Short Answer: YES!
I get this question a lot, especially now with the recent surge in real estate prices. The truth is that you should always file a tax protest. I do understand the skepticism though. After all, you don't want to waste your time or pay a tax agent only to lose your tax hearing and get no reduction. So I dug through the number to prove that you can still save money even if the county has your property undervalued.
Of all the 2021 property tax protest filed in Harris county, 12,799 were filed by people who had purchased their property the year before, in 2020. We live in a free market (thank God), so these property owners technically established the true market value of their property when they bought it. It's worth what they paid, pretty simple. Interestingly, HCAD undervalued 3516 of those properties; meaning the tax assessment was less than the purchase price. Essentially, these property owners were granted a tax discount by HCAD they protested their taxes anyway. Here's the best part; 1412 of those property owners actually won their protests! That's right, 40% of properties that were technically undervalued by the appraisal district received additional property tax reduction by filing a tax protest.
It is worth noting that Texas is a "non-disclosure" state, so HCAD may not have known the sales prices of some of these properties. However, appraisal districts makes every effort to discover the sales price of properties whenever they change hands; including sending questionnaires to property owner and buying lists of price from third-party data providers. In my professional experience, HCAD knows the purchase price of just about every property sold in a given year.
So there you have it; roughly 40% of those savvy property owners who were technically under-taxed but who chose to file a tax protest anyway were rewarded for their efforts. This means that your could save money too, even if you think your property is worth more than the number on your "Notice of Appraisal".
Property tax protests can be time-consuming and intimidating, but Texas Tax Reduction is here to help. Call us today for a free consultation. We'll handle every aspect of your property tax protest and our service is always risk-free. We don't make money unless you do too!
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