Are You Running Out of Time?

By now you should have received your annual tax valuation statement from you county appraisal district.

Where you shocked when you opened it? Some of our clients have seen in increase in their property values, one had their value go UP a whopping 8%!!!

In these tough economic times the counties are searching for any way they can to increase revenue and it may just come at your expense. But you can at least try to do something about it.

Below is a list of several counties appraisal district websites where you can find the forms necessary to file a protest of your appraised value.

Collin County Appraisal District www.collincad.org

Dallas County Appraisal District www.dallascad.org

Denton County Appraisal District www.dentoncad.org

Ellis County Appraisal District www.elliscad.org

Rockwall County Appraisal District www.rockwallcad.org

Tarrant County Appraisal District www.tad.org

You must file this form and have it postmarked no later than June 1st, just 16 days from now.

The first step is to start gathering evidence about your property, photos or statements that document structural problems the appraiser may have missed such as plumbing problems or foundation issues.

Then you'll want to get "comps" from a Realtor that is familiar with your neighborhood. This information will contain recent sales about properties that are similar to yours. Our client who saw that large increase should be able to fight his appraisal because of the three houses that sold in his neighborhood two of them were foreclosures, a sad fact in these times.

You may even want to spend a little extra money and hire a independent appraiser to value your home. This could bolster your case and allow you to ask the county appraiser how they came up with the higher value.

Lastly, remember that a county appraisal is purely factual and is governed by professional standards. This is not personal so don't be emotional in your protest, just state the facts as Joe Friday used to say on Dragnet.

If you need any help with obtaining your neighborhood comparables drop us an email. You can reach Terri at tprealtor@hotmail.com or Jane at javrit@msn.com

As always we're here to help you achieve your real estate goals, even if it's to fight your taxes!