New Home Purchase Price vs. Tax Appraisal Value (Katy, River Oaks: sales, 2015)

[TravelFeedsTheSoul]

Hi,

We are building a new home in Riverstone for $460K (including all upgrades, lot premium, etc.). Based on your experience, how much will the tax appraisal value be from the Fort Bend County Appraisal District? Is it usually more, less, or equivalent to the final purchase price?


Thanks!

[PedroMartinez]

If it's 2 story, and you're not too far along, don't forget that unfinished attic space is not counted in the home's square footage.

[Schumacher713]

My guess is much less. You are not reporting how much you spent. I am betting around 350. Usually houses are undervalued for appraisal districts. Mine is about 250K less than it would be if I were to put it on the market. There are some houses in River Oaks that are about 8 million off.

[trbstang]

The value for 2014 taxes will be based on the building status in Jan/Feb or so of the year. If the house is not complete, it will be much less than the final price. For example, ours was completed in March, and the first year value was at $136,000 on a $202,000 home. The basic home without any upgrades was $165,000. The next year the value was raised to about $170,000, and it has trickled up since then. But it is a good 15% below what I could sell it for. Your 2014 taxes will probably be based on the first year value too, so you will get a break for one year hopefully, unless they reassess it later in the year which they do sometimes. For 2015 it will be the full value because they will reassses it in 2015 after it is completed.

One thing, if they send you a letter asking all kinds of questions about your purchase, I would just throw it away. I did. It is a fishing expedition trying to get exactly what you paid for the house. They will then appraise it at that price and you can't complain becasue you gave it to them. A neighbor told them what he paid, and his house is way over valued compared to the rest of the neighborhood. Otherwise, unless they get the sales records somehow, the best they can estimate is what the basic house in your neighborhood sells for. So if you have $60K of upgrades and the basic house sells for $390K, they might assess it for $390K or so.

Good luck!

[cheryjohns]

They have even been going door to door asking. Your answer is to smile and say "I am not comfortable giving out that information", while shutting the door.

[swopoe]

We moved into Riverstone into an inventory home in March. Our home was completed in dec. of 2012. Our home was selling for about $450k, and Fort Bend appraised it for $368k this year. It is also a 2 story. Hope that helps.

[Sunny144]

That's great information folks. Thanks! Anyone else can provide more insight, please do so.

[MinecraftMommy]

[

Originally Posted by trbstang

The value for 2014 taxes will be based on the building status in Jan/Feb or so of the year. If the house is not complete, it will be much less than the final price. For example, ours was completed in March, and the first year value was at $136,000 on a $202,000 home. The basic home without any upgrades was $165,000. The next year the value was raised to about $170,000, and it has trickled up since then. But it is a good 15% below what I could sell it for. Your 2014 taxes will probably be based on the first year value too, so you will get a break for one year hopefully, unless they reassess it later in the year which they do sometimes. For 2015 it will be the full value because they will reassses it in 2015 after it is completed.

One thing, if they send you a letter asking all kinds of questions about your purchase, I would just throw it away. I did. It is a fishing expedition trying to get exactly what you paid for the house. They will then appraise it at that price and you can't complain becasue you gave it to them. A neighbor told them what he paid, and his house is way over valued compared to the rest of the neighborhood. Otherwise, unless they get the sales records somehow, the best they can estimate is what the basic house in your neighborhood sells for. So if you have $60K of upgrades and the basic house sells for $390K, they might assess it for $390K or so.

Good luck!

This is good to know. We are building in Old Katy and the house should be completed in late February. I will be on the lookout for that letter!

[houstonfan]

It's true for new homes that the first year or two may be completely undervalued bc at time of appraisal, it may have been just a heap of land, no house yet.
As for not reporting value of the house, it's my experience that Big brother knows regardless. This value is on may websites, including Har.com for the realtors to see. There may some other way to get around this, but not answering that questionnaire is not going to accomplish your goals. I believe the title company reports it or maybe even Har.com? I don't know if new constructions are an exception to the rule or not?

[hx2010]

I bought my newly built home in Riverstone earlier this year, and my tax appraisal was $135k less than what I paid for it. I was very happy to see that, because shortly after I closed on the house, they mailed me a letter saying my estimated appraisal for my house was $85k more that what my official tax appraisal was. However, my home builder also told me that they would protest the value for me. Guess they were able to get them to lower it.