Another year, another property tax protest question

[SNKETR]

Did anyone use a property tax protesting company last year and come out pleased with their work?

My situation: We started building in 2020 and finished in April 2021. I couldn’t homestead because it was past the deadline. So, my first look by Williamson County was earlier this year, and they appraised/assessed my homestead at 1.1! I’m only 600k in the property; that’s $100k I put down to buy the land (~10 acres) and $500k in construction. That 1.1 appraisal doesn’t include the other 9 acres, which I have Ag exempt. I tried protesting, brought all my closing documents and comps, and got nowhere.

Is there anything an experienced company can do for me? And if so, can you tell me what company you had a positive experience with?

[RiverRat1]

What's the property worth?

You're not taxed on what you spent so far. It's taxed at what it's worth. Otherwise you could own a 5 million dollar house, take out a huge loan but put 100k down and only be taxed on the 100k?

What did they say when you told them you just built it and showed them how much you spent so far?


BTW - IMO it's very important to fight hard for 2022. If Counties are lagging by using sold price data for the first half of 2022 they will come in very high. Prices are coming down fast.

[Throwin Darts]

Did anyone use a property tax protesting company last year and come out pleased with their work?

My situation: We started building in 2020 and finished in April 2021. I couldn’t homestead because it was past the deadline. So, my first look by Williamson County was earlier this year, and they appraised/assessed my homestead at 1.1! I’m only 600k in the property; that’s $100k I put down to buy the land (~10 acres) and $500k in construction. That 1.1 appraisal doesn’t include the other 9 acres, which I have Ag exempt. I tried protesting, brought all my closing documents and comps, and got nowhere.

Is there anything an experienced company can do for me? And if so, can you tell me what company you had a positive experience with?

You should only be taxed on the value of what was on your property on Jan 1, 2021. If you didn't finish until April 2021 then your assessment should be on the value of the construction in place on the incomplete house on 1/1/21. I'd start there with the county by providing them the cost of the 1 acre + the construction dollars spent as of 1/1/21 and that should be your number.

[glen]

Set a meeting and take all you paperwork and see if you can get a good adjuster and get some help there. I moved from WILCO a few years ago and they were hitting me for $100k an acre for 10 acres of rocks. I was West of 35 so no Ag on less than 20 acres. Good luck.