Protesting property tax evaluations

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I protest every year based on home sales in my area, but to no avail. What are some good tips to challenging state appraisals?

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I protested last year and easily got mine down like 20k off of what they said. I had a realtor friend pull comp sales and listings in the area and went there to protest in person. I saw down with the appraiser, laid out all of the evidence and he backed it down.

I am sure I am in for the same thing this year as they are trying to say the market value of my home is up like 40k over last year No fricking clue where they come up with this shite. If I could get what they are claiming, I would sell this bastard in a heartbeat and upgrade for the same cost.

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My experience with the appraisal industry (which is limited) is that it's essentially a huge fraud

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Can you elaborate?

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My experience with the appraisal industry (which is limited) is that it's essentially a huge fraud

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I tend to agree even though my experience was a positive where the appraisal was so high during a refinance it made my deal with the bank even sweeter.

But I kinda had to laugh at the number that was thrown down.

Oh well I'll take it.

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What are some good tips to challenging state appraisals?

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I did this last year, it was surprisingly easy. The city of New Orleans denied my appeal at 3:30 am on Saturday morning, then the city doesn't send me notification of the 2nd independent appeal, so I had to appeal to the state.

The state appraiser comes to my house measures the outside and said the city is off my over 200 square feet. He lowered the appraisal my 25K, took 5 minutes.

First off, it's not a state appraisal, it's a county appraisal.

Go meet with them in person. Don't do the online thing. Put on a coat and tie. Be organized, and have your facts well written and laid out. Bring everything you have to show that you feel the appraisal amount is wrong.

If there are obvious errors, such as sq footage off, then obviously show that.

You can also hire one of those companies to fight it for you.

Looks like you are in The Woodlands, isn't property values taking off there?

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C
The Woodlands, TX

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I protest every year based on home sales in my area, but to no avail.

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Need to make up for no state income tax somehow.

First off you need to understand that tax assessments are not based on the same type of appraisals as those used in sales and financing transactions. They do not take into account matters like the quality of construction and improvements. Nor do they take into account faults in the condition of the property. They are typically based on simple criteria using the sizes of the land and buildings using standardized values per unit of area.

Successfully protesting assessments usually requires you to demonstrate errors made in determining the size of the property, including structures, being assessed, or demonstrating that the standardized values per unit of area are grossly inaccurate. Complementary sales may not be compelling since they can be quite limited in numbers compared to total sales that the assessors use for statistical purposes.

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The appraiser said that unless I had copies he could put in the file, he couldn't give that additional money off the appraisal.

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As someone mentioned - frauds, shams, whatever word you can come up with. I just had my condo appraised for a mortgage by this weird, airy, hippy chick who comes back with an appraisal that's almost $40k less than the tax assessment of $516k. It's enough to get the mortgage, but it's bullshite she was so much lower. There's a condo 10 floors below me selling for $475k now without an ocean view or upgrades like mine, but since it wasn't sold at the time mine is only valued $5k more than that one.

It's a big deal cause I want to refi next year without PMI to worry about and if the appraisal came back like I was hoping, I'd already be close to the 20% equity (bought the condo direct from owner so got a smoking deal).

At least our property tax isn't high out here like everything else

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Tax Assessments are bogus. They are based on something called mass appraisal which doesn't work.

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Doesn't work how? It's a broad strokes approach to appraisal. It's supposed to be supported by quality sales info and good workmanship on the part of the appraiser's office. The problem is that 1)There isn't enough oversight. There is one person with the State to be the watchdog on several different counties and they usually only see 200-500 parcels per year in each county/parish. 2)Tax appraiser offices are usually very under-staffed to handle to workload, much less keep up with "the market" which can fluctuate quite frequently.


Y'all blame mass appraisal when it's usually that office that get's hosed when they aren't the ones who levy taxes, it's the Board of Supervisors for each county in Mississippi, I don't know how it works in LA or TX. But, it usually happens that they never lower millage rates when values go up, they just take those extra tax dollars. If you want to bitch and raise hell, take a look at the school boards, board of supervisors, and administration/comptroller for those entities.


Tips if you want a lower assessment:

1)Don't be an a-hole like OP and protest every year. Find out who the appraiser is and be nice to them, actually you don't even have to be nice, just don't be an a-hole. Common human decency goes a long way... If you protest every year you quickly become a 'problem person' and willingness to help you goes out the window and the full extent of the law applied to your case.

2)Present your case to said appraiser, if they want to be an a-hole, go to their boss the tax assessor. In MS these people are elected and will usually bend over backwards to help you. Most appraisers will hear you out if you have a good case and will work with you.

Full disclosure: I am the real property appraiser for my county. I usually work with people well before it's time to formally protest their assessment. If I have a leg to stand on, I stand on it; If I don't and you make a good case, I back off. The appraiser's job IMHO is to be fair and honest across the board and keep every tax payer's best interests at heart. No special deals, no favors, just straight fairness across the board. Our assessments are usually well below market value though so I don't have many problems. But, there are those headache people out there, and it's just part of the job.

Last but not least: Don't go protesting your bill, at that point it's too late. There is a clear process set forth by law. You wouldn't protest an electricity bill, you may not like it but you pay it. Once the bill comes it's too late basically. In July the tax rolls are produced and that's when the public can view their value and begin speaking to the appraisal department. Go to these people in an informal manner and they will be much more willing to work with you. Cause problems, or prevent them from doing their work and you will find that they will be much harder to work with.


TL;DR don't be an a-hole.

my appraisal story:

Wanted to refi my house in 2013. Appraisal came in at 240k when I was expecting well over 300k. This prevented me from refi-ing, so I decided just to sell the house.

I found a cash buyer within about 40 days at 345k.


frick you, Mr. Appraiser. Choke on my $350.