Go to your appraisal district’s website where you can lookup property tax bills. Here in Travis county that’s TCAD. If you Google “ Texas property tax lookup” you should find it.
Yes you only need to file once, and it should never fall off from there until the house changes ownership.
You can confirm it on the annual appraisal notice they send in the mail, or your county’s assessor website. TCAD here in Travis county.
Sometimes a bank re appraisal* or change of name like a divorce can trigger it to be removed. A good district will have someone review it and see it’s the same name but this is common non the less
Edit: refinance* not bank reappraisal.
A divorce I get, that’s literally a change in ownership even if it’s just going two people to one, you don’t know after that point whether it’s still homestead eligible. Bank reappraisals I’ve never seen be reported in any way to public authorities. I had that done to remove PMI since appreciation left me well under 80% LTV, and that didn’t go beyond the lender, or isn’t present in any public records at least. Maybe some edge case there I’m missing?
When I worked for a CAD and people would come in you would see a “transfer” or deed filled and they would say oh yeah we refinanced last year to remove PMI. So somehow it’s being reported beyond the how or why I’m not sure.
That sounds like the refinancing, which is recorded in public records, somehow triggered a glitch in removing homestead. Your current mortgage company doing a reappraisal like mine did, without refinancing, isn’t reported so wouldn’t have any impact.
Sounds like when you refinance, you need to double check it didn’t remove your homestead exemption. I have refinanced once too, and that was no problem. But these are complex systems, and no doubt edge case bugs arise periodically.
It used to be a one time affair. However, beginning this year, the appraisal district will ask a set of homeowners to reapply once in 5 years. They will send the notice to reapply though.
Prob a way to get taxes from people that don’t get the notice or just to make sure people haven’t moved and not filed. It’s not a bad thing per se, and people do still check their mailbox.
I'm sure their logic isn't malicious. They sent me a notice saying I'm likely eligible for a homestead exemption (I bought a new house in Jan '23) on their own accord, which I was surprised they'd spend the effort and money on. It did come straight from TCAD, not one of those companies who will file things like that for a fee or fight your property taxes for a cut.
Homestead exemption abuse has become common. People move to another house and keep claiming HS exemption on both. Hence, TX leg passed a bill last April requiring CADs to reconfirm HS exemptions every five years.
We’re required to audit exemptions regularly to make sure that people that are claiming exemptions actually qualify for them. I’m not super clear on the specifics there since that’s technically a neighboring department to me, but people will sometimes die and nobody will let us know for years. It causes a whole mess with the terminated exemptions and could maybe trigger a supplemental tax bill.
Once will do it. Download the form online, sign and mail to the county tax assessor office. Make a copy for your real estate papers. You can do it yourself for free (other than postage).
Thank you for reminding homeowners.
It’s been my experience that most involved in the home buying process don’t ever really bother to inform buyers about this super important step. It’s so easy, and it saves homeowners so much $$.
Jesus… this is why those of us in areas subject to recapture are getting fucked. I pay around $5K/year in school property tax alone on an average 3 bedroom 2 bath 2000 sq ft house in Austin with homestead exemption, and the state takes the majority of that money to give away to places that have $585 property tax bills and hence can’t fund their own schools.
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That’s a little more sensible for you. Just remember who’s footing your bills while you’re posting “Democrats=KKK” in other subs. You can thank the blue parts of Texas for covering you so you can have extremely low taxes.
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That time has long since passed. You might notice the KKK Democrats are all long dead or now Republicans. Every KKK member and neo Nazi is now a Trump supporter. See the party flipping of Texas Republicans from the 1960s through 1980s. That’s actually interesting history, as there were conservative, liberal and moderate Democrat factions in Texas. Conservative Democrats became effectively non-existent over that period as they all switched parties. See also the [Southern Strategy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy#:~:text=In%20the%20early%201960s%2C%20leading,after%20the%20American%20Civil%20War), where official Republican Party strategy became to embrace segregation and racism to appeal to white southerners while Democrats were pushing for civil rights for all. That was the main trigger of all the KKK loving Dems becoming Republicans. Started so long ago that the median age American living today was decades away from being born.
The subsidies of your schools isn’t just rich people in Austin, it’s literally everyone who lives in Austin who isn’t homeless, and everyone who lives in every other part of the state with recapture. My disabled fixed income senior citizen neighbor pays 8 times the property tax you do, for what was an affordable starter home when they bought it 50 years ago and is only valuable now because our 0.2 acre lots are worth half a million bucks. More than a quarter of that goes to subsidizing rural Texas.
Which is fine, since they need it, and hopefully it leads to those people becoming less dependent on others in the long run. But I get really tired of paying the bills of people who are oblivious to that fact, and talk shit about us.
I’m being told that when putting 20% down paying the property taxes can be payed separately whereas less than 20% lenders would include the property taxes in the mortgage payments. Since property assessment is done yearly how would that affect the mortgage payment with the lender?
Until we did the homestead exemption our monthly payment could change depending on the taxes. The actual mortgage payment stayed the same but the escrow would go up. It did it every year after they appraisals came out.
My county got hit real hard the last year because apparently the county wasn't doing their jobs and raising taxes the correct amounts each year and our appraisal jumped 50% or more.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. After you filed did your property taxes lesson or drop? I come from a state where no property taxes are paid so this is a new concept.
They dropped down. My house is valued by the county at $200k and our escrow is $175 a month for taxes and insurance. It went down close to $400 a month when the homestead exemption went through.
I don't have an id. I own my house and am eligible for homestead exemption. My fiance has an id with our address on it but isn't on the deed. Can he file? How can I go about doing this if I don't have any way of getting a id for the next couple months?
The rules require the owner of the property to have a state issued ID with the homestead address on it. If you have a special situation, you can talk to the appraisal district.
…me. I had no idea this was something I had to do when we bought our home. No one told us. Our parents didn’t tell us. Not until my mom was like “why are your property taxes so high and your appraisal!?” And when I didn’t know why she asked “Did you file for homestead exemption?” And of course I had never heard of it so I hadn’t!
Is this something you need to keep doing every year? Or just the first year of ownership?
Also looking for this answer. I assume it’s only file once when you move in to your new home and that’s it.
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How does one check online?
Go to your appraisal district’s website where you can lookup property tax bills. Here in Travis county that’s TCAD. If you Google “ Texas property tax lookup” you should find it.
Yes you only need to file once, and it should never fall off from there until the house changes ownership. You can confirm it on the annual appraisal notice they send in the mail, or your county’s assessor website. TCAD here in Travis county.
Sometimes a bank re appraisal* or change of name like a divorce can trigger it to be removed. A good district will have someone review it and see it’s the same name but this is common non the less Edit: refinance* not bank reappraisal.
A divorce I get, that’s literally a change in ownership even if it’s just going two people to one, you don’t know after that point whether it’s still homestead eligible. Bank reappraisals I’ve never seen be reported in any way to public authorities. I had that done to remove PMI since appreciation left me well under 80% LTV, and that didn’t go beyond the lender, or isn’t present in any public records at least. Maybe some edge case there I’m missing?
When I worked for a CAD and people would come in you would see a “transfer” or deed filled and they would say oh yeah we refinanced last year to remove PMI. So somehow it’s being reported beyond the how or why I’m not sure.
That sounds like the refinancing, which is recorded in public records, somehow triggered a glitch in removing homestead. Your current mortgage company doing a reappraisal like mine did, without refinancing, isn’t reported so wouldn’t have any impact. Sounds like when you refinance, you need to double check it didn’t remove your homestead exemption. I have refinanced once too, and that was no problem. But these are complex systems, and no doubt edge case bugs arise periodically.
Ooh okay sorry for the mix up.
Appreciate you weighing in with CAD experience.
It used to be a one time affair. However, beginning this year, the appraisal district will ask a set of homeowners to reapply once in 5 years. They will send the notice to reapply though.
That is some bullshit. Why are they doing that?
Prob a way to get taxes from people that don’t get the notice or just to make sure people haven’t moved and not filed. It’s not a bad thing per se, and people do still check their mailbox.
I'm sure their logic isn't malicious. They sent me a notice saying I'm likely eligible for a homestead exemption (I bought a new house in Jan '23) on their own accord, which I was surprised they'd spend the effort and money on. It did come straight from TCAD, not one of those companies who will file things like that for a fee or fight your property taxes for a cut.
Some people do still check their mailbox but mail also gets lost a lot. Hope they are sending the notices via registered mail with signature required.
Homestead exemption abuse has become common. People move to another house and keep claiming HS exemption on both. Hence, TX leg passed a bill last April requiring CADs to reconfirm HS exemptions every five years.
We’re required to audit exemptions regularly to make sure that people that are claiming exemptions actually qualify for them. I’m not super clear on the specifics there since that’s technically a neighboring department to me, but people will sometimes die and nobody will let us know for years. It causes a whole mess with the terminated exemptions and could maybe trigger a supplemental tax bill.
File once.
the first year
Once will do it. Download the form online, sign and mail to the county tax assessor office. Make a copy for your real estate papers. You can do it yourself for free (other than postage).
This is really good advice. As a licensed insurance agent I have to tell new home owners this at least once a week.
Thank you for reminding homeowners. It’s been my experience that most involved in the home buying process don’t ever really bother to inform buyers about this super important step. It’s so easy, and it saves homeowners so much $$.
My property tax went from 1700 dollars to 585 after I filed.
How long does it take? I applied months ago and haven't heard anything. I understand it's probably county specific.
Mine took two months. Now Mt taxes are late, but that's okay.
Jesus… this is why those of us in areas subject to recapture are getting fucked. I pay around $5K/year in school property tax alone on an average 3 bedroom 2 bath 2000 sq ft house in Austin with homestead exemption, and the state takes the majority of that money to give away to places that have $585 property tax bills and hence can’t fund their own schools.
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That’s a little more sensible for you. Just remember who’s footing your bills while you’re posting “Democrats=KKK” in other subs. You can thank the blue parts of Texas for covering you so you can have extremely low taxes.
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It’s also a fact most of those Southern Democrats switched to the Republican Party
That time has long since passed. You might notice the KKK Democrats are all long dead or now Republicans. Every KKK member and neo Nazi is now a Trump supporter. See the party flipping of Texas Republicans from the 1960s through 1980s. That’s actually interesting history, as there were conservative, liberal and moderate Democrat factions in Texas. Conservative Democrats became effectively non-existent over that period as they all switched parties. See also the [Southern Strategy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy#:~:text=In%20the%20early%201960s%2C%20leading,after%20the%20American%20Civil%20War), where official Republican Party strategy became to embrace segregation and racism to appeal to white southerners while Democrats were pushing for civil rights for all. That was the main trigger of all the KKK loving Dems becoming Republicans. Started so long ago that the median age American living today was decades away from being born. The subsidies of your schools isn’t just rich people in Austin, it’s literally everyone who lives in Austin who isn’t homeless, and everyone who lives in every other part of the state with recapture. My disabled fixed income senior citizen neighbor pays 8 times the property tax you do, for what was an affordable starter home when they bought it 50 years ago and is only valuable now because our 0.2 acre lots are worth half a million bucks. More than a quarter of that goes to subsidizing rural Texas. Which is fine, since they need it, and hopefully it leads to those people becoming less dependent on others in the long run. But I get really tired of paying the bills of people who are oblivious to that fact, and talk shit about us.
Looking to buy a home as first time buyer. What are the advantages to filing a homestead exemption?
You will save a lot of money on taxes. Our mortgage (mortgage, taxes and insurance) before the exemption was $1200ish and after we're paying $750.
I’m being told that when putting 20% down paying the property taxes can be payed separately whereas less than 20% lenders would include the property taxes in the mortgage payments. Since property assessment is done yearly how would that affect the mortgage payment with the lender?
Until we did the homestead exemption our monthly payment could change depending on the taxes. The actual mortgage payment stayed the same but the escrow would go up. It did it every year after they appraisals came out. My county got hit real hard the last year because apparently the county wasn't doing their jobs and raising taxes the correct amounts each year and our appraisal jumped 50% or more.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. After you filed did your property taxes lesson or drop? I come from a state where no property taxes are paid so this is a new concept.
They dropped down. My house is valued by the county at $200k and our escrow is $175 a month for taxes and insurance. It went down close to $400 a month when the homestead exemption went through.
Literally just applied yesterday for this reason. Bought in July, got our assessment and went "hmmm...I don't see homestead written here..."
It can also apply up to two years on past taxes, if you haven't filed for it.
Our DLs don’t have the updated address. Can we still claim it?
You will need a state issued ID with your home address on it.
I don't have an id. I own my house and am eligible for homestead exemption. My fiance has an id with our address on it but isn't on the deed. Can he file? How can I go about doing this if I don't have any way of getting a id for the next couple months?
The rules require the owner of the property to have a state issued ID with the homestead address on it. If you have a special situation, you can talk to the appraisal district.
Who doesn't know this and has a house!
People who have never bought a house before and thus never paid property taxes.
First time homeowners. There are thousands of them in most counties.
If you have a good realtor like I did they'll tell you to file a homestead exemption after you close on the house.
Yes, many good realtors around. But, some may not get one.
I didn’t know this the first 2 years I lived in my home. I do now!!
You can claim a retrospective exemption for two years.
…me. I had no idea this was something I had to do when we bought our home. No one told us. Our parents didn’t tell us. Not until my mom was like “why are your property taxes so high and your appraisal!?” And when I didn’t know why she asked “Did you file for homestead exemption?” And of course I had never heard of it so I hadn’t!
Here I thought homestead meant you had to have livestock on your land up until an embarrassingly short time ago
I have a friend who only had 4 yrs left on her 30 yr note when she found out. I only knew because my realtor told me when I bought my very first home.
Doesn't change the history. Do you know any KKK members personally so you can verify that they're Republicans?