
~ 7 years ago   May 2, '16 11:44pm  
I contested mine also but I dont think its going to do any good.  Seems to be a racket with HCAD and property tax attorneys, every time I hired one you never hear from them until they send you the bill.  And I had about the same luck going down there as hiring  the attorney because they never could or would get the value reduced by much. 4951
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princecharming Active Indicator LED Icon 5
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 6:32am  
I built a new house in the neighborhood where houses were valued significantly lower and through a HCaD hearing i was able to better align the value to our to those homes around us.....our home was worth double the amount or others around us but was still able to lower since I was also
the one who built the house for a much lower value as if I was to build the house through a reputable custom builder so that helped too..... 4951
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foxymama Active Indicator LED Icon 14
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 7:31am  
I protested for the first time last year.  I got my appraisal knocked down from $123,000 to what I paid for the house $118,000.  I brought pictures of some water damage, cracked driveway and a few cracks in the ceiling.   I also used there own comparisons against them.  I found one just a few houses down that was appraised lower and it was about the same floor plan.It wasn't hard to convince the guy and he was very nice and easy to work with.I tried to online appraisal first for $114,000 but got shot down and had to go to the appointment. 4951
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foxymama Active Indicator LED Icon 14
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 7:35am  
This year they raised it by 10% from their original appraisal of $123,000.  So it's $135,000 this year.  I will protest online again but probably can't make the appointment because I will be in GA.   4951
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pickles Active Indicator LED Icon 3
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 8:04am  
I protested last yr. If you have any damage to house bring it. If you have a manhole or any kind of transformer on property write it down. If any foreclosures around or house for sale for a long period of time write that down. If your neighbors are trashy & don't upkeep on yard bring that. A few yrs ago I had to go to formal hearing that was scary bc it was my 1 st time brought tons of pictures of every thing I mentioned. Last yr was just informal hearing, I got it way down. It shot up a little this yr but I am not sure if I have enough to bring it down again. I need to do my research again. Good luck. Such a pain in butt 4951
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Chrisinkingwood Active Indicator LED Icon 8
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 8:17am  
My experience was never good with HCAD, they are advocates for themselves and the property owner's interests are zero. My very first home was a fixer-upper in the Houston Heights in 1986. We paid $45,000 but the tax roles had it at $65 when the market had been higher. Being a photographer I brought to our protest meeting 15 or so 11x14 B&W prints showing how crappy it looked. My first wife and I bought it because it was all we could afford for our growing family and I was good at remodeling. The guy at HCAD finally relented and lowered our value after noting that he would have to list it as "habitable"!  But just about every year after that our taxes went up whether we had done improvements or not. They always tried to claim comparable homes on Height's Blvd which had much bigger homes. Homes around us had much less value than those on the popular streets. Funny but that same home has a tax value with the county for something like $300K since the Heights is so full of overbuilt Victorian style McMansions on tiny lots. 4951
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Txbutterfly Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 8:18am  
I have protested the last two years also, and got it lowered each year.  Take photos of anything that needs completed to your house, if you have cracks inside our outside from settling, roof needs repair, outdated kitchen (my house if 40 years old).  I took comparison pictures of the housed around me that sold recently and showed that they had extensive upgrade to sell for the price they did.  Granite installed, new hardwood flooring and such that is all the rage and not 40 years old.  And always be polite, they don't like attitude, my friend is a Montgomery Co appraisal person and she says when folks come in demanding and arrogant, instead of appreciative and prepared, they are more helpful.Good luck! 4951
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TEXASGIRLMAMMA Active Indicator LED Icon 10
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 9:46am  
 I will protest online again but probably can't make the appointment because I will be in GA.  
@foxymama: Last year we could not make our appointment.  They apparently went ahead and had the appointment anyway and raised ours from the original appraised value.  So, If you know you can not make the appointment be sure to reschedule for a time you can be there.  
4951
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MarT Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 4:40pm  
Anyone ever successful with iSettle?  I just filed online and opted for iSettle.  I don't really want to go to an appointment and defend.  4951
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klp1972 Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 4:56pm  
When we went to our protest appt last year, I was armed with all sorts of appraised values in our neighborhood - all of which were less than our house. As @TEXASGIRLMAMMA said, they aren't interested in appraised values... just neighborhood sales comps. It makes a big difference on the employee you work with. Last year we got this girl who was obviously sick. I thought she was going to cough up a lung or something!! Agree with @donnatella on O'Connor. We used them for several years and always got some sort of decrease... 4951
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MarT Active Indicator LED Icon 9
~ 7 years ago   May 3, '16 5:17pm  
I'll probably opt for O'Connor next year.  Our appraised value increased almost 70k since we purchased in 2013. 4951
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