BCAD Appraisal Values out for 2012 - How did you do? (houses, depreciation)

[pobre]

A friend's home in Walker's Ranch (off Blanco Rd) fell by ~30K...in fact, the improvement value has been steadily declining over the last 7 years, but this is a big drop...any ideas?

[Lordfalco]

So beg to question, since I see no one has answered this yet, what is BCAD Appraisal Value really based upon?

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Lordfalco

So beg to question, since I see no one has answered this yet, what is BCAD Appraisal Value really based upon?

In all honesty - a semi-educated guess. Those that don't challenge it lose....

[theeddie]

Originally Posted by Lordfalco

So beg to question, since I see no one has answered this yet, what is BCAD Appraisal Value really based upon?

magic 8 ball.
how one can value a property without seeing the inside is beyond me.
I try to lower mine every year. when you pay $2k month in property taxes it matters alot.

[sinsativ]

BCAD appraisals are historically based, each neighborhood or house gets set back normally when it was built, then they just add about 10% more each year. The individuals that are smart enough to go and challenge the Tax Appraisal get theirs down to more market level, which is what it is supposed to be taxed on, The Market Value. But, unless you go down, dispute the amount they claim, and show them comparables, neighborhood values and square foot comps, you will get taxed as high as they can possibly tax you. I have worked with several people over the past few years and their Tax value keeps going up, while the real market value is declining. The only time you can expect your Tax value to be correct is if you have disputed it and had it match what real market is.

[sinsativ]

and to bring you up to speed, Mine stayed the same, but I will ask for them to give me even if its just a thousand dollars off, because all it is is the value that Bexar County taxes you on. Question, Gas is $4.25 a gallon no questions asked. its $3.25 if you ask for the lower price. Which one are you gonna buy...???

[sinsativ]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

In all honesty - a semi-educated guess. Those that don't challenge it lose....

We all lose when our neighbors don't challenge it. If everybody in a neighborhood would challenge, then that neighborhood value would decrease thereby making it easier to keep the taxable value of all the houses lower. The people that don't challenge hurt us that do, because they have falsely inflated values which we have to accept.

[Lordfalco]

Originally Posted by Lordfalco

So beg to question, since I see no one has answered this yet, what is BCAD Appraisal Value really based upon?

After looking online, I found a few examples that explain how appraisals work. Just an FYI.

Appraisal 101 - How a Appraiser Attaches Home Value

HowStuffWorks "How Home Appraisals Work"

[Turtle_Mom]

This is a new house, so no comparison to last year values. However, we believe our valuation is higher than our neighbors so we are challenging it. Lower valuation - lower taxes! We aren't selling anytime soon. Our house has high square footage, but we don't have a pool and haven't gone over the top with expensive features. We think they took a smaller - yet very fancy home - and used the same per square foot numbers. Our realtor gave us a CMA too to help make our case, but they really are all over the place. Some houses in our neighborhood are typical subdivision homes placed on acreage. Others are mini-mansions with lots of features. I don't see how they can fully do an accurate appraisal just by the sq. footage and lot size. Ours also valued quite a bit more than the cost of our build - including the land we purchased separately a few years back. I guess that tells me we did a good job on this build, and are already in the positive, but I'd rather pay fewer taxes!

[sinsativ]

Originally Posted by Turtle_Mom

This is a new house, so no comparison to last year values. However, we believe our valuation is higher than our neighbors so we are challenging it. Lower valuation - lower taxes! We aren't selling anytime soon. Our house has high square footage, but we don't have a pool and haven't gone over the top with expensive features. We think they took a smaller - yet very fancy home - and used the same per square foot numbers. Our realtor gave us a CMA too to help make our case, but they really are all over the place. Some houses in our neighborhood are typical subdivision homes placed on acreage. Others are mini-mansions with lots of features. I don't see how they can fully do an accurate appraisal just by the sq. footage and lot size. Ours also valued quite a bit more than the cost of our build - including the land we purchased separately a few years back. I guess that tells me we did a good job on this build, and are already in the positive, but I'd rather pay fewer taxes!

If your buying price is less than the appraisal, yours is easy, take them the contract, show them what you paid, thats what they HAVE to base it on.