Property Tax Values: A Golden Opportunity to Help Clients – by Texas Realtors

Guest post by Eric Bramlett, owner of Bramlett Residential

April is the month that most Texas counties release their annual property tax valuations. While most people dread anything to do with taxes, this is a big opportunity for real estate agents and brokers.

Homeowners want to know if their new appraised value is accurate and, to determine that, they need to get sold comparables. By providing these comps as a free service to their clients, agents position themselves as the market expert and create goodwill. This positioning and relationship building inevitably results in more business for those agents.

This year, in particular, is critical since there was massive appreciation in early 2022 followed by prices dropping later in the year. Because of that rare instance, there’s a high likelihood that the counties will incorrectly value properties.

Consider the example of Austin: The average sold price increased 18.5% from January to May 2022 then dropped 18% from May to December. There’s a good chance that Travis County will overvalue properties.

Here are tips for agents to leverage this opportunity:

1. Reach out to your sphere of influence: Send a personalized email or text message to your contacts and let them know that you’re available to provide sold comparables to help them appeal their appraised value. Let them know that you’re doing this as a value add and not as a sales pitch.
2. Attend community meetings: Introduce yourself as a real estate agent and let people know that you’re available to help them with their appraised value and provide sold comparables.
3. Use social media: Tap your channels to let people know that you’re available to help them appeal their appraised value. Explain how you have access to proprietary sold data that will help clients protest their tax values.
4. Offer a free consultation: Encourage people to contact you if they want to appeal their appraised value—no strings attached.

While the numbers will vary from county to county, most agents in metros will be able to help their clients successfully protest their appraisals and build their businesses.

Eric Bramlett is a REALTOR® and the owner of Bramlett Residential, a top performing real estate brokerage in Austin. Widely regarded as an industry innovator, Eric has developed new systems and proprietary technologies to help his agents gain efficiencies and become industry leaders. Eric is a multi-year Austin Business Journal Residential Real Estate award winner and has career production in the top 1% of agents in the United States.