All Forum Posts by: Farah A.

Hey there, 
I used Chicago Title last November in Houston. They have an office around the Upper Kirby area. Very professional. They answered all my questions promptly and very clearly. 

Hi there, 
I recently purchased a Townhome on 11/19/2021 in Houston, TX. I am new to the city and trying to make sense of the property tax protest process. I do believe the property values provided to me by the Harris County Appraisal District were inflated.
- I received my 2022 Appraised Value and Market value at ~421k as of 1/1/2022
- The property purchase price on 11/19/2021 was 395k. Also, a 6.5k allowance was paid to me by the seller for repairs.
- There is a total of 6 units in my complex. The 5 other units in my complex of same size, build and age have both a market and appraised price of ~412k (9k less than mine).

Does it seem reasonable to protest the property value and provide my "opinion of the property's value on Jan 1, 2022" as the difference of sales price and the allowance provided for repairs? So, 395 - 6.5  = 388.5k?

Please let me know if you think this is agreeable or if you would go about this a different way. I appreciate any advice.

Thanks in advance,
Farah

Thanks for the reply @Greg H.

Just to clarify I am asking about getting a tax bill for 2022 before it is released next Fall and not about a prior year. I am trying to get an escrow anaylsis done once I get the exemption so that I am not over charged by Escrow as I am now.

But to your point I really have two issues with the estimated tax bill for 2022 (based on 2021 tax bill) right now:

1. Purchase price was 395k while fhe market value was set at 406k. So I plan on protesting that assuming it’s not updated in 2022.

2. Correct me if I am wrong but this is the big chunk of savings that I am missing out on without the homestead exemption and being overcharged for by Escrow:

From hcad.org;

“ School taxes — all homeowners. If you qualify for the homestead exemption, you will receive at least a $25,000 homestead exemption on the value of your home for school district taxes.

County taxes — all homeowners. Harris County currently provides a 20% optional homestead exemption to all homeowners. This means, for example, that if your home is valued at $100,000, the exemption will reduce its taxable value for Harris County taxes by $20,000 to $80,000.

Optional exemptions — all homeowners. Any taxing unit, including a school district, city, county or special district, may offer an exemption for up to 20% of your home's value”

@Guy Gimenez Thanks!

@Bruce Lynn I’m due to close tomorrow, and that’s exactly what happened . They updated all the numbers and waived what was already paid for by the seller. Thank you!

@Peter Walther Thank you, they did indeed end up issuing the simultaneous rate.

@Caroline Gerardo thank you for the input!

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!

Hi all,

I am in the process of getting a mortgage loan and I have a question about Title insurance.

In the executed contract the seller agreed to buy the Owner’s title insurance. The title company released that it would cost of $2,387.

I am working with a lender and see that they are charging me $2,229 for the Lender’s Title Insurance on the Loan Estimate.

Can I somehow take advantage of the “simultaneous issue rate” to decrease the price of the Lender’s Title Insurance even though the seller is the one paying of the owner’s title policy?

Thanks is advance!

Farah

@Glenna Wood

What was odd about this new construction site is that they have created rooms on the first floor with their own entrance, kitchenette, and laundry room for the purpose of airbnbing, but after talking to the sales rep some more he said that you can only airbnb while living in the unit. I didn't get a look at the HOA rules after that. I walked away but these rules sounded way too specific.