Home address: 403 Lawndale Dr

2021 Taxable Value: $477,559

Recent Sales Price: $320,000 – Over-taxed by 49%

Texas property owners can avoid paying excess property taxes by taking several basic steps. Either comparable sales or condition issues at your home are useful for a market value appeal of property taxes. An unequal appraisal appeal is easy to prepare.  Just find neighborhood homes with a lower level of assessment (per square foot).  Summarize the data in a table. Appraisal districts are generally very receptive to settling tax appeals at the informal hearing.

Some property owners do not appeal due to a concern the appraisal district will want to inspect their house.  However, the appraisal district is MUCH too busy during the appeal season to even think about asking to inspect a property.  Assessors do not visit houses because of appeals. It is impossible for 2,272 Texas appraisal district appraisers to track physical condition and value for over 20 million properties. Tax protests are resolved at the informal hearing since the result is within a “reasonable range of value”.  Appraisal is not an exact science and valuations are only an educated opinion of value, not a fact. Property taxes are the largest tax most Texans face.  But it is a stealth tax hidden in the mortgage payment, disguising the size of property taxes paid.