Those of you that use a company, who do you use? I’m tired of this crap. Surely they can do better than I can.

Not necessarily...

OConner and associate. They only charge half of what they save you on the first year. They know their way around and are friendly with the appraisers.

50% is a rip-off. You chose poorly.

So if they get an additional $2,000 knocked off after you just gave it your best shot and got $2,000 off, how is that a rip-off? I will take the extra $1,000 if you think it is chump change

One thing to watch for with O’Connor is that they will auto-protest for you every year after you sign up. Whether you think that is good or bad is up to you. I like the fact that it is basically set it and forget it. They don’t normally get a reduction each year, but I would say every 3 or 4 years they get a 20-30K reduction on my appraisal.

Funny thing happened with mine. They wasted their time for a couple of years after the taxes were frozen. It doesn't always have to be death and taxes.

I thought only school taxes froze after you turn 65.

The property value is what is actually frozen. The school taxes are the major part of the taxes.

Hiring it done actually saves time. You first talk to the appraiser through a little bitty hole in the window. The second trip is to the review board. You get to skip the second trip. My last trip was 20 years ago.

Don't burst the "winning" bubble! (None of us commoners know how to do it as well. )

I'm just a common man.

Texas property tax is getting outta hand. Way outta hand.

Im seriously considering retirement in Alabama gulf coast region.

Property tax is 543 dollars a year per 125k valuation.

State income tax exempts social security and defined pension income. My state income tax would be 548 dollars based on 50000 per year withdraw from 401k.

Gas tax is lower. My car would be 160 bucks a year property tax.

OP- I use Bobby J. Ola, www.olatax.com. Use him in both Collin and Denton county. Not sure he does Hunt County. Have used him for 5-6 years, after deciding I was tired of doing it myself. Good guy, easy to work worth and always seems to get a discount. Have a 70/30 split with him.

Thanks for the replies. Funny thing, I asked my wife if she wanted to move to Alabama earlier today.

It's public information. You can look it up for comparables. .

Im looking at Fairhope Alabama. Nice town of 20k. Nice downtown. Very low crime. About 45 minutes to Gulf Shores.

I told them the story about the goose that laid golden eggs the first time I went before the review board.

These threads seldom last. Many pay their taxes from their escrow. I thought my first time to pay after I paid off my house was a bitter pill.

I just about loaded my britches when I got the $500,000 valuation for my 133 acres South of Bowie. All rocks, oaks and cedars, private road access, white trash trailer house, etc. Not enough grass for cows but no shortage of hogs. 4 wheeler roads only. I don’t live there. About 40 years ago I paid $415 per acre and it had been on the market quite a while.

So I called a realtor buddy from that area and got a big shock when I asked him what was realistic valuation. He said about 5, maybe 6 thousand per acre. Why? Out of state people coming to Texas. Essentially, he says I’m being Californicated.

No idea what the tax amount will be but I have Wildlife Exemption that makes it doable. I hope.

I'm in the escrow category Bill, and it is still a bitter pill.

Here's the great lie -
You own a $150,000 house you live in.
Your new valuation come in now saying it is worth $150,000. You know this isn't right, so you go in to protest.
You talk to the front line stooge and he/she wont budge below $140,000. So you take it to the board (and sit and wait).
The board get's to you and agree that even $140,000 is too high, so they sell you $130,000! What a deal! You talked them down 20Gs!

Except now your new valuation is $130,000, and because of the cap, you tax cannot go up more than 10%. And it does go up 10%, as long as the yearly valuation is above that 10% marker, and they will see that it is that way every year.

You can thank Dewhurst for this Texas sized disaster. And you can thank Patrick for insuring it stays this way. Remember when he went to the Texas legislature to speak out about this and they threw him out? He vowed to run as a state senator to combat you the property owner from facing off to the county government every year.

Patrick was first elected to the state senate in 2006. He became the Lt. Governor, the most powerful position in the Texas senate, in 2014. And NOTHING has changed.

Ps. According to Wikipedia, he has a net worth of $25MM. And that ain't from owning 2 radio stations.

Texas Property Tax Reductions.

It's not a bad place to live. Except for the price of hard liquor. And withdrawals from 401k's are tax exempt as long as you stay at or below the federal standard deduction.

Tell us just one more time. Exactly where do you live?

You paid $415/acre 40 years ago, worth $500k today or $3760/acre, that is a 5.66% annual rate of return. If you take out property taxes you paid over the years it would be less. The stock market has done a lot better than than that, last 30 years over 9%.

Just trying to put things in perspective.

Last I checked, they won't let us hunt at the stock market though.

To the original topic...I got a valuation and couple days later I got an envelope in the mail for a company that charged $295 to fight your valuation. If they don't save you at least the amount of their service they refund the difference. I thought why not...but then looked at the valuation and what the prices of homes around me are going for. No way I can fight this valuation...it's 75-100k less than the house can be sold for. So here I sit, aggravated that my taxes are close to 10k a year and not a damn thing I can do about it.

After better then 16 years as a Senior Hearing Officer on a Boad Of Equalization:

If your serious and want an informed, well presented effort made:

Hire a well known Tax Appeal Organization