DCAD - Property Taxes (Dallas: real estate, how much, houses)

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by harishv

what if as in our case, the appraisal was based on an "incomplete" house - as in a new home that was being built an was appraised as such? i assume they are allowed to raise the taxes to the full value once the house is up entirely? in other words, our appraisal amount looks like roughly 1/3rd of the price we bought it at. I assume its because it ws based on the partial house and next year, will go up to the full value? but that would raise the jump to 300% next year well above the cap of 10%!!!!!

You are correct, new improvements are not subject to the 10% rule.

[art_teacher_mom]

My house went up 20k. I could cry.

[Rakin]

Geat a good realtor in your area to run comparable sales. Get the low ones and protest your taxes. I do it every year and keep taxes as low as possible.

Tax rates have gone down due to TX dumping the Robin Hood School Finance Plan. All appraisal districts will be digging as much as possible to get values up to increase income.

Fight, Fight ,Fight

[aeh]

When did Texas dump the Robin Hood school finance plan?

[harishv]

Isnt this a double edged sword though? can it not be used against u whn u r ready to sell your house? if u fight to lower your property value for taxes, cant a potential buyer's realtor use it against you when u ask for more at the time of selling the house? what do u say when the buyer claims that the county thinks your home is worth x dollars less than what u r asking for it?

[lpepping]

Don't realtors rely more on comparable sales in the area to price a property rather then the DCAD appraisal?

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by lpepping

Don't realtors rely more on comparable sales in the area to price a property rather then the DCAD appraisal?

Absolutely!!! Many buyers however look at the value and they just want to base their offers on DCAD.

A battle I have to fight almost every time I write an offer but we have to educate the buyers about the difference between "assessed value" vs. "market value"

Naima

[Rakin]

Realtors use the MLS solds to help establish your homes values. We know that the appraaisal district is usually not a good tool. We establish values based on about the last 3-6 months worth of sales. The tax base may not have had an reappraisal for 2-3 years

Keep you tax appraisal as low as possible. It has nothing to do with the value when you go to sell your home.

As a realtor I am fight mine and for taxes it stays about 30% below actual market value.

[momof2dfw]

Ours stayed the same. WOO-HOO!!! I've been going down and fighting them every year and FINALLY they did not raise ours. Now, here is some info based on what some of you have brought up concerning how property values are done w/ the DCAD. Some have already posted SOME info but here is the scoop.

1. 10% cap per year increase - Yes, they can only go up 10% PER YEAR! They can reappraise EVERY year BUT they MUST reappraise every 3 years. If they did not go up for 2 years and on the 3rd year for the reappraisel there was a huge jump in values for your area it CAN go up a FULL 30%!

2. Improvements - if you did a major improvement to your property during the year they can go up more than the 10% from the previous years value. Say you add a pool or major addition they can go up accordingly. Pouring a small slab of concrete is considered an "improvement". We have been hit w/ even a concrete walkway/sidewalk at the lakehouse.

3. The date for which they set the "apprasied market value" is JANUARY 1st. The 2008 property tax market value is based on what your property was worth on January 1st of that year. If between sometime after January your areas property values tank they don't care as it was based on the value ON January 1st. The ONLY way to fight this and it still is not a clearcut victory for you either is by comps. Tried on this one once before for one property and it did not work. Even had April comps but they went by what it was on January 1st and will tell you so (it also says on the website).

4. New construction - someone mentioned this. If on January 1st the home was NOT finished your 2008 (or whatever year it is) taxable market value will be based on the LAND ONLY!!! As the "improvements" were NOT "improvements" since the house was not habitable. If you closed on a new house that just got finished in April and in January it was not finished your getting lucky. You get most of the year paying only taxes for land and not the house. Just be ready for the big jump next year.

5. They CAN go up more than the 10% (or 30% in a 3 year period) IF the area you are in has seen a DRAMATIC INCREASE in values.

6. Lowering the value per the tax office and SELLING/BUYING - if you KNOW your going to put your house on the market THAT year then don't fight it. If you have no intentions of moving then go fight it. In MOST cases the value set by the county tax office is typically about 10% LOWER than the REAL "market value". If your looking at houses and you find one that is listed for $300K and on the tax rolls they have it valued at say around $275K it is "in the ballpark" and the list price is fair. Now, if they have the taxable value at $200K or less then there better be some good comps in that area to back it up. HOWEVER, if there ARE some good comps to back a much higher value than the tax offices they WILL raise your "taxable market value" to your purchase price the next year. I saw a listing by me that was at $1.2M but on the tax rolls was valued at $800K. Don't know how they would have felt w/ a $900K offer but that would have been more realistic.

7. Pay attention to the "CONDITION" listed on the tax rolls. This can make a HUGE difference. Say you want to go fight your value because a neighbor down the street w/ a house the same size is much lower than yours........... look at the "condition" per the tax office of both. Yours might be in "excellent" condition but the neighbors is in "fair". How do you get a LOWER "condition"? You take in proof that your home is not as in good condition as they deem it. Things like foundation problems can lower the condition. In order to get this lowered you need pictures, estimates of repairs, professional reports (engineer report for foundation), etc.

8. Lots - this also makes a difference. The neighbor w/ the golf course lot is going to have a higher "land value" to their property than one that does not. Someone on a larger culdesac lot is going to be higher as well.

9. Robin Hood - This has not been dropped yet. They tried a few years ago and it did not make it thru. I believe it is going to be something that is pushed for by every state gov't leader that represents an area that gets funds taken away for awhile until something else is done.

If you think fighting the tax office over your residential property is a PITA you should try commercial.......... ugh.

[Spree]

Thanks Momof2 :-)