Protest Your Property Taxes... This a mantra that you need to keep in your mind on an annual basis. I speak with a lot of home owners in the San Antonio, Texas area every year and it surprises me how many tell me, I don't know what to do, it isn't worth it, I got a letter from someone saying that they'll charge me half of what I save and it is a scam, etc, etc, etc. So what is the truth?
When you Protest Your Property Taxes you are standing up for yourself and protecting your hard earned money. While it is true that the Bexar County Appraisal District (BCAD) has to collect funds to pay for infrastructure throughout San Antonio, Texas; that doesn't mean that you have to foot the entire bill does it? You did say NO right? Good!
Understand this also about BCAD's knowledge of the San Antonio Real Estate market, they are now only 6 months behind on the data from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) so when I tell you that you need to Protest Your Property Taxes it is imperative that you know your facts before heading to their office. When I got in to the real estate business in 2004, BCAD was actually like 5-6 years behind on the true market values of San Antonio. Now they have access to the MLS, New home builder sales data as well as some For Sale By Owner (FSBO) data.
Well let me give you a perfect example of someone who didn't take my advice to Protest Your Property Taxes. For the sake of keeping private information private let's just call him Homer Simpson and he lives in an affordable San Antonio home at 123 Main Street. In 2010 the assessment from BCAD on his home was $249,730 and he paid $6,517.56. In 2010 he refinanced his home, took money out and did some repairs and a bit of remodeling. Homer told me that he didn't think he could protest his taxes because the new assessment for 2011 came in just a few hundred dollars below the refinanced amount.
Why Protest Your Property Taxes? Well the assessment for 123 Main Street went up to $266,990 in 2011 and he will now have to pay $6,982.31 in property taxes which is an increase of $464.75. I don't know about you but the last time I had a car payment that would have been more than what I would have paid for 1 month and still had some left over for dinner with my wife.
I will be speaking with Homer next March to discuss a game plan to protest his property taxes and the cost to him... Priceless i.e. his time and mine discussing the details.
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