Plano Texas Real Estate Blog - Local Plano Real Estate.

Tips to Lower Your Property Taxes

Have you received your property tax assessment?

WOW!
I'm hearing big increases, $20,000, $30,000 or 15% to 25% increases!

It doesn't take long for the county to raise taxes once a little appreciation has taken place.

What to do?

• If you recently closed on your home simply submit your HUD closing statement and that should take care of it.
• ​If that's not an option, neighborhood comps will be your next plan of attack.
• Comps will be like properties of your home by sq ft, (200 sq ft) either way, pool, updated, location, year built.
• There use to be a 10% cap on how much your taxes could go up in a given year but that has changed, obviously.

Even though the market has improved each area and neighborhood is different and finding the right comps will make or break your chances of getting a reduction.

Property Taxes Are Paid Early if You Close After Oct. 1st.

This is one of those things that happens if you're selling, buying or refinancing a home this time of year at the closing table.  So be prepared for property taxes to be paid the last quarter early.  It's just the way it is. An explanation follows:

 

Filing your Homestead Exemption

Do you need to file your homestead exemption every year?  I have been asked this several times lately and figured it would be a good post.

The answer is No, just once within a year of when you moved in, that will do it.  In fact, any exemption like a senior exemption (65 and older) only need to be filed once.  The senior exemption will lock in your school tax rate forever even if you move and purchased another property in Texas it will be good.  Have a safe, long weekend and enjoy family and friends.  Any questions on homes for sale let us know.

If You Bought a Home this Year -  you need to read this now...

Just as many things are changing in the real estate arena daily there is one thing that will affect new home owners who have purchased a home this year.

What is it? Glad you asked....

Beginning Jan. 1st 2012 you must change your drivers license to match your new property address in order to file and get your Texas homestead exemption.  No exceptions, this was passed during the legislature session back in September.  So make sure your drivers license reflects your new address, you'll need to photo copy your license and send in with your homestead exemption form.  Just another step and another fee to pay our government.

Pass this post on if you know someone that needs to update their drivers license, it will save some time and aggravation in dealing with your property taxes.

Fighting Property Taxes...

Do you think your home has increased in value?  Most people I know think - NOT!

This time of year is when you run neighborhood comps you might find that even though sales, new listings and under contract properties are down 15% or so, sales prices have increased a tad.  And quess what? The county wants more money.  Heck, everyone does.

The best way to fight tax increases this year is not to go back 6 months on comps, just look at what's happened the past 30 days are so, that's a true picture of the real estate market and what buyers are paying.  And guess what again?  It's lower than 6 months ago.  You might have to drill down farther to fight a case this year but it will be worth it.

What's Your Home Worth?

Tax value forms from the county will be arriving very soon.  Watch for your new appraised home values.  The real estate market had corrected a great deal since last year and in many cases the county is behind in catching up with the true market value of your home.  Although your market value and assessed value are two different values the county does use market sales comps as a form of tax assessment.  Let's face it, Texas is one of the highest property tax states in the country.  If you disagree with this it is YOUR RIGHT AS A TAXPAYER to dispute it!  You'll have until May 31st 2011 to file a protest with the review board. Here are links for more information:  Collin County, Dallas County, Denton County.  You'll find different ways to protest on the sites. 

Protest Property Tax Links

On May 1, property appraisal notices were mailed out.  You have until June 1st to protest. Below are links to all county appraisal sites. I know Dallas you can do online, just find your record and click protest.  It should be easy, shouldn't it?

Collin County: www.collincad.org
Dallas County: www.dallascad.org
Denton County: www.dentoncad.org
Fannin County: www.fannincad.org
Grayson County: www.graysonappraisal.org
Hunt County: www.hunt-cad.org
Rockwall County: www.rockwallcad.com

[75093,Plano,TX, protest property taxes]

PROPERTY TAX MAN COMETH....

I got my property tax statement yesterday.  How about you?  I really wasn't surprised being in real estate and all that.  I knew it was going up with the economy the way it is.  But is it fair being that we're in a down economy to charge us more?  City services and schools certainly aren't free but seems to me everything is going up across the board, the consumer (you and me) pay again....never stops, does it?

So, how was your increase or decrease on your 2010 appraised value? Mine went up 6.9% and it's not the house, it's the land. My land value went up 25%!  Good!  I guess,  but I can't even sell my home in this market for what they have it appraised for.  How did you fair?  The truth is appraised value and market value are two different values and are never the same and in this real estate market values are down not up.

Did you know there is a cap that the county can't go over 10% a year?  Is yours higher than that?  They have the difference between 2005 value and 2010 value as 15.71%, as required by tax code.  If you have an excess of over 10% PLUS improvements from last year you can fight it, it's in the small print.  If that's the case, why do they appraise it higher anyway, you know the answer....because they can and you might not catch it. Deadline for filing a protest is June 1, 2010 and arbitration hearings begin June 7, 2010.  Good luck!

I'm going to set up another poll on the left to see where you stand. How was your tax statement?

[75093,Plano, TX, property taxes]

Plano City Council Raises Property Taxes in a Small Way


How Much? 1.5 cent, a 3% hike, The new rate will be 48.86 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. See Collin County Observer for the details here.  When they lower rates you always know it will go the other way sooner than later.  And so it goes...

[where:75093, Collin County, property taxes]

The Skinny on Texas Home Sale Prices

I've had this poll on the left side bar for a month now, go ahead and vote and see the results. 80% of 118 votes, so far... say YES! Home Sale Prices should be public information. Steve Brown wrote a juicy article about this today, so my question to the Dallas Morning News is:  Why not do a poll for the almighty consumer?  Your client...

Dallas Dirt has put in their 2 cents.  Texas is only one of 5 states that don't disclose sale prices of a home.  Why? cause it's law. But, loan amounts can be disclosed, go figure.  In today's climate that makes as much sense to me as other things. 

When working with relocation clients this is one of the first things we discuss.  To be honest, with all the available public information and research available you can pretty much decide on what you want to offer on a property.  It doesn't matter what someone bought a home for it's a value a buyer puts on a property in a particular time and place.  The assessed property value place on your home is different from actual sold (market value) anyway, just to make it more complicated, I guess.

The reason that home sale prices aren't always accurate in the MLS is because each individual agent must enter the information and sometimes it just doesn't get entered. For example, I ran across a home that has been pending since Jan 2008.  The MLS has just started to police this so maybe that will help clean up some of the problem.  There are almost always plenty of comps to research and history of a particular property to find a true value at any given point in time.

Another option for a home buyer is to request not to have the price disclosed.  This must be agreed by the seller and when that happens a Z appears next to a sale price.  You know it sold for less.  How much less, probably never know unless you were involved in the transaction.  You are seeing this more and more in higher end properties so as not to skew the neighborhood comps.  Good for sellers but any buyer will research and know what to offer on a property, no matter what it is listed for and believe me they'll expect a low ball offer, right wrong or indifferent that may be.

As far as whether home sale prices will ever be disclosed in Texas that remains to be seen.  What I think from the answers on the poll is the response is generational, if you're older you want the privacy and if you're younger you want the transparency. Especially in this economic client.

[where:75093,75024,75025, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Texas, disclosure home sale prices]

Property Tax Appraisal Tip:

This might be a simple cure to getting your taxes reduced...

If you purchased a home last year and you have your HUD statement with what you actually paid, the appraisal district will lower you assessed value to that.  At least that is our experience.  Try it for an easy fix.

[where:75093,75025,75024,Plano property values, collin cad]

REAL ESTATE REALITIES...tax doctor explains [where:75093,75025,75024,Plano property values, collin cad]

Collin Cad Assessed Values

The famous envelopes hit a few days ago.  With the market the way it is you'd think the values would be down, wouldn't you?  Well,  it seems to be going both ways.  Was your bill higher or lower?  Take the poll to the right and join in the fun.  In the meantime, it's time to run the comps and fight!

[where:75093,75025,75024,Plano property values, collin cad]