Full interview: Dallas realtor shares how to protest your tax property appraisal

Dallas realtor Ben Lauer shares how to approach fighting your property tax appraisal.

[@soothingrelaxation5002]

this video was so informative and answered all the questions I had written down! I feel confident tackling this myself now and moving forward. Thank you please keep up the great work!

[@saltyshoesandsunsets156]

Stop arguing the amount! Learn your rights people. You have both state and federal constitutionally protected rights to own property. Your home is a Non Commercial Property. THE ONLY TAXES THAT CAN BE IMPOSED ARE IMPOST, EXPOST, AND EXCISE. You home is being taxed under excise, which is a privilege tax. Owning a home to provide shelter where no business is being conducted is a right! Not a privilege!

[@no-mess46]

So knowing rights are great but can you provide practical application

[@hsosaus3122]

Tax Assessors office should also understand other outlier issues such as one income in home, so while there is a willingness to pay, there may be an inability to pay the higher taxes.

[@sethbenjamin9326]

With the inflation, 2024 appraisal is making the living harder. Everything is more expensive now since this post, and wage is unchanged or lowered. SMH.

[@jacob1jrja]

The point is to tax you out of your home.

[@slukass9631]

that’s planned to get richer people to move in. out with the old in with the new mentality to generate economic growth instead of stagnation.

[@Warrior-oo1rl]

We got our first property tax statement after buying our home last year and the assessed value went up $65,000 seems super high to me

[@squaredealtax]

Protest. Always.

[@Trixie76]

@@squaredealtax Never again for me. It was a waste of my time and effort, made zero difference, and now I'm sure they all hate me because my voice isn't girlie.

[@wepps8591]

Great video. Thank you both.

[@dixter1652]

here are two stories that no one is talking about.... I know of a neighborhood in North Texas where the appraisals went up so high and fast that they went to protest and the appraisal people told them the high valuations was due to the fact that those homes have private pools.... so this weekend there are people in the neighborhood draining their pools and are saying they are going to be filling their pools in with dirt and grass.... water has been running thru the streets all day long today... sad day but why have a pool if it puts you into bankruptcy from the tax bill... I talked with another owner and they said they just went and got a resale license and are now claiming their home as a business ... DayCare Center.... they will pay their taxes and write them off at the end of the year as a business.... they say they will show some profit on the business so it looks like they are actually running the business out of their home.... they removed the homestead exemptions to allow them to do this... they said there are a lot of tax advantages once they turn their home into a business... I never thought of it like that but I know there are a lot of people who run DayCare out of their homes...

[@mikekrone4582]

Appraisal districts are not your friend. Past years the 3 person panels have been decent, but in 2022, they completely ignored all our evidence, which was overwhelming in our favor. We are now headed to a SOAH appeal because there are countless homes in our area that have much better amenities and have a market value $100++/sq ft less than ours.

[@Trixie76]

My effort and hearing were a waste of time. I explained my flaws (kitchen from the 80s with drawers off the track) etc. but it made no difference. This entire thing is a scam to just trick people into believing there's a chance.

[@evo1theballer]

We did this and appraiser refused to acknowledge our home size was inaccurate. They stated our home was 300 sq feet larger than it is. Adjusted during protest but took our homestead exemption cap down by 30k and brought us back to basically where we were prior. Help

[@KemptbyKurt]

Thank you!!

[@wildbill7267]

One thing I don’t understand. I live in Westchester County, NY; a notoriously high tax area. Our assessment goes up every year. Not only for our house, but for all houses in the town just because of the nature of the real estate market. However, since the town’s budget was not substantially increased, the tax rates were adjusted such that the actual taxes did not increase significantly compared to the previous year. What are the actual tax bills in Texas?

[@jeepinjohnny2898]

Wellllll. You have not mentioned the 'taxx authorities ' that use this as a windfall by not reducing taxx rate.

[@clementecisneros9345]

Do you provide tax dispute services within the San Antonio area?

[@alphonsoeiland3196]

Real estate taxes are direct taxes upon the property owner. According to the Supreme Court, isn't the state government limited as to the amount they can demand?

[@marklharmon]

So I challenged my property valuation this past year and got it reduced along with many others around me. Great, right? Now this year, my home has actually gone down in value while the land has gone up considerably in value. Any advice for how I can challenge the land valuation?

[@fyodordochievsky4376]

They’re all crooks. The only way to fix it is the corruption.

[@lisam4853]

Mine just went up over 70k this year! This is crazy.

[@sigridcolesio8751]

Do you have anybody from the appraisal district that is a broker join your MLS? We do in Bay City

[@egillis214]

How do we win?

[@user-uo2pd2io3d]

Bottom line Corporates America is in bed with the States and they are making it unafforded to live in a home. A lot of people have their taxes tied to their their mortgage payment and on fixed incomes. The States also are using this a cash cow to make up for other Taxes they cut. One other point, who is looking into Companies buying up properties and then sale them over market value and giving the states an accuse to raise taxes? That is one of the issue. Houses that valued at $69.000 with no repairs should not be selling for $260.000 in four years. It is a racket and a scam going on, and when it crashes, a lot of people will be hurt just like when the bubble busted in the last housing scam.

[@victorhinojosa9866]

Can you fight old tax increases?

[@d.j.d2442]

Why would an owner protest if they have an exemption (with the cap) and very little value adjusting arguments to support a lower value ? I struggle with this when the mkt value is up 50% and the cap for the value that drives what we pay in taxes is capped at 10%. It seems protesting is a complete waste of time. Am I missing something? Great video too.

[@propertytaxshark]

Because if you leave it the same, you virtually guarantee the increase of 10% year over year. Furthermore, if you live in Dallas or Tarrant, they will often "Roll" your reduced value into next year and that may prevent those future increases as well. Finally, whenever you come in the next year, you would be better off to reference a lower "basis" value from the previous year rather than just letting the district sustain what could very well be a relatively high tax value, in spite of increasing market conditions. Tax Value is different than Real Value.

[@d.j.d2442]

@@propertytaxshark thanks, makes sense…sort of. My first year with the assessed value capped at 10% and mkt value at a roughly 25% increase. Hence my confusion. The way I was thinking about it was if I am able to successfully reduce value in a protest (assumed mkt value) by 5 to 10 % (a stretch in my opinion), since this would still imply a mkt value increase of roughly 15% YoY and still in excess of the 10% assessed value cap ( which drives the tax calculation) would anything be adjusted? Is the assessed value also ratably reduced by whatever protest reduction we could win in a settlement or hearing even if we are unable to “win” a reduction that gets below the assessed value? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[@propertytaxshark]

In that scenario nothing may be adjusted this year. However it however, if you fight for your value and you get a reduction then the board will typically keep your Value the same in the following year, and possibly the year after that as well. In that way , your reduction this year has prevented tax increases in the future

[@d.j.d2442]

@@propertytaxshark thanks a lot. I truly appreciate the dialogue and views.

[@mikekrone4582]

Serious question....If a home sold for $3.5 million in 2021, shouldn't the Market Value for 2022 be the sales price? What does it say if that home had a market value of $2.7 and after the protest dropped to $2.2 million? How can anyone argue the market price down when their purchase price should set the market value?

[@tibbytx1]

You protest and when, how does that effect your mortgage? What's the next step after you win?

[@mojo8847]

Texas needs to pass what California has to keep people in their homes over 50-55 years ago. In california, it is known as Propositon 13. It limits your property taxes to a maximum of 2% a year, no matter what the value of what your market has increased for that year. Just because you are living in a house you bought years ago and the value has skyrocked due to increase in value, you, as an original purchaser have not really realized that gain till you sell. When you sale, the new buyer will be assessed the current appraisal of the property and be taxed accordingly, but he will not have to pay more than 2% of his current bill enabling him to live in the house with out being taxed out of his home. In 1977 if all Californians had to pay the rising property tax, a majority of us would have loss our homes. Property tax increase of 10. 20. or higher percent just translate into more slush money for County Governments. The expenses for running the county doesn't jump in tandem with Home Prices but is a nice windfall for all their pet projects.

[@propertytaxshark]

This is ridiculous. Consider the difference in those economies. California is trash. Texas is thriving. Ad Valorem is the way. Limitation to ad valorem is the problem.

[@ironcen73]

F taxes

[@chad6504]

Texas should be more like California? OK 🤡

[@mrUsa051]

The appraisal for my home is ridiculous! Way abover any website estimate

[@sophiacross6713]

is this only in Dallas Tx. ? What about Houston tx?

[@geraldbennett7035]

property taxes should be a few hundred dollars a year. Just for basic services that run with the property. Schools and other users need tp get money from all people living in the county.

[@ondrayz8831]

Nice commercial, not helpful.

[@Trixie76]

My effort and hearing were a waste of time. I explained my flaws (kitchen from the 80s with drawers off the track) etc. but it made no difference. This entire thing is a scam to just trick people into believing there's a chance.

[@cynthiadeal9158]

Please help Kimble County, TX residents! Do you have anyone near here that could help our county residents? My appraisal amount alone went up $110k! Some went much more! We need help please!

[@Aksia18]

Well, it's 2023 and things are worse...everywhere

[@hsosaus3122]

Please provide contact info for Cypress TX area. Thanks

[@ITZJuanVarela]

In the last 2 years my property tax has gone up 80k. Not happy about it

[@ganthc]

Do you not have a homestead exemption? It shouldn’t increase by that much. Plus, you should protest every year. The tax accessor could offer a lower amount to pay as a settlement deal.

[@dixter1652]

@@ganthc when you protest they put notes on their web site so next year they wack you harder.... and if they reduce it this year they will try to make it up the next year... I protested one year and the guy pulled up my house on google maps and said my taxes went up because I had added onto my home at the rear of my property... had him zoom in and show me the addition and he zoomed into a TREE... I had never added onto my house... did they admit that they made a mistake... NOPE.... they just said they would add a note and come back next year if I didn't like the taxes... its all rigged...

[@ganthc]

@@dixter1652 Even if that were true, the most they could "wack" you was by 10% of the locked value you had when you did the exemption. And I guarantee you most of the time, they won't want to go all the way to the hearing, so they will offer a smaller amount increase as a settlement. Which you could take and still pay less in taxes, even if you are only saving 2%. But that 2% every year still will add up in savings, so protesting every year is still worth it.

[@tgshark1]

​@@ganthc theres nothing locked...its 10% maximum based on the assessed value by previous year, not 10% of locked in value

[@ganthc]

@@tgshark1 there is a sense that the appraised value is locked based on purchase price. If you bought a home for $200K in late 2020, put an exemption on it, and the market value of your home went up by $100K, your appraised value would be locked at the purchase price of $200K for 2021. In 2022, the max it could increase is to $220K for appraisal, even if your home was now worth $400K. The “locking” of the exemption prevents your appraised value from matching the market value, where jumps of tens of thousands happen, which happens on homes with no homestead exemption.

[@Clairebear617]

I just called my county appraisal district office. They said that you're contesting the market value listed, but if the market value is still higher than the appraised capped value because of the homes and exemption that lowers that number, then you're still not going to save any money on the protest.

[@odd-one-out4409]

Does he only help people in the Dallas area?

[@artvandellay]

Don’t these tax appraisers have their own addresses? Why don’t they just get posted and dragged out of their homes? See how they like it when they get forced out of their house.

[@dawnpettit9353]

You are protesting the wrong issue! Don’t protest the amount…protest where the authority comes from. In a brief, taxation of your non commercial property is being misapplied by your county under the color of law. Protesting the amount of the tax in essence is saying you think the tax is ok, just not the amount. Taxes are handled locally, not by the state. Constitutionally speaking, the state has no inherent power to impose taxation on your non commercial property used as shelter. If the state has no power, there is no power that can be passed to your county. This is an extensive research of Federal and State Constitutions, State Statutes, State Administrative Codes, Blacks Law, American Jurisprudence, and case law already decided by competent courts. The research is based on Florida law and your state too will have similar laws being that all states must be in compliance with the law of the land…the united States Constitution.

[@abe2ham]

Ok Mr know it all, you come in here like the sheriff of the town with all this law of land guaranteeing our liberation of property taxes for residential shelter, but you never mention anything about how to go about eliminating this excise property tax. You sound like just like a troll throwing out ridiculous claims and then you go back into hiding under the bridge with no information to back up your bs claim

[@no-mess46]

Examples of case law that you are referring to please?

[@slukass9631]

@@abe2hamIf you can afford a lawyer that will typically scare them away.

[@user-ig4ei5qh5s]

What is the site to reach you to help me dispute my taxes ?

[@sonnymendoza9654]

Ha ha ha the realtor couldnt be happier for manipulating the market for prices

[@saltyshoesandsunsets156]

I’m so sorry to interrupt, but that is false information. If you own a home on private property in the state of Florida and that private personal property is in NO WAY ASSOCITATED WITH AN ACT OF COMMERCE or profit producing activity….there is no tax due at all! Your shelter is not taxable. The exemption you are applying for it to separate your homestead from the peroration of your property that is operating in commerce. Start researching!

[@Baby_Clix69]

DALLAS TEXAS. NOT FLORIDA. START RESEARCHING

[@saltyshoesandsunsets156]

@@Baby_Clix69 This holds true in all 50 states! Do YOUR research. The US Constitution is THE law of the land followed by the Texas Constitution. STATE STATUTES are for the corporations doing business in your state. It is the intent of the Texas Legislature to be in compliance with the constitutions.

[@irenehernandez6688]

@@saltyshoesandsunsets156 were can i find this in the UUs constitution i really hate these taxing on homesteads in Texas.Thank you