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A Good Inspection Can Help Lower Your Property Taxes

A by-product of having a good inspection made is the ability to argue the condition of the property to the tax man. The condition of the property can weigh heavily in getting your property taxes lowered. The Appraisal District uses a Property Condition Scale from about 1 to 8 with (1) being excellent and (8) being unsound. Each rating could be a savings of thousands of dollars.

Your typical "on-the-street" inspection, say, through a real estate office, is somewhat worthless for this as inspections can (and will) differ greatly and they not all are the same. The usual real estate inspection most likely does not offer the details needed to prove the point to the tax man and few inspectors may be able to understand how the property condition system works so they don't automatically provide the details needed in lowering the property condition scale.

The "picky inspector or deal killer" advertised to you by some real estate agents is a good start but then again, the inspector should have experience in property condition and how it affects your value. This is usually done by a real estate appraiser but with pressure to "hit the value" to make the deal, it tends to get lost. Ask yourself why almost every appraisal comes back at or very near the sales price. If you hired your own independent appraiser would the numbers be different? Well, you'll never know since most people are not experienced in the real estate process and how you may be led through a maze to reach the ultimate goal of "closing that deal". Federal law makes a real estate appraiser responsible for property condition as the appraiser is held out to the same level as a lender, bank or savings and loan. If you think about it the appraiser is supposed to look at the house to determine market value and take into consideration defects and property condition. Research this and see for yourself. It's my opinion that we do not have a fair market appraisal system and before you disbelieve me check out the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) task force on fraudulent appraisals, lending and practices nationwide.

You, the buyer, should do your own due diligence to which you are responsible for.

A good inspection should have years of experience behind it and not the experience of just doing it wrong for those years through a robot method of inspecting. Checklists don't work. You need a detailed narrative report with the required back-up data that not only serves the minimum state inspection standards but is able to identify property condition as a whole that affects valuation and repairs.

Each year there are classes such as, "Effectively Protesting Your Property's Appraised Value for Taxes". These are usually given by your elected Tax/Assessor/Collector (especially in Galveston County) and they are worth attending more than your will ever realize and at each one you learn more and more. Personally, I have attended this class five (5) times to date and learn something new every time.

If you are too busy or skeptical about protesting your taxes then there are property tax consultants that can help you as well. In conjunction with a good property condition inspection you are off to a great start in lowering your taxes.