Do I tell appraisal office what our house sold for? (sales, neighborhood)

[braveheartwendy]

We rec'd a sales survey from Travis Central Appraisal District that asks what we bought our house for. They say it is to help them do "fair and accurate appraisal of homes".

Our house's last appraisal is below what we paid. If I tell them, won't they increase our appraisal/taxes?

It appears this is voluntary, I just can't think of any good reason to fill it out, so thought I would ask in case I am missing something.

Thanks!

[TexasHorseLady]

Don't do it. Texas is a nondisclosure state and you are under no compulsion to do so.

And, yes, they will raise your appraisal/taxes if you tell them.

If you paid significantly more than the appraisal, it would be to your advantage to use that information when it comes time to challenge your appraisal. Otherwise, no.

[PfinallyInAustin]

I got one at the end of last week also. I'm not going to send it back because, yes, they will raise your property's assessed value which will raise your tax liability. At least, this will happen if you purchased the house for more money than it was last assessed.

[braveheartwendy]

Thank you!!

[aaauger]

If you have your property professionally appraised, aren't you required to report the valuation?

[TexasHorseLady]

Now, that's the first time I've ever heard that one. And what kind of professional appraisal, for what purpose? There are several different kinds that might each get a slightly different result.

[centralaustinite]

Only tell them what you paid, if your tax appraisal is over that amount! Otherwise, keep it to yourself. Sales price is not public information in Texas.

(And because of that, you cannot rely on Zillow, house almanac or other national data banks for Texas home values. They rely on public data and in Texas there isn't any sales data, so they use tax appraisals which have no direct relation to market value.)

[aaauger]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Now, that's the first time I've ever heard that one. And what kind of professional appraisal, for what purpose? There are several different kinds that might each get a slightly different result.

Well, it's been awhile since we protested our property valuation with TCAD, but my recollection is that the paperwork said that getting an independent appraisal could work for or against a property owner. If the appraisal was lower, TCAD would adjust accordingly. Of course, it works the other way too.

Now this could have just been from a bad dream....

But when our propert appraisal went up 13% this year even though neighborhood homes are reduced in price and taking months to sell, we were tempted to get an independent appraisal.

[TexasHorseLady]

Hmmm. When we protested our property valuation with TCAD (successfully, by the way), we didn't have to provide an appraisal. Since a current appraisal wouldn't speak to the time period on which the tax valuation is based, it probably wouldn't be very useful.

But that sounds like a heads up to someone who's maybe considering getting a professional appraisal for evidence to use in a protest, not a requirement that any such appraisal be provided to the tax office.

[aaauger]

It was a bad dream. I called TCAD: if you choose to get an independent appraisal to compare to TCAD's appraisal but it turns out equal or higher, you don't have to share it with TCAD.