Property tax appeal comparison · 2026
O'Connor & Associates vs AppealMyTax
O'Connor keeps roughly half of your savings for the appealed tax year. We charge $49 flat, one time, and you keep 100%. On a $1,155 reduction that is about $529 more in your pocket.
Illustrative fees for 5 separate appeal years
Choose hypothetical savings for each appeal year. This assumes five separate successful appeals, identical savings each year, and a new $49 Audit purchase each year; outcomes and evidence can differ.
Illustrative rates only, not provider quotes. No savings or persistence is guaranteed. Check local provider terms, evidence and representation. The $29 national DIY kit is separate; you gather its evidence. The $49 Audit depends on available county/address evidence. Government fees and your time are excluded.
Them
O'Connor & Associates
Contingency: roughly 50% of the first year's tax savings, no upfront fee
About $578 in year one
O'Connor charges no upfront fee and takes roughly 50% of your first-year tax savings as a contingency. On a $1,155 first-year reduction (a $50K overassessment at Harris County's 2.31% effective rate), that is about $578 out of your savings. AppealMyTax is $49 flat, one time, and you keep 100% of every dollar saved.
Coverage
Texas (O'Connor). 7 states with real parcel data (Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas), about 22.8M properties (us).
Us
AppealMyTax
Flat-fee packet, no contingency, no recurring cut.
$49 flat
One time. You keep 100% of your savings every year. Ownwell keeps 25-35%, O'Connor keeps half. See your assessment comparison free first, no signup.
Coverage
Real per-parcel assessment data in 7 states, about 22.8M properties: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas. Deepest in Florida (all 67 counties) and Texas (HCAD iFile-ready), plus a full statutory appeal guide for Georgia.
Feature by feature
An honest side by side. Both get you a real protest, the difference is what it costs and what you see along the way.
Price
Us:$49 flat, one time
O'Connor & Associates:Roughly 50% of savings for the appealed tax year (poconnor.com, retrieved June 2026)
Your savings
Us:You keep 100% of your savings, every year
O'Connor & Associates:About half of year-one savings goes to the firm; about $578 on a typical $1,155 reduction
Risk
Us:Free check first: you see your overpayment and real comps before paying a cent
O'Connor & Associates:No fee unless they win, but when they win the fee is the largest cut among major Texas options
Control
Us:You own the filing record and can escalate to the ARB, arbitration, or district court yourself
O'Connor & Associates:Case handled inside a high-volume operation with limited visibility into your comps
Transparency
Us:Every comp is a checkable parcel in your county's public appraisal roll
O'Connor & Associates:Limited visibility into which comparables were used or how the case was argued
Real-world cost comparison
Houston homeowner in Harris County, $50K overassessment, $1,155/yr savings
Annual savings on appeal
$1,155
O'Connor & Associates cost
About $578 (roughly 50% of $1,155 first-year savings)
About $577/yr in year one after their cut
AppealMyTax cost
$49 one-time
Hypothetical savings minus $49 for this purchase; not a predicted outcome
Multi-year math
Compare separate appeal years, with fresh evidence and any new product purchases included. Our $49 price is per purchase, not a lifetime service. Repeated savings are hypothetical; DIY and managed services can produce different outcomes. Government fees and preparation time are additional.
O'Connor & Associates: pros & cons
Strengths
- ✓ No upfront cost, you only pay if they win a reduction
- ✓ Long-established Texas firm with decades of ARB and litigation experience
- ✓ Handles residential and complex commercial property at scale
Limitations
- ✗ Takes roughly half of your savings for the appealed tax year, the single most expensive cut among the major options
- ✗ You hand off control of the case and the filing record to a high-volume operation
- ✗ Limited visibility into which comparables were used or how aggressively your case was argued
- ✗ On a large reduction, the 50% contingency can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars
Why AppealMyTax wins
- ★ Flat $49, one time, and you keep 100% of the savings. O'Connor keeps about half of year one. Ownwell keeps 25-35% every year.
- ★ See your assessment comparison and your actual comps free in 30 seconds, no signup, no email, before you pay anything
- ★ You own the filing record and can escalate to the ARB, binding arbitration, or district court yourself
- ★ Deep, verifiable Texas county data (HCAD §41.43(b)(3) unequal-appraisal framing) across 14 appraisal districts
Where O'Connor genuinely wins
O'Connor is a decades-old Texas firm with real ARB and litigation experience, it handles complex commercial property at a scale we do not touch, and its no-win-no-fee model means a homeowner who loses pays nothing. If you want a person to handle everything including the hearing, and you accept giving up roughly half of your savings for the appealed tax year for that, O'Connor is a legitimate choice.
Our case is for the homeowner who can file your own online protest themselves: available county-record evidence, $49 flat, and you keep 100 percent of the reduction every year.
O'Connor & Associates vs AppealMyTax: common questions
How much does O'Connor & Associates charge?
O'Connor charges no upfront fee and takes roughly 50 percent of the current year's property tax savings as a contingency, per its published residential service terms (poconnor.com service terms and FAQ, retrieved June 2026). On a typical $1,155 first-year reduction for a Harris County home, that is about $578 out of your savings. It is the largest cut among the major Texas options.
Is AppealMyTax cheaper than O'Connor & Associates?
Yes, in any year your savings exceed about $100. AppealMyTax is $49 flat per packet and you keep 100 percent of the reduction. O'Connor keeps roughly half of your savings for the appealed tax year. On the same $1,155 reduction, you keep about $529 more with us in year one, and the gap repeats any year you protest again.
Do I pay O'Connor if they don't win a reduction?
No. O'Connor's contingency model means no reduction, no fee, and that is a genuine point in their favor. Our answer to that risk is different: we show you your preliminary assessment comparison and your actual comparable properties free, before you pay anything, so you only buy the $49 packet when the public record shows you have a real case. And if any comp in your packet is not a real, verifiable parcel, we refund you in full.
Can I protest my property taxes myself instead of hiring O'Connor?
Yes. Texas law lets any homeowner file their own protest, and filing through your county's online portal requires preparation; timing varies. The packet gives you available public-record evidence where usable, including a comparable table from your county's own appraisal roll and an unequal-appraisal argument under Tax Code Section 41.43(b)(3), and you keep the filing record and every dollar of the savings.
How do O'Connor and Ownwell compare on fees?
Ownwell's contingency starts at 25 percent of savings in its own pricing example, charged each year the service renews (ownwell.com/pricing, retrieved August 2026). O'Connor takes roughly 50 percent of first-year savings (poconnor.com, retrieved June 2026). Both cost a multiple of a $49 flat packet in a typical Harris County case.
Try it free
Search your address. Get your specific overassessment estimate in 30 seconds. No credit card.
Check my address · FreeThe free check is genuinely free: no signup, no email. The complete $49 Property Assessment Audit includes filing-ready evidence when supported, or a valuation report when it is not.
Would you rather someone just handled it?
Our packet is for people who want to file it themselves and keep every dollar. If you would rather hand the whole thing off, these firms work on contingency: they take a cut of what they save you, and nothing if they lose. We are not affiliated with any of them.
- Visit Ownwell →OwnwellTX, CA, WA, GA, FL, IL, NY, CO, PA25% of your savings in TX, IL and NY, 35% in CA and FL. Nothing if they don't win.
- Visit Abode Money →Abode MoneyTX, FL$99 per year flat. No percentage of your savings.
- Visit Home Tax Shield →Home Tax ShieldTX$30 per property per year, plus 30% of your savings each year.
- Visit Texas Protax →Texas ProtaxTX40% of residential savings, $50 minimum per parcel. Austin and Central Texas, San Antonio and Greater Houston.
- Visit Five Stone Tax →Five Stone TaxTX40% of your savings, or a service fee, whichever is greater.
We earn nothing from these links. They are here because a flat-fee packet is the wrong answer for someone who wants the work done for them. How we make money