Adjusting comparable sales to the property you are protesting can be complicated.  Consider the following example:

Your home is across the street from an identical home which recently sold and backs to a golf course.  The comparable home is on a lot valued at $100,000; yours is on a lot valued at $50,000.

The appraisal district will agree to a $50,000 adjustment, being the difference in lot values.  But is that adequate?  You want a larger adjustment to support your protest.

Are not the two identical homes — not just the lots — of different value because of their location?  Consider each has a bay window facing the rear; the comparable overlooks the golf course and yours  overlooks an alley and the back of your neighbor’s property (which may also have a bay window facing your own — talk of privacy!).

At Property Tax Protest we argue that an adjustment based on the $50,000 difference in lots values is not adequate to compensate for the market differences between the two homes.   Appraisal Review Board members usually appreciate the argument and decide in our favor — or at least compromise between our position and that of the district’s appraiser.  Since the improvements value is larger than the lot value, the result is a much larger adjustment than the district would like and a lower taxable value for our client.

You can make the same argument.  Sometimes logic carries the day; other times you may need data to support your case.  This is one where logic — properly applied — can make a big difference even without supporting data.

In this series of Adjustments to Comp Sales we show homeowners how to adjust sales based on the criteria used by appraisal districts.  The most important are:

• Neighborhood
• Size
• Age or Effective Age
• Class
• Condition
• Pool / No Pool

We’ll even show you how to use logic to dispute some of the the districts’ criteria that we think are not realistic.  Search for Adjustments to Comp Sales: Lots and Logic.  You can use our argument when it fits your purpose.

To find each, just search for “Adjustments to Comp Sales” and select each one separately.