Investor · The Colony, TX · Member since 2015 · 35 posts · 7 votes
I just received my property tax notice for a commercial office/warehouse space I own. Two years in and they county is raising my valuation $30K. I've researched the various protest methods and concluded there's a signficant gap between what the county valued my property at and what I valued it at using the income method. I submitted my appeal and heard back from the reviewer with additional questions regarding my expenses ("seems the expenses are higher than average for comparable properties"). I'm considering supplying them with my inspection report where the inspector noted several components in either "Fair" or "Poor" condition. My argument is, since the inspector noted "fair" and "poor" condition, this is proof that the property requires greater than average repair expenses. Do you think I will succeed with this argument?
Investor · Henderson, NV · Member since 2016 · 227 posts · 86 votes
8y
Hello Mark,
There are a handful of TX investors here, that probably protested their property tax. However, now you are asking about commercial which is more specific. The best and fastest way to get your answer is to talk to multiple property tax protest firms, you might be able to fish for your answer or at least you could hire them and they can take care of it for you. I will say, I'm not sure how they would structure the pricing for commercial. However, for residential properties, their average fee is 40% of what they saved you. So if we used your 30k example, and the tax rate is around 2.8% then your increase in tax is $840. If they were to eliminate that 30k increase in assessment completely, then you save $840 and they would invoice $336. They would take care all of the work, so not only research but if the appraisal board requires a meeting to discuss then they would show up to represent on your behalf. If they are unable to save you anything then you won't have to pay them as they work off of that 40% commission. Some other ones that structures it a bit differently, but you pay is still about the same. Again, this is for residential, hopefully they can help you with your commercial and the structure will be similar. Good luck!