Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) has over valued about 7% of apartment complexes in Harris County by 50% or more. HCAD uses a process called mass appraisal to estimate values for all real and personal property in Harris County. The weakness of mass appraisal is it depends on having accurate data regarding the property being valued and market trends. Given the volume of real property HCAD must appraise, mass appraisal is the only practical option. However, property owners need to be aware that mass appraisal is only within 10% of market value for about 50% of houses, and is less reliable for commercial property.
O’Connor & Associates has compiled information on almost 780 recent apartment sales. Apartments valued at 50% higher than the recent sales price totaled 53. (See table below.) These include sales in 2012 and 2013, so it is possible that some of the properties were renovated or improved after purchase. However, a random sample indicates that many of the properties currently have low occupancy, which is consistent with a low value.
The assessment ratio is the 2014 HCAD market value divided by the sales price. Hence, an assessment ratio of 298% means the property will be taxed on a value about 3 times the recent sales price, unless the owner protests.
“HCAD has a difficult task in valuing about 1.7 million tax parcels. However, property owners need to be aware that with mass appraisal come massive errors for some properties. Texas law requires that property owners file a property tax protest to obtain the appraisal district’s evidence, to determine if they are over-taxed”, according to Patrick O’Connor, President of O’Connor & Associates. O’Connor & Associates is Texas largest property tax consultant, representing over 100,000 clients.
The deadline to file a protest is Monday June 2. Property owners are responsible for timing filing a protest to determine if they are accurately and fairly assessed. While HCAD has a difficult task in valuing so many properties, tax payers need to remember than at least 200,000 properties in Harris County are over-taxed by 10% or more.
For more information, contact Patrick O’Connor at 713 290 9700 or poconnor@poconnor.com.
| Property Address | SaleDate | GBA | 2014 Assessment Ratio |
| 2406 TRUXILLO ST # 6 | 2/15/2012 | 3,792 | 298% |
| 3511 NAPOLEON ST # 4 | 4/30/2012 | 3,016 | 294% |
| 1000 NORTHWOOD DR # 88 | 3/15/2012 | 92,690 | 271% |
| 7200 W T C JESTER BLVD # 4 | 1/9/2012 | 3,793 | 266% |
| 3826 SEABROOK ST # 7 | 9/3/2013 | 4,656 | 254% |
| 6300 W BELLFORT ST | 2/14/2012 | 288,007 | 239% |
| 400 GREENS RD # 286 | 9/12/2012 | 255,475 | 231% |
| 501 GREENS RD # 179 | 9/12/2012 | 161,616 | 228% |
| 904 HERBERT AVE # 4 | 1/18/2012 | 1,578 | 223% |
| 17630 WAYFOREST DR # 268 | 9/12/2012 | 233,334 | 222% |
| 3120 DECKER DR # 250 | 7/6/2012 | 261,760 | 219% |
| 1100 LANGWICK DR # 282 | 9/12/2012 | 248,120 | 217% |
| 3120 DECKER DR # 250 | 3/30/2012 | 261,760 | 213% |
| 17103 CLAY RD # 161 | 9/13/2013 | 135,986 | 211% |
| 7200 W T C JESTER BLVD # 4 | 11/27/2012 | 3,793 | 204% |
| 3314 N MACGREGOR WAY # 24 | 9/6/2012 | 17,568 | 202% |
| 2816 WICHITA ST # 4 | 5/25/2012 | 2,656 | 202% |
| 206 JACKSON AVE # 5 | 5/15/2012 | 7,440 | 198% |
| 5601 HAMILL RD # 128 | 12/14/2012 | 111,700 | 194% |
| 2820 BLODGETT ST # 6 | 5/7/2013 | 1,584 | 194% |
| 6120 BELLAIRE BLVD # 206 | 8/3/2012 | 200,697 | 189% |
| 6060 BELARBOR ST # 50 | 4/3/2012 | 33,030 | 189% |
| 10222 FORUM WEST DR # 384 | 5/29/2013 | 257,455 | 187% |
| 4102 MANGUM RD # 68 | 8/20/2012 | 43,580 | 183% |
| 7200 W T C JESTER BLVD # 4 | 10/25/2012 | 3,793 | 178% |
| 2608 STANFORD ST # 4 | 3/4/2013 | 4,314 | 178% |
| 9303 WOODFAIR DR # 248 | 12/28/2012 | 183,362 | 177% |
| 12801 ROYDON DR # 244 | 8/1/2013 | 194,075 | 176% |
| 990 CYPRESS STATION DR # 358 | 2/7/2012 | 310,723 | 175% |
| 12603 NORTHBOROUGH DR # 300 | 3/27/2012 | 247,553 | 174% |
| 1320 W PIERCE ST # 4 | 2/6/2012 | 2,614 | 168% |
| 9447 CONCOURSE DR # 268 | 1/1/2013 | 173,576 | 167% |
| 1010 CAROLYN CT # 4 | 1/4/2013 | 4,200 | 167% |
| 11411 GREEN PLAZA DR # 280 | 8/30/2012 | 197,688 | 166% |
| 3927 ARLINGTON SQUARE DR # 439 | 4/10/2012 | 342,025 | 164% |
| 6103 W MOUNT HOUSTON RD # 4 | 6/18/2013 | 4,008 | 164% |
| 6905 SHERMAN ST # 5 | 6/26/2012 | 3,284 | 163% |
| 7250 W GREENS RD # 260 | 2/7/2012 | 217,594 | 160% |
| 950 VILLA DE MATEL RD # 241 | 6/27/2013 | 199,866 | 160% |
| 3600 S SHAVER ST # 75 | 2/20/2013 | 63,063 | 160% |
| 5050 YALE ST # 250 | 2/20/2013 | 200,511 | 157% |
| 6320 WINDSWEPT LN # 145 | 3/14/2012 | 101,232 | 157% |
| 910 FAIR OAKS RD # 122 | 4/23/2013 | 90,632 | 157% |
| 100 HOLLOW TREE LN # 252 | 1/3/2012 | 250,065 | 155% |
| 3200 N MACGREGOR WAY # 52 | 12/7/2012 | 36,704 | 155% |
| 15116 MESA DR # 114 | 7/8/2013 | 131,345 | 155% |
| 13609 RAVENSWAY DR # 4 | 8/24/2012 | 4,386 | 155% |
| 1114 N CESAR CHAVEZ BLVD # 4 | 7/16/2012 | 2,976 | 155% |
| 670 MAXEY RD # 211 | 6/17/2013 | 173,674 | 153% |
| 215 LINWOOD ST # 5 | 4/5/2012 | 10,202 | 152% |
| 13455 WOODFOREST BLVD # 160 | 7/9/2012 | 130,544 | 152% |
| 219 W ALABAMA ST | 5/23/2012 | 14,770 | 151% |
| 13210 OLD RICHMOND RD # 100 | 3/26/2013 | 105,060 | 150% |
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