Help Protesting Property Tax

[TheHarmonium]

Looking for help protesting my appraised value. Despite all my searches, i'm having a hard time figuring out how to argue the protest and would appreciate any input.

In 2011 we purchased our first home in an older established neighborhood for a little above lot value. We protested the appraisal the first year which was significantly higher than our purchase price and they changed it to the purchase price. They kept that value for 2012 but this year our appraisal was almost 170k higher than our 2011 purchase price. According to the hcad website the increase is entirely in the value of the structure as our lot value was the same. The house was built in 1948 and remodeled with additions in the early 80s.

The issue I'm running into is there really are no comps for our house. The other older homes in the neighborhood aren't close in terms of square footage and the homes that have similar square footage are all new construction worth 3 times what our house is. Which leads to the other issue in that it's likely our home is a tear down for the next owner unless we do major renovations, so there is likely minimal value in the structure above lot value. Any ideas on how to approach this given the lack of comps?

We recently applied for the homestead exemption relating back to last year and I am hoping it is approved in time to cap our value. However, my understanding is I should argue the appraisal separately as the exemption would be applied to the final tax bill?

[coconutbutter]

This post by Pedro is probably the most helpful in terms of filing a protest. I started preparing for my protest per his advice. Other people in that thread have also offered their .02c about protesting in front of HCAD.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by TheHarmonium

Looking for help protesting my appraised value. Despite all my searches, i'm having a hard time figuring out how to argue the protest and would appreciate any input.

In 2011 we purchased our first home in an older established neighborhood for a little above lot value. We protested the appraisal the first year which was significantly higher than our purchase price and they changed it to the purchase price. They kept that value for 2012 but this year our appraisal was almost 170k higher than our 2011 purchase price. According to the hcad website the increase is entirely in the value of the structure as our lot value was the same. The house was built in 1948 and remodeled with additions in the early 80s.

The issue I'm running into is there really are no comps for our house. The other older homes in the neighborhood aren't close in terms of square footage and the homes that have similar square footage are all new construction worth 3 times what our house is. Which leads to the other issue in that it's likely our home is a tear down for the next owner unless we do major renovations, so there is likely minimal value in the structure above lot value. Any ideas on how to approach this given the lack of comps?

We recently applied for the homestead exemption relating back to last year and I am hoping it is approved in time to cap our value. However, my understanding is I should argue the appraisal separately as the exemption would be applied to the final tax bill?

If there are no comps in your neighborhood for you, then there won't be for HCAD either.

The approach I would take is finding a lot (I'm talking 10 or 12, at least) of homes that are as close as possible to your house (geographically) that have not received an increase. I'd then argue that since there is not a trend of increasing value in your neighborhood and on your street and since you have not done any significant improvements, an increase for your home is not logical. Explain that if your neighborhood saw an increased value, you could understand that; however, since your house is the exception to the rule, it is an "arbitrary" increase which "must be a mistake".

In this scenario, volume is definitely key to your argument. You want to overwhelm them with example after example of no increases for other homes. You also want to highlight 3 or 4 homes that are real close to you that are newer, larger, better grade and better condition (or the best combinations). Have pictures of those homes that look real pretty. Present those at first (in case they cut you short), and then proceed to start rattling off more homes without the details. "In addition to homes that are much superior than mine, you can also see case after case of homes demonstrating that the neighborhood value trend is flat and has not increase. You can see in the case of the home at 1313 Mocking Bird Lane on page 15 of my packet that they didn't have an increase. The same is true with 1835 N. Middletown Road on page 16. ... on page 17. .... on page 18." The idea is to overwhelm them with that data.

At the end, summarize with a statement to the affect, "Last year the county didn't adjust our value due to they felt it was correct, and I agree with that. This year, they want to raise it substantially. Since we have done no improvements to the property, this can only be due to the neighborhood values going up. If this were the case, I'd agree; however, I have shown over a dozen specific examples of homes throughout my neighborhood that did not seen any increase this year. This clearly demonstrates a lack of any neighborhood trend that would justify raising my value."

That is the approach I would take since there are no comps.

[benkalu2]

Originally Posted by TheHarmonium

Looking for help protesting my appraised value. Despite all my searches, i'm having a hard time figuring out how to argue the protest and would appreciate any input.

In 2011 we purchased our first home in an older established neighborhood for a little above lot value. We protested the appraisal the first year which was significantly higher than our purchase price and they changed it to the purchase price. They kept that value for 2012 but this year our appraisal was almost 170k higher than our 2011 purchase price. According to the hcad website the increase is entirely in the value of the structure as our lot value was the same. The house was built in 1948 and remodeled with additions in the early 80s.

The issue I'm running into is there really are no comps for our house. The other older homes in the neighborhood aren't close in terms of square footage and the homes that have similar square footage are all new construction worth 3 times what our house is. Which leads to the other issue in that it's likely our home is a tear down for the next owner unless we do major renovations, so there is likely minimal value in the structure above lot value. Any ideas on how to approach this given the lack of comps?

We recently applied for the homestead exemption relating back to last year and I am hoping it is approved in time to cap our value. However, my understanding is I should argue the appraisal separately as the exemption would be applied to the final tax bill?

HCAD will conduct its search for comparable sales in your Neighborhood Group, not just the Neighborhood. Your Neighborhood Group is defined by HCAD and can be seen on their website. Sales from outside the Neighborhood Group will not be given much consideration. The argument you've already outlined should be effective. The way to document it is to show that the majority of the sales in your neighborhood are new construction or significant remodels having superior quality of construction and in better condition. These are variables shown through HCAD's Remodel Factor, Condition Desirability and Utility (CDU) and Grade factors. I've attached a chart that I got from [url=http://www.iProtest.org]iProtest - iProtest[/url] to show how HCAD actually makes adjustments and the values assigned to homes by rating.