Property Taxes Are On The Rise

Because I'm starting to get interested in property investing, I've been checking out a lot of real estate articles. I came across this article on yahoo "The Hottest Part of the Housing Market:Taxes" and feel like this is something I understand. Though the housing market is still good here in Texas, a lot of homeowner's are finding out year to year that their property taxes continue to increase. Especially in the middle class and upper class neighborhoods. Though the upper class may not feel the bite, the middle class sure does. Working in insurance we get a lot of calls from our customers complaining each year about the property value and tax increases. Though we have nothing to do with this we do give them some options of fighting the increases. Here are some things you can do to get your property value lowered if you think it's too high.

1) First contact your county tax appraisal district to see what their rationale was on the increase and see if you can get them to change it.
2) Research the values of the houses around you and make sure your home is not the only home overvalued.
3) If worse comes to worse you may need to get an independant inspector to value your home. Usually the price for this is between $200-$400. So if it's something minor you don't want to waste your time, but if it's going to save you $1000 or more, it would definately be worth going through the hassle.

States are trying to get as much as they can out of taxing you and your property tax is a pretty eazy place to do it. Remember you don't have to stick with the value that they put on your home, you can always dispute the property tax and save yourself some money.