All Forum Posts by: Josh McAuliffe

Hey All! 

Wondering if anyone has a recommendation for an investor friendly CPA in Austin/Texas. 

Update since I just completed my informal hearing with the Appraisal Review Board (ARB). I ended up submitting the protest on my own and did not use a third party due to the fact that I just bought this property and have my closing documents and a fresh appraisal. I uploaded these supporting documents to the web portal. I closed on my property at the end of March so the ARB took my purchase price and included a time adjustment which resulted in the new appraised value coming in at 4% below my purchase price. Altogether they reduced my appraised value by 14%. 

 When I ran my numbers I estimated property taxes based on my purchase price and not the current tax value (although I had hoped it stayed there). So not quite $8k more a year but definitely higher than what I had estimated.

 $5k when I purchased, $13.7k after updated appraisal. 

The dreaded day has arrived... Travis CAD released assessments for 2022 and I almost fainted when I saw the newly appraised value of the duplex I just closed on in March. The county raised my appraised value by 173% YOY and determined the market value to be quite a bit higher than the appraisal I received during closing. I had initially planned to protest on my own but I am looking into professional consultants as it may be worth the cost to save myself the headache... As I am doing my research I am trying to compare the fees associated with each consultant. Below is what I have gathered thus far;

Texas Pro Tax: 

• The taxable reduction fee is based off of 40% of actual tax dollar savings.
• For properties with exemptions (EX: Homestead), there is a market value reduction fee calculated IF the market value is reduced but doesn’t beat the capped value ($2.50/$1k value reduction).
• The minimum fee is $50/parcel.

Texas Property Tax Reduction: $199 one time fee (refundable if no reduction in market value)

Home Tax Shield: $30 membership fee, 30% of tax savings 

Property Tax Protest: 1% of market value reduction 

Texas Tax Protest: Couldn't find pricing on their website 


Anyone have experience with any of these consultants, or others I am missing, and can provide any recommendations? My next step is to create an excel table to estimate the fees associated with each consultant based on a hypothetical market value reduction.

I just purchased a duplex in SW Austin and am seeing a 173% YOY increase on assessed value (prior owner was an investor with no HS exemption). County's appraised value is well over the appraisal I received just a month ago when purchasing the property. I had planned on protesting myself but it might be worth the investment to pay for one of the recommended services in this thread just to save the time and hassle!

Always look forward to these @David Ivy so thanks for sharing. Mark's slide deck contains a wealth of information!

 A lot of good breweries in the Austin Metro area :) 

@Devin Dang there are also a few really good REI Meetups in Austin, some of them run by BP members. @Jordan Moorhead is frequently hosting events through his Austin REI meetup. Here is a link to his group. 

Hey BP community! Can anyone recommend a good structural engineer in the Austin area? Looking to have a foundation inspection performed in South Austin.