All Forum Posts by: Roger Malcolm

When the land becomes factors more valuable as commercial land than staying residential restricted, are there land developers experienced in breaking up property owners associations to turn the land commercial?   If so, at would point as far as commercial property being X times higher market value than remaining residential, do those groups start looking at a project to bust up an association? 

Curious because of how unusually large it is, I looked up a home that has been under constructed all year and appears to be finished.  By all appearances, construction is finished. Landscaping has been installed, and few contractors go to it anymore - it looks to just be inside painters occasionally.    The home is twice to one and half sizes larger than already large homes near it, yet its assessed 2024 improved value is much lower than the assessed value of the smaller homes around it.  

Looking into how new construction is valued for property tax in Texas, the cost basis is the norm.  The assessed value of the improvement is a fraction of what the construction cost likely were.  For example, on a sq ft basis, the assessed value for this new home is $61.  That is almost one third of builder-grade construction cost in Texas, which are around $120 to $165 per sq foot,  and down to as low as 1/5 of the luxury market, which is  $200 to $300 per sq foot. 

What would cause the county to value the assessed value that low?  Is custom home  construction likely on the honor system and the county just took the word of the home owner? 

Thanks. Property code is easy to read. I'll check on it.  Do property taxes keep accruing on it during that 3 to 4 years?

I have never bought a foreclosed property. There is one near me that I am watching.  Some questions please:

1) How long does it take a property to go to auction, once the property tax are delinquent past July?  July is the month when the penalties go up the most due to accruing the legal cost of foreclosing as I understand it.  So now that the first July, since being not paying taxes has hit, I am wondering if it is still far off, or now is right around the corner.

2) If you buy a property at a property tax foreclosure, and the prior owner buys it back in the two year period, would you only get your money and premium set by law, or would the prior owner also have to pay for the property taxes you paid during that period?  What about improvements?   I.e., would you lose all that or you get paid for those?

Thanks for helping me with either of these. 

 Thanks. I know of Linebarger, but do not see the property on its portfolio search for Fort Bend - I only find 3 or 4 properties in all of Fort Bend on its search function. Only four seems low, perhaps I am searching wrong - is there a better way to search it?   

Also, what is the other law firm that Fort Bend County uses?

 Is that a public data base?  Would you tell me how to search for it so I could verify. 

 Yes it seems equitable upon thinking about it. If the primary lender is paying attention, they can protect their interest by bidding at least the value of the loan.  The junior lenders are going to get hurt regardless and if the main lender is not paying attention, only then could they get hurt, but it is the interest of the State/society that banks pay attention, so no harm forcing lenders to pay attention. So overall, the law seems equitable.

Thanks, I will keep my eye on it.  Looking at the outside law firm, that usually handles properties for Fort Bend, their portfolio of properties look like properties people might abandon - eye sores etc.  This property, a nice near 4 acres in an established subdivision,  would be unique among the firm's normal portfolio, so I guess it would take a non-normal path in the process. 

 Thanks. So the secondary mortgage, solar panel financing, and possible swimming pool loan, would be totally gone if the property were bought in a property tax foreclosure? 

The secondary mortgage is around $250K, and the property's value is probably in the $300K to $400K range, so I assume the mortgage company would get involved in the bidding to protect its interest or something, or do something before the property hits auction??