First time homeowner here - Just got my first property tax appraisal in the mail.

It looks like the previous owners never protested the appraisal in the 7 years they were in the house. Over the last 5 years the appraised value went from 336k - 417k - 519k - 490k - 488k.

So this year the appraisal dropped by $2k, and of course the taxable value finally caught up with the appraised value (at least the house was homesteaded).

I paid 455k for the house last June. I have a few questions:

a) Is it really worth it to hire a company to protest the appraisal? Do they really have more success than homeowners? Or is it just a time thing, where if I fill out the paperwork myself I can have the same level of success?

b) I should be able to just provide the appraisal from when we purchased last summer? It appraised for 458k back then, so ~30k less than they're trying to value it at now.

c) The neighborhood we live in is split between tract homes and custom homes that sell for a much higher $/sqft than ours. Unfortunately our house was one of the lowest priced in the neighborhood when we bought it, and the only ones that sell for less are 10-25% smaller. How does the CAD determine value? I don't want them cherry picking more expensive houses that aren't an apples-to-apples comparison with us. Is it as simple as having a realtor friend pull comps and using the ones that are actually comparable in our protest?

Sorry for all the questions, this is just a new process for me and I want to be aware of any pitfalls before I do it and potentially cost myself $$.
Thanks!

Since you have your closing documents with price, etc that is really one of the easier ones to protest yourself.

For people who didn't just buy the house in the last year it is more work. You will need at least their minimum number of comps to calculate an avg price for comparable homes in your area to compare to their number to protest. .If you have an idea of what the CAD considers a reasonable comp (or can educate yourself on the general criteria) AND have access to comps/transactions in your area to pull the info together the DIY method can work pretty well. You just have to spend more time/work pulling the info together. Fiinding and selecting info on comps to your home becomes the challenge if you don't have ready access to that type of info. In our area a lot of realtors used to help out and provide comps to people that asked. About 5 years or so ago something must have happened because they all came up with the same "I don't represent you so I can't provide you the information" tagline when asked to run comps. So if you don't have access to comps or value your time very highly then hiring a protest company becomes Plan B.

Hello!

Also newer home owner here. Bought end of April 2024.

I protested 2024 down to purchase price, that was straightforward.
Now 2025 is up 25%.
Is it reasonable to protest down to purchase price again? I mean its only 8 months and a couple days from the purchase to the valuation date.
I wasn't sure how long I can rely on my purchase price over comparing comps.

Brazos County.

Sub4 said:

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Hello!

Also newer home owner here. Bought end of April 2024.

I protested 2024 down to purchase price, that was straightforward.
Now 2025 is up 25%.
Is it reasonable to protest down to purchase price again? I mean its only 8 months and a couple days from the purchase to the valuation date.
I wasn't sure how long I can rely on my purchase price over comparing comps.

Brazos County.

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I definitely would protest! Within 1 year I think your purchase price should be considered the appraised value of the home.

Whatever you do make them provide a number first. Dont show comps etc before they present a new number. Often times they will come down more than you think. Once or twice i've been more than happy with their "second look". If not thats when you argue with your comps and get them to come down more. If they wont then go to the ARB. I havent gone to the ARB where they havent come down even more.

I've never used a company to argue for me. Its just filling out a form or two and having comps prepared by a realtor. I offer to take mine out to dinner in exchange for running all my comps.

Just whatever you do make them present you an offer before you even show them your sale price/ comps.

I bought a small ranch at the end of last year. The county has 2 separate appraisals ( one for most of property plus carve out for house). Their valuation is about $700,000 more than what I paid for the two combined. How would you protest the appraisal as the closing combined the two. The taxes on the house are the biggest part of the tax bill due to ag exemption on the rest.

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Is it really worth it to hire a company to protest the appraisal?

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Hire someone. Unless you want to put yourself at risk of shooting your blood pressure through the roof and a possible heart attack or stroke when you are there protesting it. This is not a joke.