Leon Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I just saw my 2008 appraisal on HCAD website. I own a small bungalow w/garage apt in Montrose and I rent both out. My appraised (market) value just went up 25% for no good reason to the value waaaay above anything I could sell that property for. I will definitely protest. I have several possible pathways to pursue in my protest:1) Unequal appraisal: a similar house around the corner (similar street, larger lot) is appraised at 60% of mine solely because of land value: mine is assessed at $57 per foot while the other house at $35 per foot of land. 2) I just had mortgage refinanced and the bank appraised the property at about 80% of what HCAD thinks it is worth3) Try to find "comparables" via MLS (either through a realtor or by going to HCAD)4) Try to go by rental income The most beneficial way is definitely the land value approach but I am not sure that it will work. And if it does not, could I bring up other arguments later in the hearing? Does anyone have experience/suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I just saw my 2008 appraisal on HCAD website. I own a small bungalow w/garage apt in Montrose and I rent both out. My appraised (market) value just went up 25% for no good reason to the value waaaay above anything I could sell that property for. I will definitely protest. I have several possible pathways to pursue in my protest:1) Unequal appraisal: a similar house around the corner (similar street, larger lot) is appraised at 60% of mine solely because of land value: mine is assessed at $57 per foot while the other house at $35 per foot of land. 2) I just had mortgage refinanced and the bank appraised the property at about 80% of what HCAD thinks it is worth3) Try to find "comparables" via MLS (either through a realtor or by going to HCAD)4) Try to go by rental income The most beneficial way is definitely the land value approach but I am not sure that it will work. And if it does not, could I bring up other arguments later in the hearing? Does anyone have experience/suggestions?#2 may be your best bet, if it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 since the property is rental there is no appraisal cap. something similar happened to me with some unimproved property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 since the property is rental there is no appraisal cap. something similar happened to me with some unimproved property.Musicman, cap was not the issue as it did not significantly affect property valuation the year before (when it was a homestead). They raised their MARKET estimate for no good reason (I am willing to offer this house for sale to ARB members with a $20K discount versus their appraised value). I am getting pretty paranoid wondering if ARB is in cahoots with the tax protesting mafia - ARB artificially boosts your appraisal so that you go to these companies - they reduce your bill - you give them 50% - they share spoils with ARB (dinners, hookers, who knows what) - cycle closed. I know this is probably ridiculous but recent proliferation of tax protesting firms makes me think that they employ ex-ARB appraisers. Oh the cycle of life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Musicman, cap was not the issue as it did not significantly affect property valuation the year before (when it was a homestead).just removing the homestead exemption is a flag for them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 A recent independent appraisal is your best weapon, but HCAD will still take their own data into account and probably assess you somewhat higher than that appraisal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Ours still says pending, but I'm bracing myself. Our "Cost and Design" on the site went from Partial to Extensive. I don't how they made this conclusion since the only permit we pulled was to replace the Hazardous Electrical service and ground the house, that didn't have one GFI in it. We did some cosmetic things on the inside, but unless they have been trespassing how would they know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderman Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 I just saw my 2008 appraisal on HCAD website. I own a small bungalow w/garage apt in Montrose and I rent both out. My appraised (market) value just went up 25% for no good reason to the value waaaay above anything I could sell that property for. I will definitely protest. I have several possible pathways to pursue in my protest:1) Unequal appraisal: a similar house around the corner (similar street, larger lot) is appraised at 60% of mine solely because of land value: mine is assessed at $57 per foot while the other house at $35 per foot of land. 2) I just had mortgage refinanced and the bank appraised the property at about 80% of what HCAD thinks it is worth3) Try to find "comparables" via MLS (either through a realtor or by going to HCAD)4) Try to go by rental income The most beneficial way is definitely the land value approach but I am not sure that it will work. And if it does not, could I bring up other arguments later in the hearing? Does anyone have experience/suggestions?LeonI have a rental property in Montrose that is on the border of two HCAD "neighborhoods", and land values in my neighborhood were significantly higher than those of the neighbor behind me last year.I brought this up in the informal hearing last year, along with some other factors, and it seemed to help my case as I did get a $45k reduction in my appraisal.I also pointed out that HCAD had one of the structures valued higher than my replacement cost insurance value, which also seemed to help, and I brought in pictures showing chimney separating from the wall, rotted wood, peeling paint, and the fact that my property is on a busy street.For me the process was a lot tougher than in prior years, and I have heard this from others also. I really had my lunch handed to me on another property I protested last year, using the same methods I had used successfuly in prior years. HCAD seemed very resistant to using sales from nearby HCAD neighborhoods last year, in prior years I was able to use sales outside my HCAD neighborhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 HCAD seemed very resistant to using sales from nearby HCAD neighborhoods last year, in prior years I was able to use sales outside my HCAD neighborhood.this is the type of data that HCAD used against me last yr. but i kept repeating that it wasn't accurate cause it wasn't in my neighborhood. i only used data from my hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkieEric Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Great...up 25% here as well in Montrose/Upper Kirby area, completely undoing my successful protest from last year. Get ready for a good laugh (or cry?), everyoneAnd I thought home values were pretty flat in Houston over the last year? lol, can one use overall market trends and common sense as a basis for protest? I'm new to home ownership, but it hasn't taken long to see this will be an annual headache... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Mine went up only 2% over last year....probably because they didn't have any good comps to use this year. They're still at least $15-20k under market tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Mine went up only 2% over last year....probably because they didn't have any good comps to use this year. They're still at least $15-20k under market tho.Holy smack we just got slammed 25%. I thought you couldn't go up more than 10% a year??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Holy smack we just got slammed 25%. I thought you couldn't go up more than 10% a year???if it's homesteaded yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Oh God! I got mine in too. 5-6% increase. 107K total. The madness has to stop!...they decreased the land value, but increased the structure value, for an overall increase... I wonder what type of models they run that tell them the land is going down in value, but the house is going up? You'd think the land would always slightly increase, and the house would be the item that would go up/down each year... or that both the land/house would move in one direction, together. Oh well... Like the year before, and the year before, as long as the value goes up a steady 5 to 6%/year (or stays flat some years), and it matches the actual appreciation, I don't mind....and here is something else. If Texas is a non-disclosure state (that is you do not have to disclose what you paid for your house to the appraisal district) - then how do they model their appraisals? They have to be getting the sales data, somehow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Holy smack we just got slammed 25%. I thought you couldn't go up more than 10% a year???If you have a homestead and if you didn't make any improvements. Didn't you say you made improvements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 If you have a homestead and if you didn't make any improvements. Didn't you say you made improvements?Yes electrical and paint, carpet and new applainces. But nothing that adds up to what they hiked us too. We have homestead status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Yes electrical and paint, carpet and new applainces. But nothing that adds up to what they hiked us too. We have homestead status.Were permits pulled? If so, they can use this as basis to increase the value of your property... 25% is steep - but they have their reasons, and a lot of data to back it up. If you know a realtor, pull recent sales in your area. If you're still valued at or slightly under comp sales, then... get out the checkbook.I pulled this from HCAD.The fact is that beginning with the year after an owner qualifies for a residence homestead exemption, the appraised value of the homestead property cannot increase more than 10% in any year unless the owner makes an addition or does significant improvements to the property, such as adding a swimming pool, or unless an ownership change occurs. This limitation exists regardless of whether or not the property owner filed an appeal (value protest) in the previous year. Not sure if electrical (that the district knows about) counts as a major improvement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Oh God! I got mine in too. 5-6% increase. 107K total. The madness has to stop!...they decreased the land value, but increased the structure value, for an overall increase... I wonder what type of models they run that tell them the land is going down in value, but the house is going up? You'd think the land would always slightly increase, and the house would be the item that would go up/down each year... or that both the land/house would move in one direction, together. Oh well... Like the year before, and the year before, as long as the value goes up a steady 5 to 6%/year (or stays flat some years), and it matches the actual appreciation, I don't mind....and here is something else. If Texas is a non-disclosure state (that is you do not have to disclose what you paid for your house to the appraisal district) - then how do they model their appraisals? They have to be getting the sales data, somehow...They actually get sales data from MLS - it's just that now they cannot disclose it on their website. Allegedly, when you file an appeal, they must make data available.What flips me out is that houses literally across the street are apprased at $37/ft2 for land value while my side got hit with a $57 valuation. I have never appealed the appraisal before figuring that the appraised value was always pretty close to the actual market value of the property (which means that the appraisal was fair - I do not mind paying my fair share of tax) but this year it is just ridiculous. What also annoys me is that lots of owners, especially commercial and builders, manage to get their property vastly underappraised raising tax on the rest of us. There is one guy who onws good chuck of property on the adjacent street and he somehow manages to swindle the app. district to discount his land 50% for "economic" reasons. I really wonder what kind of shady deals are made under the cover of darkness (or in the strip club) between HCAD / property tax lawyers and large property owners .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 ...and here is something else. If Texas is a non-disclosure state (that is you do not have to disclose what you paid for your house to the appraisal district) - then how do they model their appraisals? They have to be getting the sales data, somehow...They get their sales data from the local fluffy bunnys. Last legislative session, the fluffy bunnys got protectionist legislation passed requiring Appraisial Districts to keep sales data figures private. When HCAD sends you their "evidence" for protests it includes sales comps, and there's a big warning in there telling you that you can't use the sales data from the fluffy bunnys for any purpose other than your protest. Pretty redicluous IMHO.If the people of this state are going to pay the majority of their taxes in property taxes then discolsure should be required by law so that the appraisial process is more fair and open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkieEric Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 ...they decreased the land value, but increased the structure value, for an overall increase... I wonder what type of models they run that tell them the land is going down in value, but the house is going up? You'd think the land would always slightly increase, and the house would be the item that would go up/down each year... or that both the land/house would move in one direction, together. Oh well... Like the year before, and the year before, as long as the value goes up a steady 5 to 6%/year (or stays flat some years), and it matches the actual appreciation, I don't mind. They held my land value constant, and upped the improvement by over 40%...I'd like to hear the logic behind that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieDidIt Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 They held my land value constant, and upped the improvement by over 40%...I'd like to hear the logic behind that one That's where we got the hit too, while the land value held. Weird. The hit is usually in the property value on these older homes, which you can't fight and wouldn't puzzle me as much as the house improving to almost new construction valuations. My house was built in the 60's. How can paint, carpet, updating the electrical from the 60's, removing carpenter ant infested decking and updating the appliances from the 80's equate such an enormous jump in the "improvement?" Guess it time to put the gloves back on. I fought every year when we lived in the Galleria area. We never fought in Montgomery county after the first try. They said "Well, do you want kept this valuation or for me to raise you the 20,000 for next year, now?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 I was also surprised when the land held steady and the improvement value went up for the row of houses on my street in the Heights. The previous 2 years the improvements trended downward and land up, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Thankfully it was less than a 10% increase, but I still find it odd. I am guessing there's some strategy to it, for whatever reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDeb Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 The HCAD website still lists my 2007 value. I guess they work their way out to the burbs slowly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJXterra Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 The HCAD website still lists my 2007 value. I guess they work their way out to the burbs slowly.We're in the heights and still haven't had ours changed.On a sidenote...we had a city SEWAGE line break under our house this year and had to have new utilties installed, etc. City covered zero, we have pictures of both the 60cu.ft. pool under our house and the 200+ cu. ft. pool that happened behind our house. This should help with our valuation correct? esp. given that the line is still there with 5 houses running through it and we had to install a cleanout that they've been out already once to jet again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 We're in the heights and still haven't had ours changed.On a sidenote...we had a city SEWAGE line break under our house this year and had to have new utilties installed, etc. City covered zero, we have pictures of both the 60cu.ft. pool under our house and the 200+ cu. ft. pool that happened behind our house. This should help with our valuation correct? esp. given that the line is still there with 5 houses running through it and we had to install a cleanout that they've been out already once to jet again.Yes it would help...your house is now worth more because you've got new and improved utilities. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Mine went up only 2% over last year....probably because they didn't have any good comps to use this year. They're still at least $15-20k under market tho.My 2008 values disappeared from the HCAD site! The 2008 record is now showing "Pending" once again. Did anyone else's vanish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Yep, mine are now pending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkieEric Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Yep, mine are now pending.Pending here again as well...maybe it was all a bad dream? Or a horrible, system-wide mistake? Ahh, wishful thinking.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 My theory is that they realized they forgot to jack up our land value, so now they're going back through to make sure they screw us good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share Posted March 19, 2008 My 2008 values disappeared from the HCAD site! The 2008 record is now showing "Pending" once again. Did anyone else's vanish?Mine disappeared as well. Note that you could only see them if you did a records search by a range of addresses. But now everything is pending.. I guess they are updating the database (I doubt the numbers will be any different). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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