I think the County undervalued my property. Should I still protest my taxes?

Short answer: YES!

I get this question a lot, especially now with the recent surge in real estate prices. The truth is you should always file a tax protest. I do understand the skepticism though. After all, you don't want to waste your time or pay a tax agent only to lose your tax hearing and get no reduction. So I dug through the numbers to prove that you can still save money if the county has your property undervalued.

Of all the 2021 property tax protests filed in Harris County, 12,799 were filed by people who had purchased their property the year before, 2020. We live in a free market (thank God), so these property owners technically established the true market value of the property when they bought it. It's worth what they paid, pretty simple. Interestingly, HCAD undervalued 3516 of those properties; meaning the tax appraisal was less than the purchase price. Essentially, these property owners were granted a tax discount by HCAD and they protested their taxes anyway. Here's the best part; 1412 of those people won their protests! That's right, 40% of properties that were already undervalued received additional property tax reductions.

It is worth noting that Texas is a "non-disclosure" state, so HCAD may not have known the sales prices of some of these properties. However, HCAD makes every effort to discover the sales price whenever property changes hands; including sending questionnaires to property owners and buying lists from third-party data providers. In my professional experience, HCAD knows the purchase price of just about every property sold. It is also worth noting that damage to property after the purchase, but before January 1st, could result in a decrease in the tax assessment. This would include things like fires, floods, vandalism, etc. but is unlikely to account for the

So there you have it; roughly 40% of those savvy property owners who were undervalued but protested anyway were rewarded for their efforts. This means that you may be able to save money too, even if you think your property is worth more than the number on your tax bill.

Property tax protests can be time-consuming and intimidating, but Texas Tax Reduction, LLC is here to help. Call us today for a free consultation. We'll handle every aspect of the property tax protest for you and our service is always risk-free. We don't make money unless you do too!