Appealing Property Appraisal - New Question

[Little Earl]

Anyone here have any advice for appealing your property taxes?. I'm in a new home (purchased 03-2010 in Travis county). I'm all for paying my fair share, but my appraisal is so out of line with everyone else in the neighborhood that I just don't know what to do. The appraisal is for about 20K over my purchase price. All the houses on my street are less than 3 years old. Almost all built by the same builder. There are no existing homes selling for anywhere close to what I paid for mine.

The homes on my street average about $70 per square foot. For some reason mine was appraised at over $90 per square foot. I know that I can just show them my settlement statement, but I have always been told to never give your settlement statement to the appraisal district. I feel that they have just over appraised my house to force me to provide them with the settlement statement so that they can use it as evidence for other appraisals, and then I'll get all my neighbors ticked off at me.

I had my "informal" meeting with the appraisal district this morning, and they pretty much told me point blank that on a new home my only argument is a settlement statement, that they won't take an "equity" argument on a new house.

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I have another question regarding the "percent complete" on my home. My home wasn't completed until the end of March, but the appraisal district did their assessment of the property in the middle of March, just a couple weeks before my closing, and assessed it to be 95% complete. The house was obviously much further along than it was on January 1st when it didn't even have drywall, much less electrical, plumbing, insulation, brick, etc.

What kind of "evidence" is the ARB likely to accept to reduce this percent complete to something more in line with the state of construction on January 1. I have pictures, but that doesn't seem like very credible evidence to me since they could be manipulated very easily. Should I get copies of the building permits from the city, or is there something else that you suggest?

 

[YoLaDu]

my first property tax appraisal notice came about 3 months after buying my first house.

The appraisal was about 10% higher than for what we bought it at, ie: what it sold for.

I contested and showed documentation of what we paid for the house a mere 3 months previously. The guy we met with asked: "so you think it should be appraised at what you bought it for?"

I said: "yes."

he said: "OK"

and it was done. Took like 5 minutes.

little earl, the short time between when you bought it and this appraisal notice should help you. Contesting appraisals are more difficult for home you have been in for a number of years and the appraisal is much more subjective and harder to evaluate. Fortunately, you have a "real world" true appraisal of the worth of your home, ie: what you paid for it a mere 3 months ago.

 

[TexasEd]

you only don't show the appraise the closing docs if your house is assessed lower than purchase price.

In this case you do.

You could also use the appraisal from your purchase, whichever is lower.

 

[HatDaddy]

Take a woman with you. My wife and I went in Dallas and the guys pretty much ignored all the info I presented, but as soon as my wife starts talking they stopped cross talking and asked what she thought was fair.
They dropped our taxes by about 5%.
I dig chicks.

 

[chango]

HatDaddy's wife is hot ... I'm just sayin' . . .

 

[ChiroHorn]

I bought my home in 7/09 & this year, TCAD appraised it for 25% higher than the purchase price.

During the appeal, I simply showed them the settlement statement. Done. I walked out owing 25% less taxes. My neighbors should also thank me next year when their appraisals are lower too.

 

[pasotex]

The ARB is a relatively informal proceding at least compared to court. The panel is typically made up of college eduacated professionals. They should accept your testimony and photos as "proof" of what percentage was done on January 1st becasue nobody else will know what the status was and you will be the only witness on this issue. You also may be able to get a letter from the contractor or perhaps the bank concerning progress on construction. There may be some online material or written materials on what to expect with the ARB in your jurisdiction.

I had this identical issue come up with my house. The percentage completion method of appraisal is improper for a custom built home in my opinion. The test is what a willing purchaser under no obligation to buy would pay a willing seller under no obligation to sell. A half built custom home has no value beyond scrap and the land because it is incomplete and nobody is going to pay a percentage of full purchase price for a half built custom home.

I lost on this issue with the ARB and they appraised my house at something like 55% of the final purchase price. Although I think I would have prevailed in court, I decided not to appeal it. The silver lining is that my house was massively underappraised as a result of the CAD's greed in getting me on the tax rolls a year early. Had they waited a year, my value would have been the purchase price and could rise from there. As it was, the 10% cap on yearly homestead increases has resulted in my house being capped for eight years and cost the CAD probably around $20,000 in property taxes.

 

[726]

I second having the woman appeal. We appealed successfully in Dallas County (residence) and Travis County (campus condo) last year and the Mrs. 726 dressed professionally, was personable and organized, and we prevailed. The men were putty in her hands and the older women on the boards seemed to like her being the family's representative. Like you, we had strong arguments via comparison appraisals in the same neighborhoods. We've appealed two other times in Dallas County and have always gotten what we were looking for. Usually not really an adversarial process if you take the time to research/ document a reasonable claim. Most people are scared away by the relatively formal sounding appeal process described in the paperwork that is mailed with the appraisal, but the boards are made up of citizens and their charge is to act as a neutral arbiter, albeit one with power to act. We've found that they fulfill that role pretty fairly. Just remember that it is undoubtedly a tedious process sitting and listening to the appeals all day, and if you get snarky or sound rude when discussing issues of contention, the board may not appreciate it and it could cost you some percentage of what you're trying to get it lowered to. The ARB will accept your pictures, but the CAD will usually have some evidence as well. Upon your request, the CAD should also provide you with copies of the information and comparison properties they will use to defend their appraisal, although I believe they can charge you a nominal fee for the cost of the copies. Good luck.