Dallas County Tax Appraisals Don't Mean Squat!

The Dallas appraisal district just sent out their 2009 Dallas tax assessments based on their most recent appraisals. How they come up with the appraised values is beyond me, but it's often not very accurate when compared to actual market data (known as comparable sales, or comps). I know that it's human nature to put credence in tax appraisals but don't be alarmed if they reduced the value of your home. Instead, enjoy the reduced taxes while you can, because it doesn't appear that Uncle Sam will be lowering ANYBODY'S taxes anytime soon the way they're blowing through taxpayer cash and newly printed money.

So don't sweat a low-ball tax assessment if you're selling, and don't put much value in a tax assessment of a home you're considering to purchase. Accurate market data will compare the red apples to actual red apples - not the sorta reddish apples, the yellow apples or the green ones.

Also, if you're curious about a tax assessment for a particular property, just visit http://dcad.org/

OpenHomez Web Site Lists Open Houses For The Public

I came across an interesting web site, openhomez.com which lists various open houses for the general public. I am not sure about it's market penetration to date, but I would imagine that it would continue to expand it's reach moving forward. Anyway, just an idea for those who would like to preview Dallas open houses online - before driving the streets looking for open houses in Dallas and the surrounding DFW metro-plex. Link, http://www.openhomez.com/index.php