Thinking of using a property tax protest company instead of doing it myself, any experience with them in the Plano or DFW areas?

Posted by Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit | plano | View on Reddit | 58 comments

Honestly I just don't have the bandwidth to pull comps, figure out what's actually a valid comparison and then take time off to show up to a hearing. We've been going back and forth on it for weeks and at this point I think I'd rather just hand it off to a company that knows what they're doing

I know some of them work on contingency which makes it feel lower risk but I have no idea how to evaluate which ones are actually good vs just collecting easy wins on cases that would have settled anyway. Like I don't want to pay to someone who just clicked accept on the first offer DCAD threw out

Anyone in the Plano or DFW area used one? Did you feel like they actually fought for you or just took whatever was offered? I want to know if there's a meaningful difference between the bigger companies and the smaller local ones too

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taxdrop@reddit

I built a platform for protest because I am also a DFW real estate investor and was tried of getting scorch on DCAD property taxes, Collin County too.

Similar to Ownwell (which I used before and also have respect for), our service is 25% of savings, but addresses some of the gaps Ownwell has currently.

- Massive dataset (millions of property records + full ingest of CAD assessment rolls)
- AI and automation - our protests are semi-automated so they are 80% generated for a consult to review and polish -- saving cost and making more time to negotiate with CAD and enhance the evidence.
- We also cover 60 counties - many smaller CADs that Ownwell doesn't support (useful if you own rentals in them)
- Assigned Senior Property Tax Consultant on every protest - Seniors have 4+ years minimum and additional training compared to non. Assigned agent means you can contact a single person, not a call center.

Glad to share details for anyone interested -- and please let's all PROTEST BY 5/15!

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Ok-Organization6705@reddit

Interested in information

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taxdrop@reddit

I got you, it's www.taxdrop.com - we have Collin and Dallas full CAD preliminary assessment rolls for 2026. If you check our site, you can enter your address to see predicted savings and if you are over-assessed.

The prediction is based on checking 20 of your comparable neighboring properties, filtering down to the 7 lowest (but still similar), and then calculating if your $/sqft is on the same level. If yours is higher, it will show you what you could likely save with a protest.

If you like what you see, you can sign up with us and authorize us to rep you to the CAD. It takes about 2 minutes to enroll.

Our model is 25% of what you save, no savings = no fee. Any property over $200,000 is generally worth it.

Thanks!! - Ryder

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Ok-Organization6705@reddit

We gave you service a try this year

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taxdrop@reddit

Amazing, thank you!

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Spiritual-Junket-995@reddit

Semi-automated protests at 80% generated is a solid approach. Most platforms either go full template or hand-write everything, so splitting the difference actually makes sense for evidence quality.

I used Ownwell last year and the call center routing was annoying. Having a single assigned consultant matters more than people think, especially when CADs kick back evidence requests.

The 60 county coverage is the real differentiator though. Smaller CADs are brutal to navigate manually, and most services ignore them entirely. If the automation holds up at that scale, that's where the real savings are hiding.

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sehremini@reddit

Property tax protests are due by May 15 this year. It’s worth considering a protest—Texas has some of the highest property tax rates in the country, and county appraisers often assess thousands of homes at once, which means your home could be overvalued.

Using platforms like Ownwell will do it all for you. You’ll only pay 25% of the dollars they save you.

(I’m not employed by Ownwell. Just a happy user. Use whichever company gets the job done)

Hope this helps some neighbors save a little money this year!

https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=7AE63Z5A5

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cantrunfromthepuns@reddit

Ownwell saved me ~$1,100 in property taxes last year and took around 15 min to fill out their form to protest.

They’ve been my go-to if you want to protest these and don’t want to deal with courts/paperwork. Very easy-to-use interface.

It’s a win-win, you pay nothing if they’re unable to generate a tax savings for you and the fee is only 25% of your tax savings if they are able to bring the value down.

Feel free to use my referral code for an extra $20 in savings: https://www.ownwell.com/?owl=4CD65Z4B4

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HomeTaxDefense_com@reddit

I protest every year, and so I built an app that makes it easy to build protest packet for condition based repairs and also comps. Its free to build a repair based packet and $10 for it to build a comp-based packet. www.hometaxdefense.com

It is quick, painless, gives you a target valuation, and you can take the packet and upload it to the county.

Regardless, best of luck on your quest!

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thetokyofiles@reddit

I’ve used PropertyTax IO for a few years. Successful protests about half the time. I chose them because a few years ago they did a free seminar in conjunction with the Dallas Morning News and they seemed professional without being overly sales-y.

Would recommend.

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Polipop395@reddit

I used them for the same reason but be aware that they take a 30% cut while Ownwell takes 25%. I now see the DMN has its own tax protest service available for free and might try that next year.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

Good to know, I hadn't heard of them. Half the time is kind of what I'd expect honestly, I don't think any company is going to win every year depending on what the market does. The seminar thing is interesting, that's a low pressure way to evaluate someone before handing over your account. Appreciate the rec😊

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thetokyofiles@reddit

Best of luck

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GrillMonkey187@reddit

I’ve used Property-IO for a couple years….no luck getting any sort of reduction. Waiting to see what they do this year & then likely switching to OwnWell.

I think it’s bullshit that the appraisal district can just increase the appraisal every year just based off of comp sales…no inspections. And the onus is put on the homeowner to prove it’s not worth what the CCAD says it is.

F every last person employed at CCAD.

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Polipop395@reddit

I used Property-IO for years since it was recommended in the DMN. They never saved me anything and then I learned Ownwell took a smaller cut of any savings so have switched this year.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

Yeah the comp-based increases with no actual inspection always gets me. They've never set foot in my house but somehow know what it's worth

and switching to ownwell is exactly what I'm leaning toward after this thread honestly, will be curious what your experience is like compared to property-io

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ZER0_F0CKS@reddit

I used Onwell 1 year after buying my home in Plano. We have now been here 3 years. Not only did they save me money for the first year, but I also got a refund check from the previous year for $2700.00. I had to pay $600 of that back to Onwell. I didn’t have to do anything other than provide simple information. Initially I paid them around $75.00 to start the service I think. For us this money was a great help. I would highly recommend their service.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

I didn't realize you could get money back for a previous year, I thought it was just about lowering the value going forward. May have just sold me on it

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ZER0_F0CKS@reddit

I honestly didn’t know that either. One day I get a check in the mail for $2700.00 and I had to look it up to figure out what it was from. It was a great surprise. I don’t know why people question trying this service.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

a random check showing up with no context sounds like the best kind of mail to get

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ZER0_F0CKS@reddit

Yea. At first I thought it was going to be an escrow check or something. I truly didn’t know their service would go back the previous year.

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FunNeedleworker7726@reddit

I’ve had the happen when the homestead exemption was not properly applied when it should have been. Not sure you can get it for past years any other way.

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mosterofthedomain@reddit

ownwell will not fight or do anything. they sent me a solicitation that said they could get $25k off my valuation. As with everything, I was not expecting the full amount anyway. They got me $8k and lost me a chance to talk to the tax office. Be aware that once you give them the keys, you accept what you got or not. You wont be able to start the process on your own for that tax year. If this is your primary residence, you are better off working on your own.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

This is really useful to know, thank you.

did you end up switching after that or stick with them?

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mosterofthedomain@reddit

I am not sure this year. The tax office estimate this year is pretty close to the property valuation that was done last december.

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kjsvaughan1@reddit

There is zero cost to sign up with Ownwell. You only pay a small percentage if they save you $.

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lordb4@reddit

They have never charged to start the service.

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OneDillion@reddit

Pretty much the exact same experience with me. And they just keep doing it automatically for you every year. It was a great help as I was struggling to pay my escrow amount. If they don’t save you any money, you don’t pay them anything.

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Miguel6632@reddit

Onwell

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Zesty_TX-88@reddit

I got close family who’ve used Ownwell the past couple of years and were very happy with the reductions. I think they saved around $900 per year.

I live in Austin and my fam got me to try Ownwell last year. They did better than the firm I used beforehand.

Yes I know I can do it myself but I don’t have the time or patience to go argue in front of county employees.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

the time and patience thing is exactly it for me. And hearing that they did better than a previous firm is actually more convincing than just hearing they're good, like that's a real comparison

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AssignmentSecret@reddit

I just used Claude ai and 15 mins of my time to generate comps and pictures and Redfin links and got $8k off a $400k house. But you do YOU!

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

That's actually impressive. Maybe I'm overcomplicating this in my head. Did you just describe your house to it and ask it to find comps or was there more to it than that?

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servantofashiok@reddit

You are indeed overthinking this. onwell is a complete scam. When you go through the info gathering process on their site you are literally providing them with all the information (you do all the work!) that you could use yourself. In other words, you’re doing the same amount of work as protesting yourself, but you are paying someone else instead!

Ask your original realtor to get comp information for you. 4-5 within a mile radius will do. Sales comps (sold price) in Texas are not public information, you need access to MLS database so the AI play will not be accurate.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

the realtor tip is actually really helpful, I hadn't thought about going back to ours

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AssignmentSecret@reddit

Yep address rooms and sq ft and then asked it to look at nearby houses for comps to lower property tax appeal and draft a letter using pictures and price per sq ft of similar rooms and floor home. Then filled out Collin county property tax appeal form and sent both out and took the lowered assessment.

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Lamentrope@reddit

Why do all these posts feel like ads for Omwell

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Sec0nd_Mouse@reddit

I’m also looking for a service to use this year and have talked to lots of people IRL who use them. And their ads are friggin everywhere. So I think it’s legit.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

Yeah the ads are hard to miss. Nice to hear actual people vouching for it though, the ads alone weren't enough for me to just sign up without knowing if it was worth it

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Rhewin@reddit

The first two just straight up read as ad copy

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acaii@reddit

For what it’s worth, I’ve hit up a few other property tax management companies that come back to me and say they don’t have any more availability (in past years)

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lordb4@reddit

I still get junk mail from some others. I went with ownwell years ago because their cut is smaller.

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StarsGuyCarbonneau@reddit

Onwell advertises heavily so it wouldn't be shocking for people to have tried them. I usually just check how long an account's been around (he says from a >1 year old account.

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DrFiGG@reddit

First year I did the work to protest myself, and didn’t get anywhere. I tried ownwell due to a random ad, and since then I think 3 times out of 6 I paid a minimal fee when they successfully protested and the other years I owed nothing. If you have time and motivation, you can definitely do it yourself with possibly more success, but if you’re working regular hours and have too much on your plate to remember to argue every year then using it or other options may be helpful. I might start doing it myself again once I’m retired, but until then I will continue outsourcing.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

This is basically exactly where I'm at. Like I don't doubt that doing it yourself can get better results if you put the time in, I just genuinely don't have the bandwidth to do it well every single year. The outsourcing it until life slows down framing makes a lot of sense to me

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acaii@reddit

As a professional who works with numbers and makes fancy slides all day, presenting arguments to corporate leaders, I used to do this on my own. Despite my experience and arguments (backed with extensive data), I could barely move the needle on the volunteer protest reviewers who aren’t so data-driven. They hone in on one piece of info and are unwilling to accept new information. I’ve had a very hard time fighting Collin county the last few years. Switched to Ownwell and I think they’re doing a better job than what I can get knocked off. I think the price I pay is worth it.

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Adorable-Amoeba2161@reddit (OP)

this is actually really good to know because I was telling myself that if I just showed up with solid evidence it would be straightforward. The idea that the reviewers aren't really engaging with the data is kind of frustrating to hear but also makes me feel better about not wanting to DIY it

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shadow247@reddit

I tried to protest mine in Dallas. My house has a LOT of cosmetic and other issues. They still hit me for the full valuation.

Im considering using Onwell this year. What have I got to lose right?

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acaii@reddit

Exactly

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Matchboxx@reddit

As a professional who works with numbers and makes fancy slides all day, presenting arguments to corporate leaders, I used to do this on my own.

I also do this job, and when I lost at the ARB, I appealed and boy did I have the best slide deck. The arbitrator didn't pay a lick of attention to it. :(

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ohwhataday10@reddit

Works perfectly. Did it twice. Once my taxes were reduced. Once they weren’t. And the company was only paid if it was reduced. A percentage that I don’t remember.

Very convenient and worth it for me because the previous years I forgot.

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notwallst@reddit

I’m a local CFP I have all my clients contest their property taxes with own well

It cost them nothing if it doesn’t work out but most of the time it can save the money and the biggest issue is my clients don’t want to do a bunch of work.

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Realistic_Winter5754@reddit

Here are the top 10 cos representing single family homeowners with DCAD:

           company_name            | count 
-----------------------------------+-------
 OWNWELL INC                       | 35855
 RESOLUTE PROPERTY TAX SOLUTIONS   | 10876
 TEXAS TAX PROTEST                 |  7254
 OCONNOR & ASSOCIATES              |  6811
 NORTH TEXAS PROPERTY TAX          |  6471
 GOODRICH REALTY CONSULTING LLC    |  5322
 RYAN LLC ATTN SFR APPEALS         |  3107
 PROPERTY TAX PROTEST              |  2470
 RAY TAX GROUP PATRIOT PPTY TAX    |  1885
 LOWER MY TEXAS PROPERTY TAXES LLC |  1702
(10 rows)

Data source: https://dallascad.org/DataProducts.aspx

When protest cos. handle tens of thousands of protests, wonder how much time can a company spend on each case.

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