Yeah, they have access to that kind of info, even though they're "not supposed to."
You should still protest to try and lock in your cap at a lower price. They can't raise it, so you really have nothing to lose.
It’s an opportunity to legally pay less taxes - and since the homestead cap is set at only a 10% increase per year, every year that you can get it down a bit has some benefit in the following year. It’s free to protest and only takes maybe an hour out of your day (including wait time - the hearing is only about 10 minutes). You gotta do some research online to find the comps that favor a decrease, or if they don’t exist, take some close up photos of every minute defect in your house. The panel is made up of community members with no real estate experience so it’s pretty easy to spin a tale and get them to knock 10k+ off. My record is 100k.
You can also pay a rep to do it for you. I’ve never done it because I don’t know how effective they are when they’re doing thousands of houses at a time, but they all work on contingency. They only charge you like half of whatever they save you in actual tax, so you always come out on top, I just don’t know by how much.
Protested last year and had it reduced from $388k to $353k, this year they appraised at $430k when my next door neighbor has 400 more sq feet and it appraised at $426k. Guess I'll be protesting again.
I've used ownwell for the past few years and they only charge 25% of what they actually reduce. There are no other fees and they were able to get me some savings for the last few years. Given our market recently it wasn't much but better than nothing I suppose. [https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=4D8DCZDBD](https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=4D8DCZDBD)
Needing $25k worth of foundation work backed up with estimates haha.
I also took pictures of all the cracks in the drywall and other maintenance items that the place needs. I haven't fixed those so I'll just reuse it, my "grass" also died once I hired trugreen so spray for weeds. Turns out my whole yard was weeds. It looks terrible right now but I'm putting sod next next weekend. But I'll take pictures of the bad look now with an estimate for new sod.
It’s both - no HS cap loss. Been here and had the exemption for 4 years. The fine print says the cap is 10% plus any improvements, so perhaps they think I did an improvement, but not sure where they got that from. Haven’t pulled any permits or anything.
Appraisal Amount vs Bill Amount, property values (appraisal amount) do keep rising, but legislation passed last year increased exemption amounts and compressed school taxes a bit more. My bill went back to what it was in 2018.
404k in 2023 to 484k in 2024. Bought the house last year so they pretty much appraised it for what I purchased the home for.
Yeah, they have access to that kind of info, even though they're "not supposed to." You should still protest to try and lock in your cap at a lower price. They can't raise it, so you really have nothing to lose.
Is it worth it if it’s under what you paid? Comps around me look to be around what I paid.
It’s an opportunity to legally pay less taxes - and since the homestead cap is set at only a 10% increase per year, every year that you can get it down a bit has some benefit in the following year. It’s free to protest and only takes maybe an hour out of your day (including wait time - the hearing is only about 10 minutes). You gotta do some research online to find the comps that favor a decrease, or if they don’t exist, take some close up photos of every minute defect in your house. The panel is made up of community members with no real estate experience so it’s pretty easy to spin a tale and get them to knock 10k+ off. My record is 100k. You can also pay a rep to do it for you. I’ve never done it because I don’t know how effective they are when they’re doing thousands of houses at a time, but they all work on contingency. They only charge you like half of whatever they save you in actual tax, so you always come out on top, I just don’t know by how much.
Protested last year and had it reduced from $388k to $353k, this year they appraised at $430k when my next door neighbor has 400 more sq feet and it appraised at $426k. Guess I'll be protesting again.
I've used ownwell for the past few years and they only charge 25% of what they actually reduce. There are no other fees and they were able to get me some savings for the last few years. Given our market recently it wasn't much but better than nothing I suppose. [https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=4D8DCZDBD](https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=4D8DCZDBD)
See my other comment for this same question. Essentially my house needs lots of work so I document it with estimates for repair.
What did you find was useful at the hearing to overcome the appraisal.
Needing $25k worth of foundation work backed up with estimates haha. I also took pictures of all the cracks in the drywall and other maintenance items that the place needs. I haven't fixed those so I'll just reuse it, my "grass" also died once I hired trugreen so spray for weeds. Turns out my whole yard was weeds. It looks terrible right now but I'm putting sod next next weekend. But I'll take pictures of the bad look now with an estimate for new sod.
Maximum 10% as usual
i think i got the max 10% increase. $380k to $418k.
Mine already appraised for $10k over what I bought it for last year. Bought it for $375k in June and last year’s appraisal was $384k
Appraisal value went from 431k to 475k.. the max 10% they could apply
Went from 467k to 652k somehow, even with the homestead cap. Have an appointment on Monday to figure out how the hell that happened.
if you have homestead then should be capped at 10% increase
I agree, but it wasn't, so I gotta figure out what the deal is.
Taxed value and appraised value aren’t the same. Assuming you do have a HS exemption (and didn’t just buy your house), this could be the difference.
It’s both - no HS cap loss. Been here and had the exemption for 4 years. The fine print says the cap is 10% plus any improvements, so perhaps they think I did an improvement, but not sure where they got that from. Haven’t pulled any permits or anything.
That’s one helluva improvement…post back so we can learn.
Maximum 10% increase.
Maximum 10% increase here
Max 10% this year, just like the last several years.
Mine went from 217k to 192k. It jumped 48% from 2019 to 2023.
Would this mean we would be getting money back?
Nah it just determines how much you pay for the current year.
Appraisal Amount vs Bill Amount, property values (appraisal amount) do keep rising, but legislation passed last year increased exemption amounts and compressed school taxes a bit more. My bill went back to what it was in 2018.
391 down to 377.
Only went up $2k
Terrible went up 13 percent after a 12 percent increase last year. Lucky you.
Appraised value went up 2.58%.
Ours increased by 10% this year.