What is a property tax appeal?

A property tax appeal (also called a protest in Texas, or a VAB petition in Florida) is a formal process where you challenge your county appraiser's assessed value of your home. You file with the county Appraisal Review Board (Texas) or Value Adjustment Board (Florida), present comparable-sales evidence that your home is overvalued, and the board issues a ruling.

When is the Florida property tax appeal deadline?

Florida property owners have 25 days from the date the TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice is mailed to file a VAB petition (Form DR-486). TRIM notices typically mail mid-August, putting the petition deadline in early-to-mid September. The deadline varies by county and is printed on the TRIM notice itself.

When is the Texas property tax appeal deadline?

In Texas, the deadline to file a property tax protest is May 15 each year (or 30 days after your appraisal notice is mailed, whichever is later). The 2026 deadline has passed; the next protest window is April-May 2027.

How much can I save by appealing my property taxes?

Homeowners who appeal save an average of $774 per year in Texas and several hundred to several thousand dollars per year in Florida (Save Our Homes locks in the savings for 10+ years). Success rates range from 80-91% when you bring 3-5 comparable sales as evidence.

What's the difference between AppealMyTax and Ownwell?

AppealMyTax charges a flat $99, one time, for a complete personalized appeal packet you file yourself, or $199-$249 for our done-for-you filing service. You keep 100% of your savings every year. Ownwell keeps a 25-35% contingency on whatever you save and O'Connor keeps about half, meaning a $2,461 reduction costs you roughly $615-$1,230 every year forever. We charge $99 once and keep nothing.

For real estate investors · Highlands County, Florida

Highlands County investment property tax appeal

How much tax-appeal upside is hiding in Highlands County rental properties — and how to surface it on every deal you analyze.

Live county data

11,608 over-assessed properties in Highlands County

Total homes

41,585

Over-assessed

27.9%

11,608 properties

Aggregate overpayment

$7.6M/yr

Avg savings per appeal

$652/yr

per over-assessed property

What this means for investors: Each over-assessed rental in Highlands County silently loses an average $652/yr to inflated property tax — that's roughly $13k present-value NOI over 20 years, per property. Most of that hits new buyers on day 1 because the assessment travels with the property.

Where the savings concentrate

Top 5 most over-assessed zips in Highlands County

Zip	City	Homes	% over-assessed	$/yr lost
33852	LAKE PLACID	10,775	27.9%	$3.1M/yr
33870	SEBRING	8,677	27.2%	$1.3M/yr
33825	AVON PARK	7,977	30.9%	$1.2M/yr
33875	SEBRING	4,866	27.4%	$830k/yr
33872	SEBRING	5,778	23.6%	$523k/yr

If you're acquiring

Check assessment before you close

Underwriting a Highlands County rental? Run the address through our lookup to see whether the assessed value is above peer comps. Sellers in Florida have often been overpaying for years — that tax burden transfers to you on day 1. Surface it pre-LOI and you can either negotiate the price or factor in the cap-rate improvement you'll capture after a successful appeal.

If you already own

Auto-appeal every year, every property

Add your Highlands County rentals to your portfolio and we email you a signature-ready packet before each annual deadline. FL DR-486 VAB petition — file within 25 days of TRIM notice (typically mid-September). Average successful appeal saves $652/yr per property — Portfolio tier covers up to 25 rentals at $99/mo.

Get started

See tax appeal upside on every Highlands County deal.

From $19/mo. Unlimited TX + FL property lookups, unlimited appeal-packet PDFs, portfolio tracking. Cancel anytime, 30-day refund.

See investor pricing →Free address check

Florida effective tax rate ≈ 0.86% · FL DR-486 VAB petition — file within 25 days of TRIM notice (typically mid-September)