SAN ANTONIO – When Teresa Garces opens her mail from the Bexar Appraisal District, she is in for another shocker. Her 1260-square-foot home just shot up in value by 15% on top of last year’s unprecedented jump.
Garces has lived in the Dignowity Hill neighborhood for more than 20 years. It’s changed, she said.
“They look like medium-priced homes, but they’re not,” she said. “They’re selling for almost triple the amount that people paid for them.”
Her neighbor, Richard Cardenas, is also seeing a 15% jump in his property value. His land alone has nearly doubled in value in the past two years. He says developers continue to buy, restore, and sell old houses.
“They’re selling for three or four or $500,000, you know, and that’s too much, and that increases our property value,” Cardenas said.
Their stories are familiar ones. Countywide, residential values are up an average of 14.8%, not as drastic as last year’s 27%, but it’s still a significant increase.
Property owners can face higher property tax bills depending on the tax rates set by the various government bodies.
“We expect to hear the same frustration that everybody feels,” said Rogelio Sandoval, assistant chief appraiser for Bexar County.
He points out that the law requires appraisal districts to follow the market and sales prices.
While the number of home sales dipped last year, prices continued to climb. According to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, the average sales price last year was about $345,000, compared to $311,000 the year before.
Appraisers use the information they can gather. They do not look at each home.
“We have 50 appraisers for residential properties, yet we have over 500,000 residential homes,” Sandoval said. “It’s impossible for us to look at your homes. Specifically, what we do -- we do mass appraisal. We look at neighborhoods.”
If some homes in your neighborhood had improvements and sold at top dollar, that can be reflected in other homes in the community. The time to look at individual properties, he said, is at the appeal.
Sandoval encourages property owners to check to be sure they are claiming all the exemptions to which they are entitled, such as the homestead exemption, over 65 and disability exemptions. Claiming those can help the tax bill.
If you disagree with your valuation, you can appeal it. The first step is to file a notice of appeal by filling out the form on the back of your mailed notice or online at bcad.org. Protesting an appraisal is free.
Sandoval encourages property owners to appeal and says to be sure to request the district’s evidence packet. That way, you know exactly how they arrive at your value and what you may need for documentation or photographs to make your case.
“Last year, we had the largest record number of appeals, 179,000, out of which 151,000 were homeowners,” Sandoval said.
The vast majority were resolved at the informal level, he said.
“It’s having a conversation of how we arrived at the valuation, listening to the owners’ evidence and coming to an agreement,” Sandoval said.
The deadline to file a notice of appeal is May 15. The 2023 values are posted on the Bexar Appraisal District’s website.