Tax appraisal protest question. First timer...

[ofishil]

This is my first house and my first time to protest. House went up $15000 from last year. Been in it a year.

I have no idea what to do but this is my plan.

Question for the pros: Am I on the right track? Any other ideas?

1. I plan on taking photos of unkept yards and houses in neighborhood.
2. Show photos that theres no sidewalk on my street.
3. Check appraisal district website and gather houses with low appraisals in neighborhood and show them those or should I show them houses that have sold in neighborhood?
4. Show that my house not on the water and is not comparable to houses that are on the water that are next to me.
5. Show that part of my house should not be listed under my square footage since it is a breezeway.

Anything else you can think of that I should do?

[lil_armond]

Most of the time you can get a reduction over the phone, be sure to be polite and plead your case and it is very likely that the will adjust it back down to what it was or maybe a little over. I have had to do it now for the last 4 years and every time they give me a considerable reduction over the phone. Keep in mind it won't help your escrow payment though.

[BSOB]

I've protested mine twice in the 5 years i've owned my house, including this year, and have won both times. I havent gone through near that much trouble though. I just tell them why i think my house is worth less than what they propose. I dont think they're going to care about # 1 or # 2 as I wouldnt think those would have much to do with the value of your home. Comparable houses with lower appraisals should help, I always mention them in mine.

[stinkbelly]

They are required to give you a list of homes they compared yours against. Get that list and then go visit them. Take pictures and note differences. Bring evidence why yours isn't worth that much. Don't just say it isn't. Bring enough copies of everything for everyone on the board.

[BSOB]

I dont know what process Corpus uses, but here in Houston the first step is an online protest that you fill out and submit to them. That is the process I was describing. Naturally if they had declined and a hearing date was set I would bring more evidence to support my protest.

[Birddog66]

Talk to your realtor about some comparable sold properties in the last 6 months. Have them print you out something you can take with you. Be polite - get more bees with honey than veniger.

[GR5]

In my many experiences with the Apprisal tax office. 1st comes the carrot dangler, who offers to lower your value by a small margin. If you accept you will sign a waver disallowing any futher protest. 2nd, tell the carrot person NO and go in front of the board. The board consist of the chief apprisar and minimum of 5 citizens appointed by one of the district judges. The 2nd option always does more $$ good.

[bdog14]

pm or email me if you want who I use. Used them on all of our places and they drastically reduce my liability...and make sure it stays that way every year....they've saved me a bundle. They charge 30% of whatever they save you. Going in to the appraisal district is a nightmare...at least it is in Travis county. I tried to do it myself and wasted a lot of time...it's a racket and you have to pay to play.