r/texaspropertytax

A new (to me) house has some defects/deficiencies that I think should reduce its general value in an appraisal. Taking pics and vids and writing up some blurbs is not an issue for me, but wondering how to go about justifying a value/appraisal reduction is. For instance, it has a concrete floor throughout that looks OK(ish), but was never sealed and so shows some stains. How do I tell the Appraisal District protest review committee that it is worth $?? less because of this? Do I have to hire an appraiser? Or do I SWAG it and hope they accept my guess?

Filed an electronic appeal with the Fort Bend Tax appraisal district and within 2 hours had a settlement offer from the "chief appraiser". Is this just an AI offer? Should I reject? What happens then? Do I have to go in person to appeal? Any experience with that? Is it worth it? Are they hard nosed and its a waste of time? It was 4% discount. Perplexity (AI) ran comps and came back with a recommendation to push for an 18% discount on the original appraised amount.

I have a shed set on risers/pavers, so it's movable anytime I want, i.e. not permanently on a slab or something. I was told by a neighbor who has his set up like this that it should not be taxed by the county. Is this true? Does it depend on the specific county?

Edit: SInce it apparently matters, I am in Fannin County. Although I am interested in others' experiences from other countries as well.

We just moved in to our new construction house at the end of February. Cost to build was around 750k not including the land. It’s 4000sqft under roof and has a 1500sqft detached shop. I filed for homestead exemption as soon as we moved in. We just got our tax appraisal in the mail from the county for 2026. They have our house valued super low which is a good thing. The land without the house before we started building was assessed at 153k. Our assessed value is now 390k which I assume is because the house wasn’t completely finished at the time of the tax assessment? All other homes in the area are taxed at around twice that value.

Here is my main question:

Since I have filed for homestead exemption and they have my tax value at 390k, does the 10% increase cap still apply? Or can the county come back next year and double it and just say it’s because the house wasn’t finished at time of the previous assessment?