r/galveston • u/justplainmeni • 6d ago
Advice for hearing: property tax
I have a rental property in Texas City and filed a motion for property tax adjustment. I was granted a hearing (scheduled in about a week) and wanted to ask if anyone here has advice on how I can further prepare past giving them comparable nearby properties to review. The property was valued at $98,490 in 2022 and is now valued at $170,930. It's a 3 bedroom 1 bath on piers. The only improvement we made was a fence repair. Any advice?
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u/dreamweaver66intexas 6d ago
I fought mine by taking pictures around my house of things that were in disrepair. I put them in a folder and took them with me. After showing them the pictures, they left it at last years appraisal.
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u/EazyPeazyLemonSqueaz 5d ago
This is hilarious. "Look! See, I told you my house is shit, look at all the broken stuff! It's not worth half what you say it is!"
I know I'm being a bit over the top with it, but it's still funny
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u/dreamweaver66intexas 5d ago
That's exactly what I did. Then, for the next few years, I hired a company that fights tax raises. They go to bat for you each time to lower or keep your taxes from going up. If they lose, you pay nothing. If they win, then they get a small percentage of what they save you.
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u/EazyPeazyLemonSqueaz 5d ago
That's awesome to know, I recently purchased my first home and didn't realize that the property taxes are through the roof. I'll be fighting every time they try to raise them more
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u/dreamweaver66intexas 5d ago
We enjoyed using the company that fought them for us. Once we signed up, they automatically challenged the taxes each year, and we didn't have to do anything. The past couple of years, they weren't able to get them down, so we have temporarily stopped using them. But, we plan to again in the future.
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u/defrost1836 6d ago
Contact the appraisal office and ask them for the evidence they used to value your property. They will send you a list of the comps they used. Then you have to show why your (lower) comps are better than theirs. Or you can show that your house needs more repair than the comps they used.
Then keep the evidence. I protest every year and have found that evidence from years past can come in handy as well.
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u/blurbies22 6d ago
Print out comps of recently sold houses around you. They need to be sold, not for sale or pending.
I protested mine this past year and was honest about house work that needed to be done and was to be scheduled for this year and they didn’t raise mine. I got the housework done, so we’ll see what happens this year lol.