Home address: 4224 Marquette St
2021 Tax Assessment: $1,194,790
Recent Sales Price: $685,000 – Over-taxed by 74%
Property tax assessments not carefully reviewed lead to paying more than your share of property taxes. Appraisal districts are flexible on market value appeals given a large number of houses they value and that are protested. The lower value stands when appealing market value and unequal appraisal. Appeal both every year. 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.
Property owners are sometimes reluctant to protest their property taxes because the believe the appeal process is difficult. It is not difficult and 60 to 80% of owners who appeal are successful. Appraisal districts use a mass appraisal to value property, basically a math model. Overall results are OK. However, many homes are too high or low. Appraisal districts settle appeals at the informal level to avoid the time-consuming and expensive appraisal review board hearings. Protesting your property taxes annually is analogous to regularly changing the oil in your car. Preventative maintenance avoids serious problems.
