Homstead Exemption in Houston…

[Farah A.]

Hello, thought I’d come to this forum for some input/advice.

I am due to close on a property that I plan to house hack tomorrow in Houston, TX by the Medical Center. My lender just hit me with a last minute update to my loan disclosure increasing my taxes by ~$200 monthly. Turns out they were using 2020 Taxes (7.2k) for the tax estimate when the seller had a homstead exemption. They just updated the disclosure with the 2021 Taxes (9.5k) when the seller did not have homestead exemption. The property value has only increased by 7k from its last appraised value in 2020, so I know the big change in taxes is due to the lack of homstead exemption. I plan on applying for the homstead exemption as soon as the window opens on January 1, 2022.

The lender said they can issue an escrow analysis once I provide them with documentation of the updated adjusted taxes after my homstead exemption is applied.

I’ve read that Harris county releases tax bills for 2022 in the Fall of 2022.

Is it possible to ask the county for a tax bill earlier on in the year? Has anyone tried doing that before?

I’d appreciate any help, thanks!