Ownwell Overview: 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 chew out of your funds.

As a property proprietor, you might have the best to attraction the assessed worth of your house, which can assist you decrease your property taxes. However the time-consuming course of forces householders to leap by many hoops. That’s the place Ownwell is available in to barter for you and provide help to save in your property tax invoice.

We discover how Ownwell works so you possibly can determine if it’s a superb match on your state of affairs.

Ownwell is an Austin-based firm that works with property homeowners 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 primarily based. You solely pay if the attraction is profitable.

They are saying they’ve an 86% success fee and count on 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 it is best to overpay. When the tax workplace assesses the worth of your house, that may instantly influence how a lot you’ll pay in property taxes that yr.

The excellent news for property homeowners is that you’ve got the best to attraction your evaluation. The dangerous information is that doing so by yourself generally is a tedious and time-consuming course of. Ownwell provides to take over the appeals course of for you.

Once 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 Advisor is a neighborhood knowledgeable accountable 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 proportion of the financial savings because the payment to Ownwell. 

Here is what it seems to be like once you enter your deal with:

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 consumers see a discount of their property tax invoice. However, in fact, the quantity you can save varies from place to position.

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

The most important draw back of Ownwell is that it’s not out there in every single place. The corporate presently 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 attributable to insurance policies like Prop 13, which cap your property tax charges.

Once you work with Ownwell, you received’t encounter any upfront charges. If the corporate can’t prevent cash, you received’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.

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

Another choice is to rent a neighborhood property tax lawyer. Relying on the state of affairs, these professionals would possibly have the ability that can assist you by the appeals course of. However it is best to count on extra upfront prices with this feature. And you will probably pay for this service whether or not or not you lower your expenses.

Lastly, you possibly can at all times do it your self. This is able to require filling out particular kinds, 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 coming into your deal with and answering some primary questions on your property. You’ll additionally must add a duplicate of your property tax invoice. Ownwell will take over from there.

Ownwell protects your private info by “a system of organizational and technical safety measures.” Sadly, the privateness coverage is a bit imprecise on how they defend your info. However a lot of the info they require is publicly out there by 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 possibly can 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

If you’re a property proprietor, Ownwell might provide help to save in your property taxes. It’s an particularly good service in case you’ve lately seen a spike within the assessed worth of your house. However because you don’t must pay an upfront payment, those that stay throughout the firm’s service space might discover plenty of worth by Ownwell.

I’d like to make use of Ownwell for my main residence. Sadly, it’s not out there in my space. But when it’s an possibility for you, think about looking for financial savings with Ownwell at this time.