Market up 3% but full 10% in appraisal. My market is $50k over appraisal so doubly I can get it low enough to drive down appraisal value. Is my option to just protest the market value with photos showing repairs I need to get done that would impact market value?

Who do you all use to contest your property taxes? I used an individual / owner operator who passed away a couple months ago. He was very reasonable and got results most years. Thank you.

In reply to 12Power

12Power said:

---

Who do you all use to contest your property taxes? I used an individual / owner operator who passed away a couple months ago. He was very reasonable and got results most years. Thank you.

---

Mr. McGibblets said:

---

BudFox7 said:

---

Where can I get in contact with you?

---

EHaidamous@hataxgroup.com

Please include your address and phone number. Also mention TexAgs to get your discount.

---

In reply to Mr. McGibblets Just shot you an email. We're out in Bridgeland and need some help with a protest.

Down $50k in old Katy. Little over 8%. I've gotten hammered year after year till now like all the rest of you. Every year till now they've raised the market value by 15- 20%, and I've been able to get it down to right at about the 10% appraisal value increase give or take a little. I'm actually not going to protest this year. I'm afraid I would somehow get a worse result.

I have rentals and have received settlement offers on all of them prior to my informal. This rarely happens. The offers are not anything special, but also tempting since it's a roll of the dice on what kind of appraiser I'll get. I wonder if this signals they're willing to negotiate more this year.

In reply to Dr. Venkman ISettle offers? That seems quick

In reply to Diggity They are sending them out even before we protested.

Speaking of, we are no longer taking on any new residential clients for 2024 tax year.

Thanks and GigEm

In reply to Mr. McGibblets How does that work?

In reply to Diggity Trying to knock out accounts early I guess. Problem is, no evidence to review yet to see if it is a good offer or not. So we are waiting until we see the evidence before we accept.

In reply to Mr. McGibblets So you have filed for a protest, you just haven't presented evidence yet?

In reply to Diggity

Diggity said:

---

ISettle offers? That seems quick

---

Doesn't say anything about iSettle. Just a settlement offer. I have up to the day prior to the informal hearing date to accept it.

In reply to Dr. Venkman Gotcha. I filed my protest early but haven't heard back. I feel like it usually takes a couple months but might be misremembering.

Don't forget to vote in today's HCAD election if you have not early voted.

How long does it typically take to get your iSettle offer once you protest online? I just want to get the value set to what we paid for the house. We bought it in 2023 for less than their appraised value. I uploaded my closing documents as evidence.

Does anyone have a rec for protest company? I'm clearly running behind.

I tried McGibblets, but they aren't taking on any new clients.

Pay me 2x his fee and I'll let you take my spot.

In reply to htownag2007 My neighbor works at Lane Property Tax, he's helped me out

In reply to Dill-Ag13 Thanks. Do you have his contact info?

In reply to Sea Speed Ha. Depends how good he is…

In reply to htownag2007 Hes mostly commercial and not taking in anymore residential. Referred me to these guys for you:
Texas Protax

In reply to Dill-Ag13 Thanks. Appreciate it.

got my iSettle offer.

They took the number I presented, which was 8% lower than the market/appraised for this year. They had bumped me up 5% so it's actually a decent little reduction from last year.

Anyway, might have just gotten lucky but a good data point for those that want to protest on their own.

In reply to Diggity

Diggity said:

---

got my iSettle offer.

They took the number I presented, which was 8% lower than the market/appraised for this year. They had bumped me up 5% so it's actually a decent little reduction from last year.

Anyway, might have just gotten lucky but a good data point for those that want to protest on their own.

---

Nice. Did you give them documents or just a number?

In reply to Jackal99 I wrote a description of how I pulled the comps and listed the property ID's for my "evidence". I also attached the excel sheet, showing my work, but I'm never sure if they even look at that.

During a hearing, can they increase your market value from what they originally valued it as if they decline your iSettle offer?

In reply to mh86Ag Yup. Rare but yup

We bought a house last year. The market value came in under what we paid for the house. I understand that if they came in over, I could just take my closing papers and get it knocked down to what we paid, but now I'm wondering if I should get a little greedy and see if I could get them to go even lower through protesting.

On our old place, the last 3 years I put down for an in-person informal hearing (vs. iSettle), but still received an email offer each year that I ended up accepting. I'm thinking that if I do the same here, I may get an email offer to knock a bit more off, and in the event I don't get a lower offer, I'll just decline the emailed offer (if one comes) and then withdraw my protest before the informal hearing.

Am I playing with fire trying to get a bigger reduction and should just take the win and be ready to fight next year once my sale is off the table? Or is there low risk to my plan?

I didn't get my notice until April 19th, so I have a few more days before my protest deadline hits.

Put $50k less than the notice value and see if the algorithm gives you a bone. If they offer less, take it. If they offer a no change, take it.

Dont waste your time going down there this year.

In reply to Mr. McGibblets Can we amend protests to include crumbled electric towers? Mostly joking, but not completely

If your property is more than 15% damaged (physical damage) you can receive an exemption on your taxes based on a formula of the level of damage you received prorated for the rest of the year.

Quote:

---

Sec. 11.35. TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FOR QUALIFIED PROPERTY DAMAGED BY DISASTER.

(a) In this section:

(1) "Damage" means physical damage.

(2) "Qualified property" means property that:

(A) consists of:

(i) tangible personal property used for the production of income;

(ii) an improvement to real property; or

(iii) a manufactured home as that term is defined by Section 1201.003, Occupations Code, that is used as a dwelling, regardless of whether the owner of the manufactured home elects to treat the manufactured home as real property under Section 1201.2055, Occupations Code;

(B) is located in an area declared by the governor to be a disaster area following a disaster;

(C) is at least 15 percent damaged by the disaster, as determined by the chief appraiser under this section; and

(D) for property described by Paragraph (A)(i), is the subject of a rendition statement or property report filed by the property owner under Section 22.01 that demonstrates that the property had taxable situs in the disaster area for the tax year in which the disaster occurred.

(b) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation by a taxing unit of a portion of the appraised value of qualified property that the person owns in an amount determined under Subsection (h).

(c) Repealed by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 884 (S.B. 1438), Sec. 10(1), eff. June 16, 2021.

(d) Repealed by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 884 (S.B. 1438), Sec. 10(1), eff. June 16, 2021.

(e) Repealed by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 884 (S.B. 1438), Sec. 10(1), eff. June 16, 2021.

(f) On receipt of an application for the exemption authorized by this section, the chief appraiser shall determine whether any item of qualified property that is the subject of the application is at least 15 percent damaged by the disaster and assign to each such item of qualified property a damage assessment rating of Level I, Level II, Level III, or Level IV, as appropriate, as provided by Subsection (g). In determining the appropriate damage assessment rating, the chief appraiser may rely on information provided by a county emergency management authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or any other source the chief appraiser considers appropriate.

(g) The chief appraiser shall assign to an item of qualified property:

(1) a Level I damage assessment rating if the property is at least 15 percent, but less than 30 percent, damaged, meaning that the property suffered minimal damage and may continue to be used as intended;

(2) a Level II damage assessment rating if the property is at least 30 percent, but less than 60 percent, damaged, which, for qualified property described by Subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) or (iii), means that the property has suffered only nonstructural damage, including nonstructural damage to the roof, walls, foundation, or mechanical components, and the waterline, if any, is less than 18 inches above the floor;

(3) a Level III damage assessment rating if the property is at least 60 percent damaged but is not a total loss, which, for qualified property described by Subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) or (iii), means that the property has suffered significant structural damage requiring extensive repair due to the failure or partial failure of structural elements, wall elements, or the foundation, or the waterline is at least 18 inches above the floor; or

(4) a Level IV damage assessment rating if the property is a total loss, meaning that repair of the property is not feasible.

(h) Subject to Subsection (i), the amount of the exemption authorized by this section for an item of qualified property is determined by multiplying the appraised value, determined for the tax year in which the disaster occurred, of the property by:

(1) 15 percent, if the property is assigned a Level I damage assessment rating;

(2) 30 percent, if the property is assigned a Level II damage assessment rating;

(3) 60 percent, if the property is assigned a Level III damage assessment rating; or

(4) 100 percent, if the property is assigned a Level IV damage assessment rating.

(i) If a person qualifies for the exemption authorized by this section after the beginning of the tax year, the amount of the exemption is calculated by multiplying the amount determined under Subsection (h) by a fraction, the denominator of which is 365 and the numerator of which is the number of days remaining in the tax year after the day on which the governor first declares the area in which the person's qualified property is located to be a disaster area, including the day on which the governor makes the declaration.

(j) If a person qualifies for the exemption authorized by this section after the amount of the tax due on the qualified property is calculated and the effect of the qualification is to reduce the amount of the tax due on the property, the assessor for each applicable taxing unit shall recalculate the amount of the tax due on the property and correct the tax roll. If the tax bill has been mailed and the tax on the property has not been paid, the assessor shall mail a corrected tax bill to the person in whose name the property is listed on the tax roll or to the person's authorized agent. If the tax on the property has been paid, the tax collector for the taxing unit shall refund to the person who paid the tax the amount by which the payment exceeded the tax due. No interest is due on an amount refunded under this subsection.

(k) The exemption authorized by this section expires as to an item of qualified property on January 1 of the first tax year in which the property is reappraised under Section 25.18.

Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1034 (H.B. 492), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2020.

Amended by:

Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 883 (S.B. 1427), Sec. 1, eff. June 16, 2021.

Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 884 (S.B. 1438), Sec. 10(1), eff. June 16, 2021.

Text of section effective on approval by the voters of S.J.R. 64, 88th Leg., R.S.

Text of section as added by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 281 (S.B. 1145), Sec. 1

For text of section as added by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 364 (S.B. 2289), Sec. 1, see other Sec. 11.36.

---

Company we paid to protest ours got it lowered by almost $40k.