Property tax appeals have gained a lot of traction in Texas over the past decade. This is because property taxes have often doubled across the state, with some homeowners seeing tax bills triple or even quadruple in high-demand counties like Travis or Denton. While counties like Fort Bend were once outliers with up to 30% of properties being protested every year, many counties are starting to catch up. Even with recent tax breaks to shield homeowners from school taxes, taxable values are continuing to rise thanks to demand, the housing crisis, and other factors.
There are several reasons why homeowners do not protest their taxes. First of all, many are not aware that it can even be done. Those who are aware may be intimidated by the process or simply do not have the time. That is where we at O’Connor can aid you, as we can take care of everything for you. However, even if a homeowner is ready to appeal, many do not pull the trigger because they fear it could hurt the resale value of their home. In this article, we will dispel this myth, hopefully encouraging more Texans to use their right to appeal their growing property taxes.
Appealing Your Taxes Will Not Harm Your Resale Value
To get this out of the way, thinking that appealing your taxable value will lower your home’s sale value is a misconception at best and a myth at worst. This mainly has to do with terminology, which can easily confuse those unfamiliar with Texas’ complex property tax system. It is logical to believe that lowering your appraised value would hurt your home’s overall worth, but this is not true. In fact, a good appeal can do the opposite, making your home more attractive to future buyers.
Appraised Value vs. Market Value
Property tax appeals work the same way that exemptions do, by lowering your taxable or appraised value. This is the value that your appraisal district gives your home when it comes to establishing a base for taxation. This is often based on studies of home sales in previous years, with many appraisers never seeing your property at all. This means that they rely on outdated information or general trends that do not necessarily characterize your home. This value is often suspect or flat-out wrong, which is why it can be challenged by appeals in the first place. Remember, exemptions also lower this value. Does having a homestead exemption make your home less valuable?
Market value is what your home is worth on the open market. In essence, this is the value that your home will sell for on the free market. In theory, this is what taxable value is based on, but as mentioned above, it is often out of date. True market value is often disconnected from taxable value. This works both ways, as a home with a high taxable value may not be able to sell at the price it is taxed at. This is one of the most common problems with Texas real estate. To prove the actual value of a home, organizations like O’Connor compare your home to sales records in your area, finding the true value. Appraisal districts rarely do this, leaving the market value ambiguous. In other words, you should not base your home’s true worth on what your appraisal district says. Buyers certainly will not.
Appeals can Enhance Your Home’s Resale Value
Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Recent legislation has lowered school taxes for homestead owners, but that still leaves county and possibly MUD taxes. Property taxes are seen as one of the major barriers to homeownership and their ever-increasing nature has hurt the housing market. We polled our clients in 2025, and over 67% said that property taxes were deterring them from buying a home. This pool of clients and subscribers is spread all across the nation, but the property tax situation is hardly limited to Texas. From Illinois to New York, property tax concerns top the list of worries for residents.
This means that lowering the taxable value on a property can make it more attractive to buyers. Many home listing sites will also show recent property tax bills alongside what the home is selling for. If a home is taxed below its market value, that makes it more attractive to buyers. Who wouldn’t want a home worth $300,000 that is taxed as one worth $230,000? This also allows you to add another feature to distinguish your home from your neighbors. Since investors are constantly buying homes, having lower overhead can also be appealing to them. A home that is fairly taxed in Texas is a rare thing.
Lowering Taxable Value Protects Your Largest Investment
High property taxes are certainly bad if you wish to sell your home, but they are even worse if you want to keep it. This is especially true in high-demand counties like Harris, Travis, Dallas, and Denton. Investors, home flippers, and corporate landlords can disrupt existing neighborhoods. This leads to gentrification in many traditional communities and can price out seniors, the disabled, and working people. Appeals are one of the best ways to keep these challenges in check. This will allow you to sell your home at a better price later or give you a higher level of equity that you can borrow from. Money saved on taxes can also be used for improvements, which can then be used to raise your market value even more.
Let O’Connor Handle Your Appeals
Now that you know that appeals benefit homeowners, even those looking to sell, you may want to explore them further. The appeal season for Texas will open shortly, concluding in May. While it may be too late to contest your current tax bill, the 2026 tax year is wide open. The appeals season moves quickly in Texas, which means the faster you get on the ball, the better. Our experts will go over your appraisal notice, looking for errors and pointing out any missed exemptions. We can even help you file an exemption if you need one. Some exemptions can even be retroactively applied, saving you even more money.
The appeal process can be complex, especially if you want to go beyond the initial informal appeal. Formal appeals with the appraisal review board require even more evidence, but can certainly be worth it. We assist in gathering this evidence and offer a personal concierge service that includes an in-person site visit to help document your property and support a lower tax valuation. Best of all, you will not be charged upfront and will only be billed a portion of your winnings if we can lower your taxes. Your taxes can never be raised by appealing, meaning you should always try to get them lowered every year. We will appeal for you annually at no cost, only charging a contingency fee if we can lower your taxes.
