How often do you review your property tax assessment?

Question

Curious how other investors here handle property taxes over time.

It seems like most people focus heavily on purchase price, rent potential, and renovation costs when analyzing a deal, but property taxes can quietly become one of the largest operating expenses.

I was recently looking at a few properties where the county’s assessed value had increased quite a bit over the past couple of years, even though comparable sales in the area didn’t seem to support that much of a jump.

It made me wonder how common this actually is.

For investors in the community:

• Do you review your property tax assessment every year?
• Have you ever challenged or appealed an assessment?
• In your experience, are county assessments usually accurate in your market?

Interested to hear how investors in different states approach this.

Parker James · Answer

@Ryder Meehan

We protest our taxes every year here in Texas. Use a tax protest company. Any reduction helps!

Jim Johnson · Answer

Here’s a concise reply Jim could post:

It’s worth reviewing assessments every year, especially in markets where values move quickly or where reassessments happen frequently.

County assessments aren’t always perfectly aligned with current comps, and small percentage increases can quietly add up as operating costs over time. I’ve seen situations where the assessed value drifted well above nearby sales without anyone noticing for a couple of cycles.

Even if you don’t appeal every time, it’s good practice to check the assessment against recent comparable sales and keep an eye on how it affects your long-term operating expenses and reserve planning. Taxes tend to be one of the few costs that rarely move downward unless someone challenges them.

Chris Kersey · Answer

Hey Ryder,

I review/protest the property taxes on my homes every year in Central Houston. Most of the tax protesting companies only charge a percentage of what they save you in taxes so the upside is there.

Peter Mckernan · Answer

I speak from conversations I have had over the years for people in Texas and also people that own places in Texas. It is not like other states (CA for example). Texas there is an active approach to increase taxes due to the revenue that it brings in for the state. This is a very active review and even to the point that there are companies that can be hired to handle the issue of larger increases when they do not warrant that big of a jump. I would be reviewing this multiple times a year if you have properties there in Texas.

How often do you review your property tax assessment?

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