Home address: 6910 Midcrest Dr

2021 Tax Assessment: $807,970

Recent Sales Price: $510,000 – Over-taxed by 58%

Dallas County property investors far too often pay excess property taxes. A market value appeal is based on the assessor’s value exceeding the market value of your home. Unequal appraisal is a powerful tool to reduce property taxes, but many homeowners are not aware of it and don’t use it. The Texas Comptroller reports that 80% of 2019 property tax appeals by homeowners were successful.

Some homeowners do not appeal property taxes because they are not aware of this right.  You can and should protest both market value and unequal appraisal annually. Appraisal districts use the cost approach to value houses.  It is generally considered the least reliable method of appraisal. Tax protests are resolved at the informal hearing since the result is within a “reasonable range of value”. Appraisal is not an exact science and valuations are only an educated opinion of value, not a fact. Protesting your property taxes annually is analogous to regularly changing the oil in your car.  Preventative maintenance avoids serious problems.