HCAD Protest on newly bought foreclosure property (Plano: sale, foreclosures)

[shah123]

Hello all:

Nice forum going here.

I bought a house last year as foreclosure property. I was wondering if I can protest with HCAD to reduce the appraisal value to my purchase price this year. Any response will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Beto]

Originally Posted by shah123

Hello all:

Nice forum going here.

I bought a house last year as foreclosure property. I was wondering if I can protest with HCAD to reduce the appraisal value to my purchase price this year. Any response will be appreciated.

Thanks.

You can if it is actually lower than what they are appraising it for.

[trbstang]

You can try, and you should get it lowered somewhat. I protest every year, and everyone probably should if their home is appraised at more than they paid or more than your neighbors. But they are not, from what I understand, automatically dropping them to the foreclosure purchase prices, but rather a more comparable value to your neighboring properties if it is overvalued. They don't consider a foreclosure sale to be a reflection of the true value of a house anymore.

Good luck!

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by shah123

Hello all:

Nice forum going here.

I bought a house last year as foreclosure property. I was wondering if I can protest with HCAD to reduce the appraisal value to my purchase price this year. Any response will be appreciated.

Thanks.

The only way I know to reduce the appraised value in this situation is if you can show the appraised values in the neighborhood are below what you paid for it.

As you probably know Texas is a non disclosure state so your actual contract and amount you paid is not public record. That said my experience in Plano was they estimated the price close to what I paid. If you didnt buy this foreclosure through MLS you might stand a chance of the price you paid not being discovered and if you can claim a lower price due to neighboring properties or the income method used. Consider hiring one of the firms which represent home owners for 1/2 of the amount of taxes saved in one year from their efforts to lower your appraised value. I tried this in Plano but we couldnt find a basis for a lower value.

[shah123]

Originally Posted by Beto

You can if it is actually lower than what they are appraising it for.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it is much lower.

They don't argue that the condition of the house could be bad?? Do they lower it to the purchase price? Now this house is made in 2005 so it is not too old, but the condition of the carpet and the walls was bad. I had to replace the carpet and paint the wall. Other than that the house was in good condition.

[Beto]

Originally Posted by shah123

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it is much lower.

They don't argue that the condition of the house could be bad?? Do they lower it to the purchase price? Now this house is made in 2005 so it is not too old, but the condition of the carpet and the walls was bad. I had to replace the carpet and paint the wall. Other than that the house was in good condition.

Did you have an Agent assist you with your purchase, if so he or she can pull comps for you.

[shah123]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

The only way I know to reduce the appraised value in this situation is if you can show the appraised values in the neighborhood are below what you paid for it.

As you probably know Texas is a non disclosure state so your actual contract and amount you paid is not public record. That said my experience in Plano was they estimated the price close to what I paid. If you didnt buy this foreclosure through MLS you might stand a chance of the price you paid not being discovered and if you can claim a lower price due to neighboring properties or the income method used. Consider hiring one of the firms which represent home owners for 1/2 of the amount of taxes saved in one year from their efforts to lower your appraised value. I tried this in Plano but we couldnt find a basis for a lower value.

I already use a service like this for my primary residence. But since for this newly bought foreclosure property, the difference between the appraised value and my purchase price is huge, I was trying to get this done myself for this year. The huge difference in the price makes the efforts well worth it. After this year I will hand it over to that service provider.

I guess it is time to have my realtor run comps. I was gonna do that anyway, but I was just wondering if HCAD officially accepts the foreclosure purchase price as the new appraised value. Then I wouldn't have to worry about collecting the comps etc.

[elnina]

Harris County Prop Tax FAQ
http://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...e-price-2.html
Home Appraisals - How To Information | eHow.com

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by shah123

I guess it is time to have my realtor run comps. I was gonna do that anyway, but I was just wondering if HCAD officially accepts the foreclosure purchase price as the new appraised value. Then I wouldn't have to worry about collecting the comps etc.

No they don't. If the purchase price is not far off from the appraised value they will usually accept that but the appraisal tax value is officially based on market value not purchase price. Otherwise a parent could "sell" their house to a child for a dollar and have them paying no taxes.

What you can do is change the condition grade, which automatically adjusts the comp market value by some formula. Condition grades are factored into comps and if the other houses in your area are grade A and you have your house at grade C due to needed repairs then your appraisal will be scaled down from the comp value. You'll need to show evidence of this such as damage photos and repair estimates. Keep in mind this will show on your hcad listing and will be a big negative in buyer's minds should you wish to sell.

[chris_ut]

This does not work for foreclosures, see DiverTodds comments above.