Protesting/Disputing Appraisal Increase on Unimproved Land

Off Topic
#1

I own a small chunk of (farm) land in a small town area; it has nothing on it (except dirt & hay). The appraisal for the land went from ~$165K last year to ~$270K this year, an increase of about ~63%. There is nothing distinctive either pro or con about this land, really, and nothing about it (physically, that is) has changed in last year.

Typically people dispute the appraisal of a home (i.e. the combined appraised value of a given piece of land along with improvmenets on it like a house), with the primary basis of the dispute being based on overvaluation of the improvements as opposed to just the land. So…I am wondering if a protest or dispute process will be of any likely benefit for my situation, given it is just land? i.e. I am not exactly clear what a valid basis for a protest would be in this case other than “there’s no way the value of this land increased by this much in a year.”

Does anyone have any direct, or even indirect, experience with this? (I am just asking about protest/dispute considerations re: county’s valuation/appraisal, not things related to exemptions, or opinions as to why it might haveincreased that much, or etc…)

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#2

Get an Ag exemption…

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#3

I’ve got no real experience here, but I think the general idea is to find out what land has recently sold for in the area. The problem this year seems to be that land that’s sold (and has a sale price publicly available) has been sold for the same or more than it’s been appraised for. So genuinely, the land value has probably jumped up quite a bit.

I’m not sure if other arguments like ‘its not comparable b/c there’s no utilities on proprety’ will work, but I can’t imagine it would hurt to point out.

The ag exemption will be wonderful in 5 years, if you can keep your sanity managing the property, funding whatever ‘activity’ you decide to use for the exemption, and paying the current taxes in the meantime.

#4

I have been trying to help my grandpa with this recently. I think we can mostly fight the barn appraisal 46 year old barn went from being worth 25k to the county to 75k. It’s practically scrap metal so we have taken a lot of photos.

As for the land in the past year, there seem to have been 8 lots over 2 acres sold in the area. Of which 5 of them have no price on the deed… Basically in consideration of $10 and other nonsense. :unamused: The other 3 sold higher that what they appraised his property. 1 of which was purchased for 200k but the appraiser appraised it at 107k so i am super confused and annoyed.

There are a handful of lots around us appraised at 1/3 of the land value we have been appraised at (including the neighbor directly behind us), but most are higher and have houses. The appraisals seem very inconsistent and it bother me quite a bit. I spent a lot of time pouring over this last night when my grandpa said he didn’t look at comparable properties.

According to zillow there have been no comparable properties sold.

I have 3 years of receipts and am considering adding a couple cows to the place, so hopefully we get the ag in another 2 years. Because otherwise i don’t know how else to lower the taxes on the land portion. Ours is barely in Dallas county though.

#5

Yep…the real question, as you allude, is “comparables”. I’ve talked to a couple of other (farm) land owners in area that I am aware of and they say they have received increases as well. I don’t think the proposed appraisals are public record, otherwise I’d scout/poke around a bit and see if nearby land had received less of a bump and if so use that for a basis for appeal.

There are companies that take some of these cases on and appeal for you, but they seem to only be interested in land with actual homes.

#6

In Dallas county they have a map with all the appraisals and i can just click lots and see the appraisal. The problem is almost all the lots have houses, so there really isn’t much comparable.

#7

Yeah…it’s the voodo part that bugs me as well.

#8

Then I may be wrong about the public record part, since I can’t imagine it differs county by county, property tax law being something applied, therefore probably pretty consistent, statewide.

#9

How much land? I think every county differs in AG exemptions.

#10

My concerns is not related to AG, only in understanding best way to appeal a large bump in appraisal/valuation.

#11

Yes, every county is different and just call and talk to the ag appraiser yourself if you do decide to start one.

I found out Dallas is a bit more lenient tham the guide they put out, and you apparently don’t have be perfect the first 5 years here because you get rejected the first 5 anyways. So we essentially have 3 years that should count that i didn’t think would count. And SAVE RECEIPTS.

#12

If the last couple people bought something “similar” i don’t think there is much to do besides find things wrong or different and try talking them down.

Doesn’t seem to matter if not many people are buying/selling the property at these crazy prices. I kinda feel like it’s a cash grab. They point to the 3 lots that sold for a high value over the past 12 months ago go “see”. I actually noticed in our area no lots without houses sold at all in 2022 so far. Or not that i could find.

So im going to be digging around on the appraisal map tonight, since i struck out on the recent properties sale prices. And pick at some inconsistencies then call the office in the morning and ask them about what i could produce given what i had been unable to find.

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#13

Good luck without an exemption. Unless you have some good reason that the land value increase shouldn’t be assessed (flooding issues, etc…) you’re not going to get far. Land value has skyrocketed so much we sold our hunting land in Jones County last year and bought 2 rent houses. That land increased in value 2 1/2 times over about 5 years, 2x as fast as our home valuation had shot up here in the Metroplex.

#14

You are either Ag exempt or not. There are requirements in order to maintain the exemptions. This is why people see cattle grazing or hay being raised in the middle of the city. When you pull property out of ag exempt in order to build on the property, roll-back taxes are assessed. If you are surrounded by farms and ranches then it is usually based upon recent sales in the area or surrounding property value. A new subdivision going in, or a large take-down by a partnership of family offices can do it. Believe me that all of the local RE Brokers know exactly how much land is transacting for. The whole $10 and other consideration is to keep the peons from knowing the score.

If you are not ag exempt, then your property will be tied to other residential or commercial zoned property in the area. If you have water, sewer, and electric service then hold on tight. The county is telling you to build or sell to someone who will build.

You can visit loopnet.com to research commercial property values and any MLS website to view market rates on residential lots.

@FairieCyanide keep in mind that the tax board’s job is to bring in the money for the schools and county. Inferring that your barn is worthless might lead you to tear it down. If you have ag equipment in it, then they will say it is worth something. That something sometimes will be the replacement cost of the structure minus depreciation. This is what the percent depreciation field is all about. You will be told to pay up or tear it down, your choice.

The county has to keep the schools and staff rolling while prices continue to increase. Inflation from Washington is passed down directly to the property owners.

The next couple of year of appraisals is going to be absolutely brutal, and once taxes go up, they rarely come back down.

#15

Most investors will use a property tax consultant/firm. They will be able to inform you how this will play out. If you are board and just want to fight city hall, go spin the wheel. If you are talking serious money, bring a hired gun to the fight.

#16

2021 → 2022 was a 2.2 times increase on land only
2017 → 2022 was a 3 times increase on land only

It was pretty ridiculous this year, most of it was this year and not the previous 4. Anyways, we will be going the ag exemption route.

The ag exemption guy told me our barn was absolutely appraised wrong given what i said about the age, but if we have to pay 3,300 a year
to keep a worthless barn it will be coming down. I had thought they would prefer to tax a fair value and get something instead of nothing for it. I can build a smaller cheaper one for way less than the taxes on the old one if they insist on 75k, if i even bother probably won’t. I pay my registration cost on my 2k horse trailer, i dont think being charged 75k in value to keep my horse trailer under it is fair.

#17

I already have an Ag exemption. That’s why I included in my original post “I am just asking about protest/dispute considerations re: county’s valuation/appraisal, not things related to exemptions…etc.”

I even italicized it to try to forestall the derailing of the main question. Then you happened.

While I am not really an investor (w/regard to the land), I would like to talk to a property tax expert. I’ve reached out to a couple based on basic internet searches but not had much luck with them. I’m not sure how best to actually find them via internet, since they generally don’t appear in Yelp that much :–/

#19

Visit your property tax website and review the records for other raw land in your area. You will see a property tax advisor listed. Give them a call.

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#20

Where is this, which website? I am not seeing a property tax advisor listed on anything i have been looking at.

Our main solvable this year issue i think is the barn, they listed it as built this year with 0% depreciation. So i think protesting that will go fine.

I don’t expect much off the land, mostly just confused why land touching our lot is worth 10k to 50k per acre (mostly on the upper end). Ag exemption in a couple years will fix that though i guess. And i now have a reasonable excuse for cows.

#21

Look into bees and hay planting as well (different acreages and time requirements may apply). But some options are easier, depending, than others.