Learn how Evan Brinkerhoff applied for a homestead exemption with Bezit and made the most of his tax benefits.
Summary: When Evan received a tax assessment notice from the county, he was looking for options that would ease his paperwork burden. Upon further research, he noticed the steep increase in the figures and looked for options to file a protest. He chose Bezit’s quick and easy application process with a flat-fee model to exercise his right to protest and managed to save $18,000 by applying for a homestead exemption.
A Texan homeowner’s search for the right evaluation of his home
When construction consultant Evan Brinkerhoff moved from Seattle to Texas in 2020, he was looking forward to enjoying the Texan sun, the beautiful neighborhoods, and a quaint life with his wife in his new home.
That was the dream, at least, until a property tax notice from the county this year made him take a closer look at things and evaluate the assessment. After paying taxes consistently for three years, the numbers seemed too high, and Evan decided to take matters into his own hands.
An otherwise DIY guy, he looked for services that could help him with paperwork, but he soon discovered that he could also apply for a homestead exemption. To save some time, he found Bezit in an online search and decided to give it a shot.
This is not just true for Evan. For most people living in Texas, property taxes seem to either catch them by surprise or cause undue amounts of stress. While the law allows a citizen to protest taxes in the case of an unfair assessment, most people either don’t exercise the right or would rather have someone else do it for them.
That’s how a lot of them end up paying excessive taxes without realizing it.
Why do homeowners resist protesting property taxes?
Despite measures and property tax relief that is available to Texans, most of them don’t opt for it. There are a multitude of reasons for this:
- Lack of awareness: Most of them don’t know about the benefits of protesting property taxes in their counties and are blissfully unaware of the potential savings.
- Paperwork: As it involves a fair amount of paperwork, the thought of an extensive paper trail and documentation deters people from applying.
- It’s only for the wealthy: A common misconception people hold is that only the rich can afford to protest their property taxes.
- High fees with services: A lot of agents and firms offer solutions and services, but they take a 40% cut of the savings, which leaves the homeowner with barely any profit to show for their effort.
- Fear of being under the scanner: Incorrectly assuming that they’re going to invite trouble for themselves with the authorities, homeowners do not exercise their right to protest.
- Non-surety about the outcomes: As there is no guarantee that an appeal may work in their favor, or if it’s too small an amount, homeowners may not consider the savings worth the effort.
How Bezit solves the excess tax pain point of home ownership
Evan discovered Bezit’s services in an online search. One quick form later, he decided to pay a small fee for their service and applied for a homestead exemption, as he was applying for the first time, not having experienced any of this in his prior residence in Seattle.
With real-time updates on the appeal process, he was able to supervise the proceedings of his appeal and was able to save $18,000 in his taxes.
The Bezit Advantage
- Understanding the legal landscape: With a team of trained experts on hand, Bezit guided a first-time protestor like Evan throughout the entire process, from estimating the right amount and filing an appeal to understanding the intricacies of what a homeowner needs to do when they receive a notice from the county.
- Data-led estimation: With Bezit, Evan had access to a report generated by the team, which summarized property trends and estimates of the right property value. It also offered a projected sum that Evan would potentially end up saving based on its intelligent proprietary tech. These numbers were populated based on the real estate pricing and trends available locally as well as sourced from government websites and databases.
- Ease of communication: Evan is a busy guy in a consultant job, who probably sees a lot of emails every day. Despite this, the simple, timely communication via email on updates of the appeal proceedings ensured that he was in the know on all accounts and didn’t have to follow up or chase the team for a status update.
- Affordable fee: A flat fee of $99 is levied on the service, which makes it easy and affordable for homeowners like Evan to consider an appeal and exercise their right to protest unfair assessments.
- Time-saving and effortless: With legal proceedings, the usual assumption is that it’s going to take a long time. This can be anywhere from weeks to months. But with Bezit, the process from the online application to the result of the appeal hearing is quick and not embroiled in winding, cumbersome procedures that take forever. It also saved Evan round trips to the county office and appearing for hearings, not to mention the effort of doing all of this alone, from research to remedy.
The last thing any homeowner wants is an added pile of responsibility that involves money, effort, and a lot of paperwork. Bezit helps homeowners exercise their right to protest property tax assessments in a timely and cost-effective manner.
