Property taxes are an important source of revenue for our state and local governments, but for many property owners, it can be difficult to pay the amount that is due each year. For owners of rental properties in Austin, Texas this tax burden each year can be substantial.
Fortunately, Texas offers an opportunity to protest your property taxes in order to reduce your tax burden. By protesting your taxes, you may be able to save money while also contributing to the betterment of your community!
Here are the benefits and reasons why you should protest your 2023 property taxes in Austin, Texas!
The primary benefit of protesting your property taxes in Austin, Texas is the potential to get your tax bill lowered! When you file a protest with your county appraisal district, you will have the opportunity to present evidence demonstrating why the value of your property should be reduced. This could include things such as recent sales of similar properties in the area, deferred maintenance or any damage that has occurred to your own property. If the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) agrees with your assessment, they can lower your taxable value accor...
Please do not submit maintenance requests back to back. Gather and submit as much as you can in a single request and then we will sort through and separate as needed. If you need to add to or follow up on a request email or call us rather than submitting another request. When we receive numerous requests for a property it is very easy for things to get lost when we have to combine the different items from several different places.
Uncontrolled Leaks or Flooding
In the event that you have a valve that is stuck open, water pipes leaking in an uncontrolled manner, etc. - Call your utility Emergency Services to come to turn off the water if you cannot do it yourself. We will get someone out as soon as possible, but you must do whatever is necessary to stop the flow of water.
If you have sewer water backing up in your tub or other fixtures immediately stop using the water in the property. In most cases, this will allow the water to drain away slowly, but do not put...
Last month we talked about how the holidays brought us our first hard freeze of the winter season, but no white Christmas in Austin. This month we were subject to a storm that had an impact similar to the February 2021 storm that shut off power across the state. The weather forecast leading up to this storm was a very mild prediction until 3-4 days prior when the forecast started ramping up to possibly some ice, and then as it drew closer the alarm bells started going off. The biggest threat wasn’t frozen pipes as much as it was a very hazardous layer of ice that there is really no way to prepare for other than to stay home and let it run its course.
The storm came and went, and as many of you already know there was a tremendous amount of damage across Central Texas and some surrounding areas. The power production held through the cold weather, but the infrastructure failed on a massive scale. Trees covered in ice toppled onto power lines, or the power lines and poles buckled under the weight of the ice leaving hundreds of thousands of people
You still have a few days left to recycle Christmas lights in Georgetown and you can still try to contact some of the drop-off sites to see if they’ll accept trees. There is a list of free drop-off sites if you scroll down toward the bottom of this page.
Be Weather Aware
While we’re in the middle of a fairly mild, and uneventful stretch of winter, the forecast can bring us a deep freeze at any point between now and spring. This KXAN article provides some good info about averages and statistics regarding freezes.
Lease Reminder
Summer is coming soon, and that makes things very busy for us. If you’re not familiar...
It's no secret that the past couple of years have been pretty chaotic when discussing the real estate market in Austin, Texas. From historically low rates offered by lenders to the influx of population, Austin experienced a massive boom in our real estate market which saw housing prices soar to record numbers.
As our economy wakes up from the dream of, essentially, free money and fast-moving listings on the MLS, we enter a time of more financial uncertainty. Rates are rising to levels that we haven't seen in years and at the same time, the average American has been affected by unforeseen economic factors, such as rising inflation.
In the video above, our founder, Jason Huval, and our Director of Business Development at Stone Oak, Mike Oellrich, discuss the shifts in our market and how they may affect landlords and individuals trying to sell/lease their properties across Greater Austin. Mike also discusses several questions he has been hearing from property owners in his day-to-day and discuss how landlords and property owner are overcoming obstacles they find in the market here in 2023.
Frequent Questions from Austin, Texas Property Owners Entering 2023
We want to wish all of our clients a Happy New Year. We hope that you’re off to a great start in 2023!
Christmas 2022 Freeze
The holidays brought us our first hard freeze of the winter season, but no white Christmas in Austin. We spent more than a week preparing tenants with information on how to protect pipes, and reminding them as the freeze got closer. The impact was mitigated for the most part, however there were some unavoidable situations that were out of our control.
One example is a condo under management where the neighboring unit is being used as an AirBnB and was unoccupied during the freeze. The owner must not have made any preparations and the pipes burst thus flooding our client’s unit. The whole building was without water for three days because the availability of vendors was stifled by the holiday and demand across the city. While the neighbor is to blame in our opinion, the only thing you can do is make sure you’re properly insured in this situation because it is likely going to be a long, drawn out fight if you ...
Now that the season is coming to an end, what do you do with your tree and/or lights that aren’t going to be kept? There are many programs available to recycle these items and availability will depend on your location or willingness to make a short trip. Below are some links to two programs for lights and trees.
The City of Georgetown will recycle string lights and there may be programs in your location that you can likely find with a quick search. Last year the City of Georgetown alone recycled more than 4,800 pounds of lights per their website.
The City of Austin has a holiday tree recycling program that allows you to put the tree out on the curb on your composting collection day. Their website also lists several drop-off locations around the Austin area.
With the shifting economy due to Fed interest rate hikes and other factors the rental market is changing in Austin, and across the country in both the single family and multi family markets. With some reporting indicating Austin is being hit harder than other markets there are things to take into consideration now with renewal and new lease rent rates. The increases in rent seem to be tempering and should be considered when the time comes because it’s better to have a tenant than to force a turnover by increasing the renewal too much, or by listing a property for lease at a rate that is too high. There are a lot of articles being published about the shift in the rental market, so instead of linking them we will just recommend doing some quick research if you want.
Some factors that are impacting the market are:
Seasonal variation- the late fall and early in the new year are typically a slower time overall in real estate
Increased rental inventory- due to the slow down in the sales market many property owners a...
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