Your property tax assessment is like a car’s sticker price, it’s meant to be negotiated. Think about the last time you went shopping for a car. If you visited a dealership, you probably were prepared to learn about sticker prices (the manufacturer’s suggested retail price) and offer a counter price. This is the right thing to do because, during normal market conditions, 80% to 90% of consumers negotiate a lower price than the sticker price.

We should think about the property tax valuation on our homes the same way we think about a car purchase. In other words, we should consider the property appraisal from the Bexar County Appraisal District as the “sticker price.”

I’m not alone in giving this advice. In a recent meeting with Roy Sandoval, Bexar County Appraisal District’s (BCAD) new chief appraiser, I learned that he encourages homeowners to see their notice as a first offer. During his public outreach efforts, he tells homeowners to consider the house value in their initial notice as the appraisal district’s best estimate given limited data and a mass-production approach to appraising homes. It is not intended to be the definitive assessment of their home’s value.

Roy, like me, believes that homeowners know more about their homes than anyone else. He sees the appraisal appeal process as an opportunity for homeowners to educate BCAD appraisers about the actual condition of their homes.

One area where homeowners have the greatest insights about their homes and where BCAD is the least knowledgeable is a home’s actual depreciation. Home depreciation is when a property loses value over time, like how a car becomes worth less as it ages. This happens due to physical wear: aging structures, outdated systems, and general deterioration. Your home can also lose value (i.e., depreciate) when its features become outdated or impractical by today’s standards. For example, homes with small closets or kitchens closed off from living areas may be worth less because these layouts don’t match what current buyers want.

Here are three things that homeowners can do to lower their appraisal value:

1.    File an appeal

2.    Take photos of areas that need repair or are functionally obsolescent.

3.    Collect estimates for making the required improvements.

If you join the thousands of other homeowners who appeal their property tax appraisals, your odds of achieving a reduced value are about 88%, about the same as car shoppers who reject the sticker price. On average, Bexar County homeowners who appealed their values for three consecutive years were able to reduce their property values by 7% compared to those who did not.

How do I know all this? I worked on improving our property tax system for 15 years as a member of the Texas legislature’s tax committee. I continue to feel strongly that there are better ways to make the property appeal process more accessible. After leaving the legislature, I continued to study the problem as a homeowner and data scientist. Today, I’m the founder of Fair Appraisal (FairAppraisalNow.com), a turbo-tax-like web application that simplifies the appeal process and produces an evidence-based appeal for you in minutes.

So take it from me, someone who has worked at improving our ability to get a fair appraisal for going on 25 years: stop viewing your property tax notice as the definitive estimate of your house value. Your property tax notice is a starting point for negotiation.