Home address: 3942 Ward St
2021 Tax Assessment: $137,779
Recent Sales Price: $80,000 – Over-taxed by 72%
Harris County property investors far too often pay excess property taxes. One option to reduce you property taxes is to protest the market value. An unequal appraisal appeal is easy to prepare. Just find neighborhood homes with a lower level of assessment (per square foot). Summarize the data in a table. Woody Allen said, “80% of success is showing up”. The same is true of property taxes. If you file an appeal and attend the hearing, your chance of reducing your property taxes is excellent.
Some property owners do not appeal due to a concern the appraisal district will want to inspect their house. However, the appraisal district is MUCH too busy during the appeal season to even think about asking to inspect a property. Assessors do not visit houses because of appeals. Appraisal districts use mass appraisal to value property, basically a math model. Overall results are OK. However, many homes are too high or low. Appraisal districts are receptive to settling property tax protests for houses at the informal level because it has only a nominal impact on the total tax base. Protect your home by appealing property taxes annually.
