Ownwell Assessment: Decrease Your Property Taxes

Ownwell is a service that helps you attraction and decrease your property taxes.

The price of proudly owning a property goes far past the acquisition worth. Even in case you repay your mortgage, you’ll nonetheless be on the hook for property taxes. Sadly, an unfair evaluation might push your property tax prices greater and take an enormous chunk out of your funds.

As a property proprietor, you could have the suitable to attraction the assessed worth of your private home, which may also help you decrease your property taxes. However the time-consuming course of forces householders to leap by way of many hoops. That’s the place Ownwell is available in to barter for you and enable you to save in your property tax invoice.

We discover how Ownwell works so you’ll be able to determine if it’s a great match to your state of affairs.

Ownwell is an Austin-based firm that works with property house owners to decrease their property taxes. The corporate makes use of a group of consultants supported by expertise to assist householders efficiently attraction unfair assessments.

Whereas being a comparatively new firm, they did over 170,000 property tax appeals in 2023.

Ownwell will attraction the valuation of you house on which your property taxes are based mostly. You solely pay if the attraction is profitable.

They are saying they’ve an 86% success price and anticipate to do between 400,000 and 500,000 appeals in 2024, with the typical buyer saving over $1,100. 

Property taxes are an unavoidable price. However that doesn’t imply you must overpay. When the tax workplace assesses the worth of your private home, that may instantly affect how a lot you’ll pay in property taxes that yr.

The excellent news for property house owners is that you’ve the suitable to attraction your evaluation. The dangerous information is that doing so by yourself is usually a tedious and time-consuming course of. Ownwell presents to take over the appeals course of for you.

If you work with Ownwell, the method works by offering the corporate with particulars like a picture of your property tax invoice. From there, Ownwell will make a case for you and submit it to the suitable tax physique. All through the method, a devoted Property Tax Marketing consultant is an area professional answerable for your case. Relying on the state of affairs, Ownwell would possibly meet with the county assessors or attend attraction board hearings.

In the event that they’re profitable, you’ll get notified about your financial savings and pay a share of the financial savings because the price to Ownwell. 

This is what it seems like while you enter your tackle:

As of writing, Ownwell says that single-family householders save a mean of $1,148 per yr when working with Ownwell. Additionally, the corporate claims that over 85% of shoppers see a discount of their property tax invoice. However, after all, the quantity you might save varies from place to put.

It’s value noting that property house owners in Washington and Georgia might see their taxable worth enhance after a evaluation, which might result in extra property taxes. But when Ownwell sees that as a threat, they are going to forgo submitting your attraction.

The largest draw back of Ownwell is that it’s not out there in every single place. The corporate at the moment operates in Texas, California, Washington, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, and New York.

Moreover, even in locations like California, there’s solely a restricted quantity of choices as a consequence of insurance policies like Prop 13, which cap your property tax charges.

If you work with Ownwell, you gained’t encounter any upfront charges. If the corporate can’t prevent cash, you gained’t pay something. But when the corporate does prevent cash, it should take 25% to 35% of these financial savings.

For instance, let’s say Ownwell saves you $1,000 in your property taxes. You’ll pay them $250 to $350 for his or her service.

In case you are on the lookout for a streamlined property tax discount service with none upfront price, Ownwell is a top-tier alternative. It’s true that you might undergo the paperwork your self. However in case you don’t have the time or power to decide to the method, it could possibly be value parting with 25% of the financial savings. And keep in mind, if they do not prevent something, you do not pay something!

An alternative choice is to rent an area property tax legal professional. Relying on the state of affairs, these professionals would possibly have the option that will help you by way of the appeals course of. However you must anticipate extra upfront prices with this feature. And you will probably pay for this service whether or not or not you get monetary savings.

Lastly, you’ll be able to all the time do it your self. This might require filling out particular varieties, understanding what your property worth is, after which working with the county on any hearings. 

In accordance with Ownwell, the signup course of takes lower than three minutes. Begin by getting into your tackle and answering some primary questions on your property. You’ll additionally have to add a duplicate of your property tax invoice. Ownwell will take over from there.

Ownwell protects your private data by way of “a system of organizational and technical safety measures.” Sadly, the privateness coverage is a bit imprecise on how they shield your data. However a lot of the data they require is publicly out there by way of your tax assessor’s workplace, so they do not have entry to a lot most people already cannot see.

If you wish to get in contact with Ownwell, you’ll be able to name their assist group. Right here’s the numbers for every state they work in:

• California: 310-421-0191
• Georgia: 678-890-0767
• New York: 516-518-3334
• Washington: 206-395-8382
• Florida: 305-901-2905
• Illinois: 312-500-3131
• Texas: 512-886-2282

In case you are a property proprietor, Ownwell might enable you to save in your property taxes. It’s an particularly good service in case you’ve just lately seen a spike within the assessed worth of your private home. However because you don’t should pay an upfront price, those that dwell throughout the firm’s service space might discover lots of worth by way of Ownwell.

I’d like to make use of Ownwell for my major residence. Sadly, it’s not out there in my space. But when it’s an choice for you, take into account in search of financial savings with Ownwell as we speak.