All Forum Posts by: Becky Lu

Hi everybody! 

We used a company to appeal for our small apartment in Houston (Harris County) this year. The result just came out. The initial assessed value was $890k and the final $820k. According to the bill they sent us, they've lowered almost $70k in value, which translates to about $2k saving on our property tax. The company is charging us  25% of it. I questioned them on their initial assessed value cause our appraisal was no where close to $890k and we bought this property only 4 months ago. So I'm curious if the company just made up some number and tricked us to believe they lowered the value and charged us for the work they didn't do. Any thoughts? I hope I'm not being too crazy.... 

Thank you! 

Hi everybody! 

We used a company to appeal for our small apartment in Houston (Harris County) this year. The result just came out. The initial assessed value was $890k and the final $820k. According to the bill they sent us, they've lowered almost $70k in value, which translates to about $2k saving on our property tax. The company is charging us  25% of it. I questioned them on their initial assessed value cause our appraisal was no where close to $890k and we bought this property only 4 months ago. So I'm curious if the company just made up some number and tricked us to believe they lowered the value and charged us for the work they didn't do. Any thoughts? I hope I'm not being too crazy.... 

Thank you! 

We used a company to appeal for our small apartment in Houston (Harris County) this year. The result just came out. The initial assessed value was $890k and the final $820k. According to the bill they sent us, they've lowered almost $70k in value, which translates to about $2k saving on our property tax. The company is charging us  25% of it. I questioned them on their initial assessed value cause our appraisal was no where close to $890k and we bought this property only 4 months ago. So I'm curious if the company just made up some number and tricked us to believe they lowered the value and charged us for the work they didn't do. Any thoughts? I hope I'm not being too crazy.... 

Thank you! 

We used a company to appeal for our small apartment in Houston (Harris County) this year. The result just came out. The initial assessed value was $890k and the final $820k. According to the bill they sent us, they've lowered almost $70k in value, which translates to about $2k saving on our property tax. The company is charging us  25% of it. I questioned them on their initial assessed value cause our appraisal was no where close to $890k and we bought this property only 4 months ago. So I'm curious if the company just made up some number and tricked us to believe they lowered the value and charged us for the work they didn't do. Any thoughts? I hope I'm not being too crazy.... 

Thank you! 

We actually used a company to appeal for our small apartment in Houston (Harris County). The result just came out. The initial assessed value was $890k and the final $820k. According to the bill they sent us, they've lowered almost $70k in value, which translates to about $2k saving on our property tax. The company is charging us  25% of it. I questioned them on their initial assessed value cause our appraisal was no where close to $890k and we bought this property only 4 months ago. So I'm curious if the company just made up some number and tricked us to believe they lowered the value and charged us for the work they didn't do. Any thoughts? I hope I'm not being too crazy.... 

Thank you! 

@Nicole B. 

Thanks. My family is outside the country (not from here). So I assume they just need to declare that profit in their country? 

Hi experts! 

We borrowed some money from family and are paying them interest. Is the interest we pay regularly tax deductible? How do you structure the loan so everything is legit and meets IRS standards? 

Since it's cheaper for us to borrow from family and will also benefit my family to make some interest money, we're likely to borrow even more in the future. If anyone has been doing this and knows how, I'd love to hear your thoughts if you don't mind. 

Thank you very much for your time and expertise. :) 

Becky

@Cal Ewing

Did you end up using Voepel? I'm looking for a PM for my 2 rentals in Kansas City as well? I talked to Brent, the owner of Voepel and had a pretty good conversation with him. I also talked to 33rd Company. I'm now deciding between these 2.

Becky

Roll-out vinyl sounds cheap but our PM said it's thick and very durable. You can replace sections if damaged. It is cheaper. Did anyone has experiences with roll-out vinyl? I read reviews on line but would like to hear the real stories please. Appreciate it!

@Fred Grant

 Thank you! I looked it up and it surely looks good!

@Mark Gallagher

@Eric Mikesell

Thanks for the suggestion!