Harris County Appraisal District - Preparing for Your Market Value Protest
prepared and presented by O'Connor & Associates
Harris County Appraisal District compiles records regarding size and physical characteristics for about 1.6 million real estate accounts. Harris County Appraisal District uses this data and computer models to prepare a mass appraisal of most properties in the county. As a property owner who knows the actual size, condition and other factors that influence market value for your property you have an advantage for when appealing your property taxes.
As you file a property tax protest, request a copy of the evidence that Harris County Appraisal District will present at the hearing. (Hint: You may be able to obtain it from the Harris County Appraisal District's web site at www.hcad.org using their i-file system.) Inspect the Harris County Appraisal District's "record card" or description of your property. Most of the Harris County Appraisal District's record cards will contain an error, which understates or overstates the size, quality of construction, condition or other factors. Summarize errors that are favorable for your property tax protest.
The market value property tax protest at Harris County Appraisal District (for homes and owner occupied commercial buildings) usually focuses on the sale comparison approach to valuation. In other words, reviewing recent sales of similar properties. Comparable sales are likely part of the evidence you received from Harris County Appraisal District. They place the most current sales at the beginning of the list. Look for sales which are similar to your property with regard to size, age, quality of construction (grade for houses) and condition (CDU for houses) and which are sold for less than your assessed value. A market value reduction, which does not reduce your assessed value, does not reduce your property taxes in the current year.
For houses, if there are numerous recent comparable sales in the Harris County Appraisal District defined neighborhood, you should probably limit your analysis to sales within the neighborhood. However, if these are few or no sales are in the neighborhood (for single family) or if there are no helpful sales (for commercial), try visiting the information center on the third floor of the Harris County Appraisal District office at 13013 Northwest Freeway.
Two or three comparable sales, which support a reduction, are adequate. Prepare a summary of the sales data with data for your property on the top line. Include information such as sales price, sales price per square foot, account number, address, size in square feet and year built.
After summarizing the sales data and considering any errors in the record card, determine what value to request at your property tax protest hearing at the Harris County Appraisal District. Bring five copies of your evidence in case the informal hearing does not make a favorable offer.
If your market value evidence does not support a reduction in your property taxes, research assessed values on the Harris County Appraisal District web site to research unequal appraisal.
Property Tax Tip #1: Appealing Property Taxes for Your Home
Property Tax Tip #2: Preparing for Your Property Tax Hearing
Property Tax Tip #3: The Hearing Process
Hire O'Connor & Associates to appeal high property taxes. You pay NOTHING unless we save you money!
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