Property Tax Case Cross-Examiner
Stress-tests a homeowner's property tax appeal case before they ever walk into the hearing room. The homeowner supplies their subject property, the comparable sales (or unequal-appraisal accounts) they plan to rely on, their opinion of value, the argument they intend to make, and any factual record errors they are claiming. The tool then plays the role of a skeptical assessor or review-board member and probes the case for the weaknesses that most commonly lose appeals: cherry-picked comps that ignore higher sales nearby, differences between the comps and the subject that were never adjusted for, sales too stale to reflect the lien-date market, and record-error claims that lack documentary proof. For each weak spot it finds, it explains why the board will seize on it and gives the homeowner a concrete way to shore it up - pull a fuller comp set, add the missing size or condition adjustment, time-adjust or replace the stale sale, or attach the builder plan or photo that proves the record error. It also delivers the single strongest counter to the most common objection a board raises, that the chosen comps simply 'aren't comparable.' The point is to surface the holes while there is still time to fix them, not to win the argument for the homeowner.
Example
Input: Subject property: Harris County, TX; 2,400 sf single-family, built 1998, 0.20 ac lot, average condition; assessed at $720,000. Comps relied on: (1) 0.3 mi away, 2,150 sf, sold $612,000 eight months ago; (2) same street, 2,400 sf, sold $635,000 two months ago; (3) 1.1 mi away in a different subdivision, 1,900 sf, sold $560,000 fourteen months ago. Opinion of value: $640,000. Argument the homeowner plans to make: 'My comps all sold for less than my assessed value, so I'm over-assessed.' Record errors claimed: the district lists my home at 2,650 sf; I think the real heated area is 2,400 sf but I haven't pulled the builder plan yet.
Output: PART A - Weak spots in your case: 1. Cherry-picked / mixed comp set. Comp 3 is a mile away in a different subdivision and 500 square feet smaller than your home - a board will say it isn't from your market and will discount it. You also have not shown whether there were higher sales on your own street that you left out. Shore this up: drop or de-emphasize Comp 3, and pull the full set of recent arm's-length sales within your subdivision so the board sees you selected representative sales, not just the lowest ones. If a higher nearby sale exists, address it head-on rather than letting the assessor surface it. 2. Unadjusted size differences. Comp 1 is 250 sf smaller and Comp 3 is 500 sf smaller than your 2,400 sf home, but you are quoting their raw sale prices. Unadjusted, a smaller home selling for less proves nothing. Shore this up: apply a per-square-foot adjustment to bring each comp to your size before you compare - a smaller comp adjusts upward, which still needs to land at or below your opinion of value to help you. 3. Stale sale not time-adjusted. Comp 3 closed fourteen months ago and Comp 1 eight months ago, both well before the January 1 lien date the assessment is measured against. Shore this up: time-adjust those sales to the lien date using local price movement, or replace Comp 3 with a more recent sale. Comp 2 (two months out, same street, same size) is your strongest comp - lead with it. 4. Weak record-error proof. You are claiming the district overstates your home at 2,650 sf versus an actual 2,400 sf, but you have not yet pulled the builder plan. An unsupported square-footage claim will be rejected. Shore this up: obtain the original builder plan, an appraisal sketch, or a measured survey showing 2,400 sf of heated area and attach it - a documented 250 sf overstatement is one of the cleanest reductions you can win. PART B - If they say your comps 'aren't comparable': Stay calm and answer with the standard, not your opinion. Say: 'Comparability doesn't require identical homes - it requires reasonably similar properties with appropriate adjustments for the differences, which is the recognized professional standard for the sales comparison approach. I've selected sales from my own subdivision and adjusted each one for size and sale date, so they're comparable in exactly the way the standard contemplates. In Texas, an unequal-appraisal protest must be determined in my favor unless the district shows my value is equal to or less than the median of a reasonable number of comparable properties appropriately adjusted - the same comparable-and-adjusted test I've applied here.' Then walk them through your single best adjusted comp.
Try It Free
HomeTaxAppeal prepares a complete protest packet with comparable sales, evidence, and hearing guidance.
Check if I'm overassessed →