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In Texas, if the house is your primary or "homestead" residence, then if the value of the property goes up by a factor of 2x in a year, then your assessed prope

In Texas, if the house is your primary or "homestead" residence, then if the value of the property goes up by a factor of 2x in a year, then your assessed property taxes will only go up by 10% for that year. And 10% the year after, and the year after, and so on and so on, until the assessed tax value matches the property value (which will also presumably continue to increase, but maybe not by 2x every year). So, typically the tax authorities will asses your home value one year and increase that, then your land value the next year and increase that, and the switch back to the home value for the third year, and just keep switching back and forth, and meanwhile pushing against that 10% limit as hard as they can every year. But you do have to make sure that you get that "homestead" declaration filed correctly. There are a number of ambulance-chaser type law firms in Texas that specialize in fighting tax assessments that increase by too much, and many of them work by taking the deal for free and then they'll split the savings with you if they win. Be careful who you choose in this space.

Siddarth1977 4y ago
Characterizing the firms who defender homeowners from abusive hikes in their tax rates as being akin to "ambulance-chasers" seems completely backwards to me. My tax rates seem essentially fraudulent and designed to bleed me dry. My comparisons include houses twice as large, in better school districts, with views, with pools, etc. The firms who help protect me from getting robbed by this bureaucratic exploitation are more akin to an honorable defense attorney protecting a wrongfully accused victim. And of course, the whole notion of increasing property taxes is absurd. The government budget for next year should be roughly the same as this year. If house prices went up 10% that doesn't mean that the entire state government budget went up 10%.
- bradknowles 4y ago
  They spam everyone in the state, and there are dozens of such firms. If you saw the spammy mailings they put out, you'd see why I see them as equivalent to ambulance chasers. Yes, they perform a service, and I'm sure some of them are appreciated by some of their clients -- just like ambulance chasers. My wife also happens to be a lawyer, and her opinion of them is lower than mine.

Siddarth1977 4y ago

Characterizing the firms who defender homeowners from abusive hikes in their tax rates as being akin to "ambulance-chasers" seems completely backwards to me. My tax rates seem essentially fraudulent and designed to bleed me dry. My comparisons include houses twice as large, in better school districts, with views, with pools, etc. The firms who help protect me from getting robbed by this bureaucratic exploitation are more akin to an honorable defense attorney protecting a wrongfully accused victim. And of course, the whole notion of increasing property taxes is absurd. The government budget for next year should be roughly the same as this year. If house prices went up 10% that doesn't mean that the entire state government budget went up 10%.

bradknowles 4y ago
They spam everyone in the state, and there are dozens of such firms. If you saw the spammy mailings they put out, you'd see why I see them as equivalent to ambulance chasers. Yes, they perform a service, and I'm sure some of them are appreciated by some of their clients -- just like ambulance chasers. My wife also happens to be a lawyer, and her opinion of them is lower than mine.