Summary
After purchasing a home in Frisco, Texas in 2020, Chris Ford struggled to find accurate information and reliable advice on reducing his property tax burden. After discovering Bezit and the platform's streamlined application process for homestead exemptions, Chris was able to reduce his taxable property value by more than 20%, saving him thousands of dollars for the current year and additional savings in the years to come.
Introduction
Chris Ford and his wife decided to move to Texas in 2020 after visiting many times, primarily to visit Chris's sister and brother-in-law. After visiting many areas of Texas, they settled on Frisco as a potential place to live.
They bought the house directly from the builder and weren't given any information about property taxes at that time. After a quick 40-minute conversation with the builder, they signed a contract and got back on a plane to New Jersey, without being educated on the subject of property taxes and homestead exemptions in Texas.
In 2020, the pandemic was in full swing, as the pair discovered the many differences between being a homeowner in New Jersey versus Texas, including their property tax burden.
Chris knew people who had applied for a homestead exemption, but he was wary about what impact it might have if he sold the home later. Eventually, after 2 years of Covid and some online research, he decided to apply for the exemption. He had heard that property taxes were going up and suspected that his house was appreciating in value, but he wanted some professional advice. He connected with a property tax company, a broker, who charged him a base rate of $400 for their services, and specified that they would also take a percentage of the total property tax savings. Their estimate brought the home value down, but they were using a potential homestead exemption as the basis of their protest—i.e., “If Chris had a homestead exemption, this would be the actual property tax bill.”
Frustrated, Chris decided that he would retroactively apply for the homestead exemption, and if that didn't work, at least he could apply for the present and future years. After asking the tax specialists to help with such an application, they refused to give him the necessary information without agreeing to pay them a percentage of his retroactive savings. This didn't seem fair to Chris, so he began to look elsewhere for advice.
How Did Bezit Help?
He soon came across Bezit, a property tax relief company run by a friend of his, Sateesh Polisetti. Speaking directly to the business owner, he quickly got the information he was looking for about retroactive payments on homestead exemption savings. Not only was he quickly given the information the other tax team had withheld, but Sateesh soon came back with a complete assessment of his homeownership profile, specific numbers, and the estimated savings Chris could expect if he applied for a homestead exemption. The communication was simple, unlike the situation Chris had experienced with the other tax specialists, who seemed to unnecessarily complicate the process, doling out small amounts of information and locking truly useful advice behind a paywall.
With Bezit, the process was simple and could be completed entirely online. Chris started his official Bezit process by applying for a homestead exemption, and the savings were quite similar to Sateesh's early estimates. Cumulatively, these initial savings were about $7,000, and Chris has been highly impressed with Bezit's clear communication and focus on customer experience. He initially lacked the confidence to apply online and get his application approved, but the Bezit system is user-friendly, without the time-consuming back-and-forth he had experienced with other tax companies.
He was able to access all the answers he needed online, at his convenience, on his schedule.
By using Bezit, Chris is projected to save 25-28% on his future property taxes, and the homestead exemption has reduced his taxable property value by over $200,000—representing more than 20% of his annual tax payments!
As a telecom professional, Chris is something of a tech expert, and he reported his experience of working with Bezit's platform as “fantastic”, much easier than navigating the county website, and then downloading, printing, and submitting all the necessary forms manually.
With a straightforward and convenient platform, the team at Bezit educated Chris on the nuances of Texas property tax, streamlined the homestead application process, and rewarded him with thousands of dollars in savings now and for years into the future.
