Honest answers, real relief, and the tools you have — whether you're buying, selling, or simply trying to make sense of your bill.

Property taxes. Just the phrase is enough to make a lot of East Texans take a deep breath. If you've felt confused, frustrated, or caught off guard by your tax bill in recent years — you are not alone, and your feelings are completely valid. This is one of the topics I talk about most with clients, and it deserves a clear, honest conversation.

So let's have it. No jargon, no overwhelm — just the information you need, explained in a way that actually helps.

Property taxes are annual taxes paid to local government based on the assessed value of your home. In Texas, they fund the things your community depends on every day: public schools, roads, emergency services, libraries, and county infrastructure.

Texas has no state income tax — which means property taxes carry more weight here than in many other states. That's the tradeoff. For most Texans, it remains a favorable one. But when bills climb faster than paychecks, it stops feeling like a tradeoff and starts feeling like a burden. That frustration is real, and it's worth addressing head-on.

Your property tax bill is calculated by multiplying your home's appraised value by your local tax rate. When home values surged dramatically between 2020 and 2023, appraisals followed — and tax bills climbed with them.

Your rate may not have changed much at all. But if your home's assessed value jumped $40,000 or $50,000 in a single year, you felt it immediately. That's the part that stings — and for many families, it came as a genuine shock.

Your appraised value and your tax rate are two completely separate things — and you have real tools to address both of them. You are not powerless here. In fact, you may have more options than you realize. Texas law gives every homeowner meaningful tools to protect themselves — and now, meaningful relief.

Texas voters passed significant property tax reform in November 2025, and it took effect January 1, 2026. This isn't a small tweak — it's the most meaningful homeowner relief in years, and it directly benefits people right here in East Texas.

General Homestead Exemption: $100K → $140K

That means $140,000 of your home's value is now completely exempt from school district taxes — the largest chunk of most Texans' property tax bills. If you already have a homestead exemption on file, this applied automatically. No action required.

~$420–$490 saved annually for average homeowner

Seniors & Disabled Homeowners: Major Additional Relief

The additional exemption for qualifying seniors (65+) and disabled Texans jumped from $10,000 to $60,000 — bringing combined school district exemptions to $200,000. For those living on fixed incomes, this is a meaningful, real-dollar difference every single year.

~$945 in additional annual savings for seniors/disabled

The Protest Process Just Got Fairer

New legislation (HB 1533) now requires appraisal districts to share their evidence with you at least 14 days before your hearing — instead of handing it to you the day of. That matters enormously. It gives you and your representative real time to prepare a genuine, informed challenge.

If you own and occupy your home as your primary residence, you qualify for the homestead exemption — and it can save you hundreds of dollars every single year. This is one of those things where a little paperwork has an outsized payoff, and I always make sure my clients know about it.

Even with the new exemptions, if your home has been over-assessed, you're still paying more than you should. Here's the key distinction: the exemption reduces your taxable value by a fixed dollar amount. A protest reduces your appraised value — the number the exemption is applied to. Both matter, and they work together to maximize your savings.

Protesting is your right as a Texas homeowner. It costs nothing to file. And when you successfully lower your appraised value, that savings compounds year after year — it's not a one-time win.

⚠️ Important for Buyers — Read This Before You Close

If you're financing your home, your lender will almost certainly set up an escrow account that collects a portion of your estimated annual property tax bill alongside every monthly mortgage payment. This means your tax burden is woven into what you pay each month — it's not a separate bill that arrives once a year and surprises you.

Here's where it gets important: when your appraised value rises, your escrow payment adjusts at your annual escrow review — which can increase your monthly payment even if your interest rate hasn't changed at all. This catches a lot of homeowners off guard in their second or third year of ownership.

This is precisely why, when we're looking at homes together, we always factor the full property tax picture into your total monthly payment estimate. No surprises after closing. That's a promise I make to every buyer I work with.

For Sellers

Are high taxes driving buyers away? It's a fair concern — and the honest answer is: not in the way you might fear. Knowledgeable buyers factor taxes into their offer and their budget. What matters most is that your home is priced right relative to its taxes, condition, and comparable properties. A well-priced home with accurate tax figures sells. This is another reason pricing right from the start matters so much — it accounts for the full picture, taxes included.

For Buyers

When you're evaluating homes, always look at the full monthly payment — not just principal and interest. We will walk through the property tax history, what the homestead exemption will save you, and whether a protest might be warranted. An informed buyer is a confident buyer, and I want you walking into closing with eyes wide open and zero surprises.

Property taxes in Texas are real, and the frustration people feel about rising appraisals is completely legitimate. The years between 2020 and 2023 were genuinely difficult for a lot of homeowners in this regard, and it's okay to still feel the sting of that.

But here's what I want you to hold onto: you have more tools than you may realize. The homestead exemption. The protest process — now fairer than ever. Meaningful legislative reform that took effect this year. And an agent who makes it a point to walk every client through exactly what their tax picture looks like before and after closing.

Whether you're a first-time buyer trying to understand what your bill will actually be, a long-time owner who has never protested an appraisal and wonders if they should, or a seller trying to understand how taxes factor into your pricing — I am here for that conversation. It's one of my favorite parts of this job, because information is power, and nobody should feel in the dark about something this important.