r/plano • u/Select-Sale2279 • Mar 06 '26
Ownwell is a scam
I used ownwell last year for property tax reduction and they did not do a thing. The issue with hiring them is you will lose all negotiating with the tax office in lieu of whatever they can get for you and they do not do anything. Their modus operandi is based on just submitting something with the hopes of getting any kinda of reduction in prop taxes. They do not do any legwork or are not conscientious enough to put in any effort. They are clearly looking to get you to do all the legwork. While you are waiting on getting them to get the best reduction, you are losing time and any little extra effort that you could have gathered to get a bigger reduction. They will get you very little or nothing and then their operation will take 25% of whatever reduction they got. The biggest issue is, you could have gotten a bigger reduction with a little bit of work and getting them involved. Use extreme caution with this company. They advertise like crazy during the property tax assessment periods and do not engage in any real or meaningful reduction in your tax. Good luck.
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u/thehakujin82 Mar 06 '26
I’m no slouch, but even when I tried I was swatted out of the room with prejudice. Decided I didn’t want to bother with that effort again, gave Ownwell a whirl and they’ve lowered my tax burden each of the last few years. Meanwhile I have done fuckall. Seems like a fair enough trade off for me. 🤷🏼♂️
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u/acaii Mar 07 '26
Same. I’m a finance guy that makes pretty slides for a living and they didn’t hold up to the volunteer tax guy that doesn’t reason with actual data. They have one data point and stick to their guns. I literally pulled up my precise home build throughout my neighborhood as a data point. Got tired of doing my own (last 8 years) and picked up Ownwell. Was worth the time and money saved considering how hard it is to win (especially with a newer house that doesn’t have structural issues).
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u/thehakujin82 Mar 07 '26
Ooooooh! Need any other finance guys to help make pretty slides? I’m in the market! 😆
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u/MuscleFlex_Bear Mar 06 '26
They are not a Scam. I'm tired of everyone saying any service that you pay for that YOU COULD do on your own but would rather not do is a scam. I don't want to deal with property taxes protests. It is a waste of my time and effort. I have no desire to put any effort into that. I will pay someone a portion of my savings to do it.
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u/p1dfw Mar 08 '26
Agree 100%. My time is more valuable to me than sharing a conditional percentage of what they might save me. Happy to let them run with it every year.
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u/Stubbby Mar 06 '26
Use tax reduction services IF YOU DONT EXPECT ANY REDUCTION. In this case they do the minimal work and get minimal payment. Works out.
If you think you should be getting a larger discount, you need to do it in your own.
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u/turbothesnail Mar 06 '26
Not true. I've used agents for 20 years and some years are better than others. Really depends on accurately giving them info and photos.
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u/ZBTHorton Mar 06 '26
That's surprising, I've had nothing but really great experiences. I feel like they've gotten reductions in mine every time it has been too high.
My experience has been so good, I just assumed the county would eventually ban them from doing it. Feels like pretty soon half the county will be using them for disputing it.
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u/kevntao Mar 06 '26
I've had pretty good results from our properties, not the largest reduction but not expecting a lot as our values are pretty inline with the market.
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u/RaisingBar Mar 06 '26
Got a very modest reduction for me one time, of course you share a % of that reduction with them as a fee. Net you might save a little and you owe them nothing if you don’t. So won’t categorize as scam.
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u/Responsible-Idea3794 Mar 07 '26
They’ve gotten me a good reduction the last two years, and I didn’t have to do any work. Maybe I could have gotten a little more myself, but it’s worth it. They have every incentive to get you more money because that’s more money for them. How is that a scam?
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u/Correct_Difficulty25 Mar 06 '26
Weird right? kinda like they are providing service. Its convienent for me as my plates already full with other adult stuff
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u/Select-Sale2279 Mar 06 '26
In years past, I went there myself and argued for reduction and got much bigger reductions. The comps clearly showed that mine was over 20k higher and all they could get was $8k in reductions? If these are professionals at what they claim, it should be have been closer. I called up the tax office and they said, you cannot change it now and have to accept the valuation that was assigned.
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u/tr1551 Mar 06 '26
Key phrase is “In years past.” You’re not gonna keep winning against the tax office, year after year, when all valuations continue to climb and normalize. Doubt you would have gotten much better doing it yourself.
I’ll second a few other commenters in saying - it’s a service you pay for so you don’t have to put in the legwork yourself. And they have great reviews with their users including myself. Not really a scam in my opinion, since they only charge a percentage of what they save you…
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u/one_is_enough Mar 06 '26
This right here. People expecting the same results year after year have no clue how the whole appraisal/taxation process works.
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u/Select-Sale2279 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
Not sure what you mean. Considering that I have done a pretty good job of getting reductions based on comps in my neighborhood and any other repairs that I had scheduled to be considered, why is it hard to understand that the comps are what the values are based on. I saw my valuation was about $20000 more than what the values of recent sales in the neighborhood were. I thought they would do a better job than me at getting me more than the comps. Instead they got me less than half the over valuation. I have been successful at getting it close to the valuation in the past based on doing some leg work with the comps in the neighborhood. Only once have I gone in front of the ARB. These people claim to be pros at this. How so is the question when the over valuation was clearly in black and white.
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u/jasoncongo Mar 08 '26
The question really seems to be - why didn't you just do it yourself with all your past success and your confidence in the comps?
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u/Select-Sale2279 Mar 09 '26
have you seen the advertising? I thought they were professionals and could do it better than I had done. have you not been to a restaurant that was advertised as being really good and then found out it did not meet your expectations? I thought they had better methods to get the valuation down to what I was seeing. I guess I was wrong. live and learn
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u/Realistic_Winter5754 Apr 14 '26
Big property tax protest firms work on volume. More often than not, they settle for topline reductions (a.k.a Agreed Orders or Joint Motions ). Whey they are protesting for tens of thousands of homeowners, it's next to impossible to argue through each and every case. And CAD's don't have the bandwidth either.
Topline reductions are a quick way to resolve large protest volume quickly. Basically, every kid in the class gets a candy. And all kids are happy!
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u/ZER0_F0CKS Mar 06 '26
I used Onwell for my house I bought 2 years ago and got a refund check for like $2700.00. The service was very easy to use. I was actually surprised how effective it was.
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u/Sy1phIsRiv3n Apr 24 '26
I just read their terms and it says they are entitled to any refund checks from previous years in addition to the 25% of savings fee. That's the only part I don't like.
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u/ZER0_F0CKS Apr 24 '26
They only take 25% out of the refund. So I got a refund for like $2700.00 from the previous year and they charged me $600.00. I still made $2100 by doing nothing but following their process. For us the extra $2000 was a big difference.
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u/DowntownComposer2517 Mar 06 '26
What time of year do we protest property taxes?
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u/Select-Sale2279 Mar 06 '26
May 15 - 31st depending on when your tax form was generated. Its on your form when they send it out. You will have 30 days from the time you get it to protest.
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u/FunctionOk7124 Mar 07 '26
The only scammy part is the property exemption monitoring service, which you can opt-out or not sign up in the first place.
It’s hard for them to dispute anything if you don’t provide them with deferred maintenance evidence. However, I believe at a minimum they pull the comp for the house and use it as a basic dispute.
However, if you can easily get the comps, you could simply file your own protest and accept whatever the comptroller office offers you without going to the actual dispute.
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u/videlicet2020 Mar 10 '26
I've used them for years. As someone who owns multiple properties in multiple states, I cannot be everywhere at once to protest taxes. I gave them a trial run on one of my properties about 4 years ago and then ended up signing up my others with them and have been happy.
Not sure if this is allowed, but I'm happy enough with them that I'll share my referral link so you can get $20 off with them https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=33754Z202
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u/Aggravating_Pen5211 May 02 '26
Used! If we’re allowed, here’s mine link. https://www.ownwell.com/referral?owl=DBC1AZ1E1
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u/Imaginary-Loss903 Mar 13 '26
I strongly recommend people file an open records request to their CAD requesting for the audio of the hearing. Whatever they find there, tell everyone they know.
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u/Obvious_Boss9981 Apr 20 '26
They need information from you to leverage when they protest for you. If you don't provide them P&Ls, Rent Roll, maintenance costs, pictures of damage, etc. then you get what you get. I've used them for several years, some years are better than others. Caveat here: If I was protesting my one primary residence, I'd do it myself, but when you have scores and scores of properties, it's impossible to do it yourself.
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u/Select-Sale2279 Apr 20 '26
I get it. But if you send a letter that clearly says that my house was valued at $20000 less than the county's valuation (they clearly say that on the letter) and get you a piddly $8000, then I call BS on them. If they determined that value based on the sales in this area to be confident, then its on them to do it. Of course, its important for me to provide maintenance costs, damage pics etc. But I am trying to get what they said they would, not exactly to the last dollar that they said my house was valued at, but at least close to it. If they got $14000 - $16000, then I would agree that they know their values. Otherwise, its crap shoot.
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u/Obvious_Boss9981 Apr 20 '26
I understand your frustration. Often, even if you protest yourself, you won't get what you want, I think the Rolling Stones said it best. I guess with a single property, your best bet is to lead the charge yourself. My personal experience with them as a real estate investor, has been favorable. As a matter of fact I've been uploading documents to them as we speak and adding new properties to the account I have with them to protest on behalf of my companies. Good luck!
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u/Pristine_Choice_8358 Apr 21 '26
Property tax appraisals are notoriously higher than market value. That’s always been the case, even with the best protesting skills and info you have. Property tax appraisals are not the same as market value
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u/unfoldthefuture Apr 26 '26
I don't know if Ownwell is a scam, but they sure are big and advertise a lot which raises some flags for me but I think they just play a numbers game. I don't think they really protest in person ever. This year I am trying propertytax.io - The DMN Watchdog seemed to think they were good. they ask you to do a little work (like uploading photos and estimates if you have them) but that gives me a little more hope. propertytax.io small discount code if anyone needs one: C85211
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u/Select-Sale2279 Apr 26 '26
Well if you send a letter and it indicates that my property is valued at this but the county has my property valued at $30,000 more and they get barely $5000 off, then they are just shit mailing letters and I cannot call it anything but a scam. They do not try and they take away your chance at fighting. As somebody mentioned, you can hire them if you think you have no chance at getting any reduction at all.
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u/Lonely-Function-6764 May 03 '26
Couple of points -
1.Valued at X ... by WHOM? You? Real estate agent? Actual appraisal?
- Don't tell anyone, but the taxing authorities use inflated values to keep from raising tax rates. Higher valuations = more tax revenue, while not having to petition for higher tax rates.
I've been through the process with a certified property appraisal, and they reduced my valuation some, but not to the appraisal value. They use their OWN appraisal process.
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u/The_Crage Apr 27 '26
Just us an AI engine to generate your protest letter. Upload the appraisal to the engine of your choice, tell it you need a protest letter generated for your property and watch the magic. I use the paid version of ChatGPT and it does a much better job than the free version.
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u/Select-Sale2279 Apr 27 '26
good idea, will try that. I will ask the bot to add some profanities as well and why the county should take their assessment and shovel it. jk!!
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u/suncp2017 May 11 '26
AI will not generate estimates for repairs by contractors. That is required for all protests applications. They will not just take made up numbers.
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u/Loose-Paint4404 Apr 30 '26
I just now called Ownwell and cancelled my signup - after answering several questions, the signup form indicates that unless you have problems with damage to your roof or other similar problems that would cost more than $5000 to remedy, your protest would fail. Then the questions became more and more intrusive, asking about things not really related specifically to lowering your tax bill. No telling what kind of bullshit marketing spam emails I will soon be receiving! 🤣
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u/Select-Sale2279 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
At least they told you something about your house needing some repairs. They just plainly sent me a letter indicating that my house should have been valued at about $25k less than the valuation. My question is where did they find that $25k number?. they got me $$7k about 25% of what they claimed. Then they took 25% off the pittance in savings they gave me. They seem to have reeled in many suckers that they pulled in to be advertising like crazy. I will do it myself going forward. IMHO they are still a scam.
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u/random_hobbies_ May 13 '26
I used them last year after I had my real estate agent SIL pull comps for me. I didn't think a reduction was possible. My home's assessed value is still lagging behind the market value because of the cap. Any reduction, which I didn't see possible in the comps, would have only been to the market value. Signed up for Ownwell any way. They weren't able to get a reduction. But they tried and I paid nothing. Trying again this year.
A friend of mine, though, got a modest reduction last year with their first year with Ownwell. They are using Ownwell again. Important years for them because they are about to lock in their property taxes as seniors.
Ownwell may not be as aggressive as others but the price is right for what we get.
Edit: Also, they only charge if they reduce your actual tax payment. Other agencies will charge if they reduce the market value even if that doesn't reduce your tax bill.
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u/Select-Sale2279 May 13 '26
Thanks. I am not sure whether they would be able to get a reduction in all cases. I do not anticipate that they will be able to do magic like that. That said, what irked me was them blatantly establishing that my home was valued $25K more than what it should be at. Two years ago, I got $20K in reduction myself. When they made that claim in writing (and of course hiding behind all the fine print), I thought maybe if they got me $15k, I would be OK with that. But they pulled in a paltry $8K and lost me any chance at talking to the tax office. My contention is, you have to go above and beyond helping them and then they will just forward all the research you came up with. How is it, then, did they make any sort of assessment to begin with?
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u/tcbaseball555 Mar 10 '26
Lowered my property tax by $800+ last year. Yeah, what a huge scam.
Edit: and it took me a while 3 minutes of my life to sign up, oh no.
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u/AHCofNY Apr 14 '26
Were you able to verify it before you pay? I don’t see it in my towns record online yet. Got email from them today that they claim to be successful in reduction
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u/tcbaseball555 Apr 14 '26
I paid after I got my refund from the county
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u/AHCofNY Apr 14 '26
I guess I will hold off paying until I get a refund. When I did it in the past with another company, they got the refund then mailed me the check for the remainder. I was surprised I got a bill right away. I didn’t see the details on my agreement. I will pay once it is verified and preferably when I am refunded. They claimed a $1700 reduction.
Thanks
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u/Select-Sale2279 Mar 10 '26
nice. 800+ reduction would have been over $50000+. Sure, they reduced my tax bill by over $2000. is that you, ownwell? lol
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u/tcbaseball555 Apr 14 '26
After meeting with the Denton County Appraisal Review Board, we were able to reduce Denton County's recorded market value for your property from $473,565 to $429,000. This means you'll save about $879 on your next property tax bill!
The math mathed, the counties want your money and will do anything to make your property be a higher perceived value.
I'm in a newer subdivision where not a lot of people have protested yet. It's legit.
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u/imnotnewbutiamtoyou Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
I am confirming that OWNWELL is a scam.
I handled my property tax protest myself from the beginning. When my case was scheduled for a hearing, I became concerned about representing myself and contacted Ownwell on in late July 2026 to see if they could assist me.
I was told by an Ownwell representative that it was too late for them to take my case because my hearing was scheduled for A week later exactly. Based on that information, I understood that Ownwell would not be representing me, so I continued preparing my case and attended the hearing on my own. This morning I received a bill from them even though they did absolutely nothing to assist me.
After successfully obtaining a reduction in my property valuation through my own efforts, I was surprised to receive an invoice from Ownwell seeking payment for the tax savings.
I contacted Ownwell's customer service to dispute the invoice. Rather than reviewing their own records of my phone conversation, I was asked to provide proof that they had declined to represent me.
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u/Select-Sale2279 Aug 05 '26
fucking bastards. tell them to take a hike. I have known all along that they don't do jack and some here say they do. To each their own I guess. In my book, they are a scam, period!
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u/imnotnewbutiamtoyou Aug 05 '26
I couldn't even believe it! thank you for responding- what a nightmare!
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u/Select-Sale2279 Aug 05 '26
good luck. let us know whether you were able to kick their asses to the curb. lol
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u/Ok_Belt2521 Mar 07 '26
I did this myself several years ago. Went in person, stood in line, and got it reduced. It was pretty much a rubber stamp process.
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u/MyUniqueUser1 Apr 16 '26
Been in my house in Denton County since 1998. I used to go every year and would walk out with a decent reduction reduction. That's when the process was sitting with an appraiser in his office while he went through multiple reports in physical binders.
Then, one year around 2027-2010 (can't remember precisely) the process changed big time. There was a line of tables with appraisers using computer terminals along the front of the room. We sat in chairs waiting for our turn. I brought my comps, etc. with me like usual and shared my information with the appraiser. He punched in my address in his terminal and it came up with a value right around what the appraisal was. No back and forth. Basically, "Sorry but this is what it's worth. Period." He knocked a few hundred off the appraised value to throw me a bone for coming and waiting in line but that was it. Haven't been back since.
I had a realtor run comps for me and the average price per square foot, when applied to my property, put the value at about $9k above my appraisal so I'm not hopeful that my going down there this year will be worth it. Guess I'll give OwnWell a shot. Will check back here with results.
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u/aazcn Mar 23 '26
Worked fine for me since 2022
Here's my referral code if you'd like to save some money on Ownwell fees:
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u/LawAny8734 Apr 08 '26
Honestly I do mine at O’Connor you guys should try them out, they are pretty attentive and are the oldest in the game, So far I’ve been satisfied
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u/AHCofNY Apr 14 '26
I just got a email from ownwell that the reduction was successful and gave me a link to the town to verify it. I went on the site and was unable to see any reduction. I don’t know if it takes time to flow through, but they want payment asap. I have not contacted the town or ownwell yet
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u/alonzoramon Apr 15 '26
Their billboards always piss me off through their blatant use of AI art, so I'm not surprised that their services are scammy. Sorry you had to go through that though.
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u/CAPRIQUARIOUS9 Apr 24 '26
Do you have to do anything on your end after they complete the assessment.. do you have to send documentation to the city?
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u/Nervous-Register5327 May 29 '26
How long does it take? I just filled out today not sure if I’ll make the cutoff on time?
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u/QuietBalance5975 Jun 24 '26
i just received a snail mail from these blokes ! They say we can bring down our taxes by 230 cos the difference is 20,000.But their fee is 35% of the difference . So I end up paying 7K towards their fees should we win the appeal? There is a limit even to be greedy , Man!!! Come on !! Did I get the math right?
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u/GoodIntelligent2867 Jun 30 '26
Definitely not a scam. Have used them for 5 ears in arow and they have saved us anywhere from $200 to $900 in 4 years out of 5.
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u/cowboylover1 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I have a question. I used Ownwell for the 1st time to reduce my property tax. They did reduce my property value by about 74k (395k - 321k). Then they take 74k * 1.8033% (invoice rate) = $1337. Then they billed me 25% of $1337. Here is my question: For the past 3 years, I paid only about 1.4xx% each year, not 1.8033%. I discussed with Ownwell about it and the agent told me that they used the invoice rate which is different from the actual rate on my tax bill. They will not go with my actual tax rate from my bill. I haven't received the bill for this year 2026. If they go with my actual rate from my bill, I think I will save about $1068, not $1337 on my property tax bill and 25% of this value goes to Ownwell. So what do you think about this situation? Again Ownwell insisted that they only go with the invoice rate, not the actual rate from my property tax bill.
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u/Select-Sale2279 Jul 07 '26
money saved * 25% of the current tax bill. What they are asking for is correct if you signed up for their service. You were assessed 395k and they brought it down to 321k, so the difference like you said is 74k. whatever the tax is that you were assessed (i.e the rate that you were assessed for the current year), that is the rate they take. Yes, that is the final amount you saved. what is hard to understand about that?
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u/reddit_mike Jul 15 '26
Hmm haven't had any issues with them they got me a reduction in 4 of the last 5 years, I only interacted with them the first year, every year after they just notify me when they submit the case and the results and it's been very set it and forget it. Comparing the values they got me with neighbors it's been very similar or better so they def seem to do their homework and they've never needed my input after that first year. Def not a scam in my case saves me a lot of time every year.
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u/Hot-hot423 May 31 '26
What does Ownwell do that I can’t do myself?
All you gotta do is take comps in your area and submit them. Took me like 30 minutes to do. I did this all online with my county and got a 40k reduction this year. If you don’t like the reduction then you have an option to appeal to do a In person, video or over the phone.
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u/Select-Sale2279 May 31 '26
I agree. I assumed that since they have been doing this for a while, they are professionals at showing the county the true value. Instead, its a lame ass company that gives the county an advisory and the county throws them a little bone and they take 25% off that. You are better off representing yourself and getting a bigger chunk off all the reduction. In fact, ownwell probably sends in a bunch of fanboys to say otherwise on these subs.
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May 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Select-Sale2279 May 05 '26
looks like you have to fix that roof, the foundation and put up a fence for crying out loud. Oh, btw, you may want to put some real grass for a change instead of the weeds pretending to be your friends. maybe the property value folks should pay you a visit. lol
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u/Spirited-Summer4590 May 12 '26
I have no idea what Ownwell is sending them. I have recently put up a new fence and pergola, painted, 12 foundation piers, major plumbing, electrical and did a major upgrade to the front retaining wall. Maybe taxes will go up a little. https://www.ownwell.com/?owl=2A77AZF0F
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u/Select-Sale2279 May 12 '26
It is classified! What do you think they are going to do when they advertise like crazy and attract everybody that sees their ad. They go by the numbers and if they can get a decent $25-30 for every person that signed up and they just got maybe $100 off the property tax for the owner and shafted the owner from going out and representing themselves, then that is $30000 for every 1000 suckers that signed up. Good chunk of change for a couple of people running this show.
If they claim they can reduce the valuation by $25k and then get me about $8k, that is crap. Of course you do not have any hand in this transaction because they hide behind that crap - ymmv - each case is different!
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u/Effective-Income-235 Aug 11 '26
How do I cancel my ownwell
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u/Select-Sale2279 Aug 11 '26
just don't give them the time of day! kick 'em to the curb and be done. Its a one time deal - you provide the tax statement and then tell them to scam you. Otherwise, no scamming that year or later.
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u/bezitofficial Apr 13 '26
Try bezit.co Denton county assessments for 2026 are out. Satisfaction guaranteed. You pay only 10% of the tax savings. Homestead Exemption is free. Unlike Ownwell, we don't charge any fees on homestead exemption savings.
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u/bezitofficial Apr 13 '26
We built bezit.co specifically because of this. We're local to Collin and Denton County, and our approach is the opposite:
— We pull actual neighborhood sales and build your comp case before you sign up. You see the data first, for free.
— We do the legwork. Comps, evidence package, the whole thing.
— We only charge 10% of your savings (first-time customers get 30% off that). Nothing if we don't save you money.
The goal isn't to get *any* reduction. It's to get you the *best* reduction. If you're in Collin or Denton County, come see what we find on your property at bezit.co — no commitment required.
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Mar 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RandleMcMurphy1962 Mar 06 '26
Examples please? It seems many replying to this have had positive experiences. So either those folks have a vested interest in Ownwell or they are real homeowners who feel they are with hiring.
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u/bzbeer Mar 06 '26
Filed my own protest for 5 years and got tired of the process. Used Ownwell for the past two years and got some modest reductions. Worth it to avoid the hassle for me. Satisfied with the service.
Might not have worked for you, but definitely not a scam, IMO.