Contesting Taxes in Texas

What do you do if you disagree with the county appraisal district’s (CAD’s) appraisal of your property? The following information may help you.

If you disagree with the CAD’s appraisal of your property, you must file a written protest each year to the county's appraisal review board (ARB). The ARB is an independent body that settles disputes between property owners and the appraisal district. You must file the protest before June 1 or no later than 30 days after the appraisal district sends you a notice of your appraised value.

When you present your protest to the ARB, you may appear in person, send someone to present the protest for you, or send a sworn affidavit (notarized statement) containing the evidence to support your protest. You should submit the affidavit to the ARB before the hearing begins. It is very important that ARB receives your affidavit before the date of your hearing or you may not get to present your evidence. Submitting your evidence by affidavit, although perfectly legal, may not be as effective as actually being present at the protest hearing.

For your ARB hearing, you may want to bring photographs of your property. If there are defects in the property, bring a notarized statement from a repair company or independent appraiser. You should also gather sales of similar properties in your area. Sales that occurred closest to January 1 are the best to use. Ask the CAD for sales it used to appraise your property. Obtaining a notarized statement from a realtor giving an opinion of your property’s value is also good evidence to present to the ARB.

Believe it or not, the law says that for most protests the CAD has the burden of proving the property is correctly appraised. They must do so by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the ARB hearing. The CAD also has the burden of showing the property is appraised equally with similar properties. If the CAD fails to meet that standard, the law says that the ARB should make a determination in the property owner’s favor.

In 2008, the law changes and in certain protests places an even higher burden on the CAD to prove the property is correctly appraised. Beginning in 2008, in a protest on a property with a market or appraised value of $1 million or less, the appraisal district has the burden of establishing the value of the property by clear and convincing evidence — as opposed to the weight or preponderance of the evidence — presented at the hearing when the property owner delivers an appraisal to the CAD at least 14 days before the hearing and the independent appraisal was performed within 180 days of the hearing date.

You have the right to appeal ARB’s decision to district court or in some cases seek binding arbitration. You have 45 days after receiving the board’s written order to file a petition for review with the court or seek resolution through binding arbitration. Property owners should talk with an attorney before deciding to file suit against the CAD.

For more information about protesting your taxes, the Texas StateComptroller's Property Tax Division publishes the Appraisal Review BoardManual. The manual not only explains in great detail the protest systembut it serves as the textbook for the state-training of appraisal reviewboard members.Agents and property owners who have questions about
the property tax laws may also call the staff at the Property Tax Division at 1-800-252-9121.

A. K. A. J. H.
Austin Homes
Circle C

Central Texas Growth

Central Texas Growth

Austin didn't change much for many years but look at it now. It was a slow start but Austin is spreading in every direction. If you look to the west there are homes high up in the hills and if you look east there are homes in the cotton fields. To the north is Pflugerville and Round Rock, Georgetown, barely a gap in between. To the south is Buda and Kyle, barely a gap here either. If you look downtown, not only are there high rise office buildings but condos and offices going up as well. There are toll roads going from north to south and west to east, with proposals for more. There will be a commuter rail from Leander to downtown with more coming.

We were talking in the office about the rock in Round Rock, when someone asked if there really was a round rock there. Yes, there is, in the creek, you used to be able to see it from I 35. I was driving north on Bagdad Road in Leander, when someone who has lived here many years told me this was the old turkey trail from Liberty Hill. If you look at ads for homes or apartments around South Congress, they say in the SOCO area.
Bergstrom is no longer a military air force base but is Austin Bergstrom International Airport. Mueller Airport is now homes, a hospital, shopping, and much more.

Hutto is the fastest growing city in the state of Texas and will continue to grow at an astronomical rate. To give the 17,000 residents the much needed shopping, entertainment and hotels, the city has decided to give developer incentives worth approximately $52 million dollars for a mixed use development on 466 acres located along Texas Toll road 130. This incentive is the largest monies given to a developer in the history of Hutto. Hutto once was a one horse, one stop light town. Now, it is thriving with a new Lowes, Home Depot, hotel, many restaurants and more.

Coming soon this new development called The Crossing of Carmel Creek will break ground. It is estimated that it will generate over $110 million in sales tax revenue and as much as $30 million in hotel occupancy revenue all beginning in 2010. With Williamson County, TX being one of the fastest growing counties in the US, you can see that there is something for everyone. Whether you are a first time homebuyer or a last time or somewhere in between, Williamson County can accommodate your needs.
Most of the larger towns in this County are easily accessible to major roads and employers. Tons of amenities are available including 3 new hospitals that have just opened or will in the next quarter. Shopping includes: J C Penney’s, Ikea, Outlet Mall between Round Rock & Georgetown, La Frontera, Sam’s, Super Walmart, Super Targets and more.

Austin in Transition

Austin Texas is undergoing some rather large changes. Austin is experiencing massive downtown development, new roads opening, and new mass-transit services. Google announced the opening of an office in Austin, and that does not surprise me on bit. I can imagine when they looked at Austin they probably saw many great reasons to move here. The downtown area is just fun with all of the restaurants, Zilker Park and hike and bike trails around Lady Bird Lake. For those who want to live and work in downtown Austin, they will have plenty of new condos and office space to choose from. The skyline is populated with high rise cranes. As people look into the burbs for housing they are finding homes that are reasonably priced and not to far from all that downtown has to offer. For those who are willing to commute to Georgetown, Leander, Round Rock and other outlying towns, the new toll roads seem to help those people get where they are going. And for those willing to move to Liberty Hill and Leander, well those folks will have the luxury of a passenger rail station in the town of Leander. We are also seeing more and more commercial developments that cater to shoppers who want to make a day of it in malls like the new Galleria and The Domain. All in all Austin is undergoing change from one side to the other and seems to offer new experiences for all types of activity, indoor and out. Austin just keeps getting better. We love helping people buy their piece of Austin Real Estate.

Lakeway TX Listings 11-19-07

Here are a few of the home listings, listed over the last couple of weeks. These are not all of the new listings, just a few. These were listed by various REALTORS in the Austin Texas area. If you do not find what you are looking for, please visit our website to learn more about Lakeway Real Estate



111 SENDERA BONITA, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$1,250,000 5 Bedrooms 5 Bathrooms 5,359 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 8149044


1407 SLEDGE DRIVE, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$799,900 3 Bedrooms 3 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 3,511 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 8531130


40 COTTONDALE ROAD, LAKEWAY, TX 78738
SAVE
$722,900 4 Bedrooms 3 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 4,196 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 7676204


1002 PORPOISE ST, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$655,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 3,430 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 5501017


106 FIREBIRD COVE, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$469,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 3,099 Est. Sq. Ft.
Virtual Tour Photo Tour

Listing # 9551434


609 ROLLING GREEN DR, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$425,000 3 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 3,004 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 3251411


1414 SLEDGE DR, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$405,000 4 Bedrooms 2 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 2,558 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 3201066


1012 CHALLENGER, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$399,000 3 Bedrooms 2 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 2,526 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 5744762


546 BROOKS HOLLOW RD, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$398,000 4 Bedrooms 2 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 2,826 Est. Sq. Ft.
Virtual Tour Photo Tour

Listing # 9087045


702 LAKEWAY DR, LAKEWAY, TX 78734
SAVE
$324,900 3 Bedrooms 2 Full 1 Partial Bathrooms 2,341 Est. Sq. Ft.
Photo Tour

Listing # 8999208
© 2007 Austin Board of Realtors/ACTRIS MLS. All rights reserved.Information Deemed Reliable but Not Guaranteed. The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.Updated on November 12, 2007
Austin Real Estate
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Web Traffic

Two years ago we started optimizing our website Austin Texas Real Estate. we only showed up on msn and generated 3 leads a day will a small payed position account. We all over google and yahoo now a do not see much more traffic. I is clear to me that searches are down over all over last year. However we have started to see an increase over the past few weeks, it is a welcome change.

Lakeway TX Real Estate

How to use delicious

From the Tech Corner at Sky Realty

Todays new product is http://delicious.com this website is free and easy. To summarize its purpose is to simply say that it is an online bookmarking service. Instead of having your favorites attached to one computer, with this service you can access your favorite sites from anywhere. I recommend you dowload the small button that attaches to your browser bar. this will have a button that says (TAG). When you are on a site you like, just move your cursor and click the (TAG). A page will pull up and ask you to give the site a breif description. you now have a favorite saved online.

Try it withour site Austin Real Estate

Sky Realty Offers New Web Page

We are announcing the newest page to the Sky Web Site. This page will help buyers and sellers learn about Austin Texas Real Estate. The new page will offer information on things to do around Austin as well a information about the Austin real estate market.