Unequal appraisal: protesting against similar homes
Texas lets you win if your value is above the median of comparable homes, appropriately adjusted. How it works and how to use it.
What the law says
Texas Tax Code §41.43(b)(3) says a protest on unequal appraisal must be decided in the owner's favor if the appraised value is greater than the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable properties, appropriately adjusted. You don't have to prove what your home would sell for, only that it's valued higher than similar homes. The district's own values are the evidence.
Choosing comparable homes fairly
The argument only works if the comparables are chosen by a rule, before looking at their values. Picking the five cheapest homes in the neighborhood is cherry-picking, and appraisal review boards see it every day. A fair rule uses physical facts only:
- the same appraisal neighborhood (the district's own grouping),
- the same quality class,
- similar living area (we use within 15%) and age (within 5 years),
- then the most similar homes first, by size, age and pool.
"A reasonable number" isn't defined; 5 to 15 homes is common. We use the 15 most similar homes and say "we can't tell yet" when fewer than 5 qualify.
Adjusting for differences
"Appropriately adjusted" means correcting each comparable for how it differs from your home before taking the median. Compare the house (improvement) value, not total value: land is valued separately and lot sizes differ. Then adjust each comparable's house value for size, age and a pool. For example, a comparable 10% smaller than yours is adjusted up by about 7%, because value grows more slowly than square footage.
An example
Your house value is $430,000. The 15 most similar homes in your appraisal neighborhood, adjusted to your size, age and pool, have a median house value of $399,000. Your house is valued $31,000 (7.8%) above the median, which is the amount an unequal appraisal protest argues for.
Identical floor plans
In newer subdivisions, builders repeat floor plans. Homes with the same plan, class and year should have nearly the same house value. If several identical plans are valued below yours, that's the clearest evidence there is.
Presenting it
Bring a one-page table: each comparable's address or account number, its facts, its house value, the adjustments and the median. State the rule you used to pick them. Our verdict pages show this comparison for your home.
See our methodology for the exact rule and adjustments we use.