Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) has over valued about 7% of apartment complexes in Harris County by 50% or more. HCAD uses a process called mass appraisal to estimate values for all real and personal property in Harris County. The weakness of mass appraisal is it depends on having accurate data regarding the property being valued and market trends. Given the volume of real property HCAD must appraise, mass appraisal is the only practical option. However, property owners need to be aware that mass appraisal is only within 10% of market value for about 50% of houses, and is less reliable for commercial property. O’Connor & Associates has compiled information on almost 780 recent apartment sales. Apartments valued at 50% higher than the recent sales price totaled 53. (See table below.) These include sales in 2012 and 2013, so it is possible that some of the properties were renovated or improved after purchase. However, a random sample indicates that many of the properties currently have low occupancy, which is consistent with a low value. The assessment ratio is the 2014 HCAD market value divided by the sales price. Hence, an assessment ratio of 298% means the property will be taxed on a value about 3 times the recent sales price, unless the owner protests. “HCAD has a difficult task in valuing about 1.7 million tax parcels. However, property owners need to be aware that with mass appraisal come massive errors for some properties. Texas law requires that property owners file a property tax protest to obtain the appraisal district’s evidence, to determine if they are over-taxed”, according to Patrick O’Connor, President of O’Connor & Associates. O’Connor & Associates is Texas largest property tax consultant, representing over 100,000 clients. The deadline to file a protest is Monday June 2. Property owners are responsible for timing filing a protest to determine if they are accurately and fairly assessed. While HCAD has a difficult task in valuing so many properties, tax payers need to remember than at least 200,000 properties in Harris County are over-taxed by 10% or more. For more information, contact Patrick O’Connor at 713 290 9700 or poconnor@poconnor.com.

Property Address	SaleDate	GBA	2014 Assessment Ratio
2406 TRUXILLO ST # 6	2/15/2012	3,792	298%
3511 NAPOLEON ST # 4	4/30/2012	3,016	294%
1000 NORTHWOOD DR # 88	3/15/2012	92,690	271%
7200 W T C JESTER BLVD # 4	1/9/2012	3,793	266%
3826 SEABROOK ST # 7	9/3/2013	4,656	254%
6300 W BELLFORT ST	2/14/2012	288,007	239%
400 GREENS RD # 286	9/12/2012	255,475	231%
501 GREENS RD # 179	9/12/2012	161,616	228%
904 HERBERT AVE # 4	1/18/2012	1,578	223%
17630 WAYFOREST DR # 268	9/12/2012	233,334	222%
3120 DECKER DR # 250	7/6/2012	261,760	219%
1100 LANGWICK DR # 282	9/12/2012	248,120	217%
3120 DECKER DR # 250	3/30/2012	261,760	213%
17103 CLAY RD # 161	9/13/2013	135,986	211%
7200 W T C JESTER BLVD # 4	11/27/2012	3,793	204%
3314 N MACGREGOR WAY # 24	9/6/2012	17,568	202%
2816 WICHITA ST # 4	5/25/2012	2,656	202%
206 JACKSON AVE # 5	5/15/2012	7,440	198%
5601 HAMILL RD # 128	12/14/2012	111,700	194%
2820 BLODGETT ST # 6	5/7/2013	1,584	194%
6120 BELLAIRE BLVD # 206	8/3/2012	200,697	189%
6060 BELARBOR ST # 50	4/3/2012	33,030	189%
10222 FORUM WEST DR # 384	5/29/2013	257,455	187%
4102 MANGUM RD # 68	8/20/2012	43,580	183%
7200 W T C JESTER BLVD # 4	10/25/2012	3,793	178%
2608 STANFORD ST # 4	3/4/2013	4,314	178%
9303 WOODFAIR DR # 248	12/28/2012	183,362	177%
12801 ROYDON DR # 244	8/1/2013	194,075	176%
990 CYPRESS STATION DR # 358	2/7/2012	310,723	175%
12603 NORTHBOROUGH DR # 300	3/27/2012	247,553	174%
1320 W PIERCE ST # 4	2/6/2012	2,614	168%
9447 CONCOURSE DR # 268	1/1/2013	173,576	167%
1010 CAROLYN CT # 4	1/4/2013	4,200	167%
11411 GREEN PLAZA DR # 280	8/30/2012	197,688	166%
3927 ARLINGTON SQUARE DR # 439	4/10/2012	342,025	164%
6103 W MOUNT HOUSTON RD # 4	6/18/2013	4,008	164%
6905 SHERMAN ST # 5	6/26/2012	3,284	163%
7250 W GREENS RD # 260	2/7/2012	217,594	160%
950 VILLA DE MATEL RD # 241	6/27/2013	199,866	160%
3600 S SHAVER ST # 75	2/20/2013	63,063	160%
5050 YALE ST # 250	2/20/2013	200,511	157%
6320 WINDSWEPT LN # 145	3/14/2012	101,232	157%
910 FAIR OAKS RD # 122	4/23/2013	90,632	157%
100 HOLLOW TREE LN # 252	1/3/2012	250,065	155%
3200 N MACGREGOR WAY # 52	12/7/2012	36,704	155%
15116 MESA DR # 114	7/8/2013	131,345	155%
13609 RAVENSWAY DR # 4	8/24/2012	4,386	155%
1114 N CESAR CHAVEZ BLVD # 4	7/16/2012	2,976	155%
670 MAXEY RD # 211	6/17/2013	173,674	153%
215 LINWOOD ST # 5	4/5/2012	10,202	152%
13455 WOODFOREST BLVD # 160	7/9/2012	130,544	152%
219 W ALABAMA ST	5/23/2012	14,770	151%
13210 OLD RICHMOND RD # 100	3/26/2013	105,060	150%

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