How Upfront Fees on Property Tax Protests Harm Many Austin Area Homeowners

As a company built on transparency and data, we believe Austin-area homeowners deserve to see the complete picture for property tax protest results in 2025. 

Some of these property tax firms with these mandatory fees or ‘greater of’ pricing emphasize gross assessment reductions — the total dollar amount by which the appraisal district reduces your assessed property value. 

While this sounds impressive, gross reductions aren't what you save on your final property tax bill.

The question isn't whether you get the larger assessment reduction. The questions are: How much money do you get to keep? And what are your total net savings with fees?

How the Flat Fee or Greater Than Pricing Works

Some property tax firms charge mandatory upfront fees or use a ‘greater of’ pricing model: “Greater of X% contingency or $Y minimum fee.” Meaning, if their success fee is greater than their service fee, the service fee is waived. However, this fee model often results in property owners paying a $35 to $149 fee regardless of the outcome of their property tax protest, even if they receive no reduction on their tax bill. 

How This Hybrid Model Penalizes 47,000+ Properties

The main difference between Ownwell and property tax firms with these flat fees isn't just pricing — it's a fundamental structural advantage that benefits a large contingency of Austin-area homeowners.

We analyzed comprehensive 2025 property tax protest data across the Austin area, including Bastrop, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties. The data reveals two concerning situations that unfolded in 2025:

1. No Savings, But Still Paying Fees

We found that 22,083 Austin-area residential properties protested by firms with upfront fees achieved no tax savings but still paid an average of $58 in mandatory flat fees.

15,645 (71%) of these 22,083 properties had the Texas general homestead, senior (65+), disabled person, and/or the disabled veteran exemption. They paid an average of $59 for zero savings.

Combined, this represents nearly $1.3 million in fees paid by Austin-area homeowners for unsuccessful protests.

This data exposes a core flaw in traditional flat-fee models: Homeowners are penalized for outcomes beyond their control, and many pay for services that provide no value.

In contrast, Ownwell's complete performance-based model and 25% fee on tax bill reductions means these Texas homeowners would have paid zero dollars. 

If we can't deliver savings, we don't charge.

2. When Customers Pay More in Fees Than They Save

In circumstance two, we examined homeowners who achieved a reduction in their assessed value, but the companies’ fees outweighed their savings.

Unlike situation one, where no assessed value was achieved, in this situation, the 25,814 properties that used flat-fee protest firms obtained assessment reductions. Still, the fees outweighed the tax bill reduction. 

These properties averaged $11.43 in raw savings, but after subtracting the average fees of $58.58, the property owners ended up paying $47.

The 17,452 (67%) subset of properties with the general homestead, senior/disabled person, and/or disabled veterans exemptions faced a worse situation, paying an average of $52.

The Two Flat Fee Situations Summarized

When combining these two outcomes, it’s clear that these aren't edge cases. The owners of these 47,897 properties paid more in fees than they saved on their property tax bills.

All data represent traditional firm outcomes where fees were charged. Ownwell's performance-based model means customers in scenarios one and two would have paid $0 in fees.

This trend confirms that upfront, flat fees override any property tax bill savings for thousands of Austin-area homeowners.

In addition to these firms’ fee structures, external economic and real estate market factors also impacted these results. Most notably, the lag effect from the homestead capped properties.

How Lagging Assessed Values Impacted 2025 Property Tax Protests

Austin experienced explosive home price growth from 2020 to 2022, with the median sale price jumping 60%. During this period, the 10% homestead cap protected homeowners from dramatic tax increases. However, it also created a gap between capped assessed values (10% annual increases) and soaring market values.

From 2023 to 2025, the Austin-area housing market cooled dramatically. Home prices are projected to fall 13% by the end of 2025 from the 2022 peak.

However, assessed values for homesteads continue to rise at their maximum 10% annual cap, creating a lag effect for many property owners. This lag effect creates challenges that make fee structures more critical than ever.

The Result: Assessed Values are Catching Up to Market-Value Highs

Assessed values cannot legally exceed market values in Texas. Still, the 10% homestead cap creates a lag effect in which assessed values trail market movements — rising more slowly during booms and adjusting more slowly during corrections, as happened for many in 2025.

Property tax protests still work, and both Ownwell and other firms continue achieving substantial reductions across the Austin area. However, homeowners are often confused about why their assessed value didn't drop more, even as they see headlines about Austin's cooling market.

The answer lies in the lag: 

While your home's market value may have declined from its 2022 peak, your assessed value is still catching up from those pandemic-era highs. The 10% cap that protected you from massive tax increases during the boom now means your assessed value adjusts slowly to the correction.

Example:

• 2022: Market value $600,000 | Assessed value $550,000 (-$50,000 gap)

• 2025: Market value $580,000 | Assessed value $580,000 (-$0 gap)

  • Despite the market value dropping, the assessed value still went up due to the lag effect

Even though a protest reduced the assessment from $600,000 to $550,000, homeowners see that their assessed value has risen from $550,000 in 2022 to $580,000 in 2025. 

The lag effect means assessed values can remain elevated even as markets cool.

Why This Lag Creates Challenges

In the 2025 Central Texas market, many properties had minimal room for further reductions because assessed values, even after successful protests, are now appropriately aligned with current market values. The easy protest wins of 2021 to 2022 (when significant gaps existed) have been replaced by tighter margins in 2024 to 2025.

This is why our data shows such dramatic performance differences between Ownwell and traditional firms with flat fees or the ‘greater of’ model:

• Firms with flat fees or high percentage minimums often charge more than the savings are worth.

• Ownwell's performance-based model preserves a greater share of these savings by charging lower effective rates.

When protests yield limited or zero savings — not due to poor representation, but because assessed values have caught up to market realities — you shouldn't pay fees for nearly mathematical impossibilities.

This holds especially true for senior or disabled homeowners with exemptions and on fixed incomes; every dollar of savings matters. 

The Bottom Line

As noted earlier, traditional firms collected $1.3 million from Austin-area homeowners for unsuccessful protests, many of which had limited potential from the start due to the closing gap between assessed and market values.

That's why transparency about these outcomes matters. Homeowners deserve to know not just what firms might save them, but what customers are actually keeping after fees and whether the service is worth the cost.

Visit Ownwell.com to get a free savings estimate for your Austin-area property. See your exact potential savings with fees before making any commitment.

How Austin-Area Homeowners Can Make an Informed Decision Next Season

Lastly, don't just take our word for it. Here are questions you should ask any property tax firm:

1. What is your average net savings for properties like mine?

   1. Request data by property value range

   2. Ask for actual outcomes, not projections

   3. Red flag: Firms that only share gross reductions without net savings with fees included

2. What do I pay if you don't achieve savings?

   1. Many firms charge flat fees regardless of outcome

   2. Some have minimum fees, even with small savings

   3. Key question: "If you can't beat my homestead cap, do I still owe a fee?"

3. What percentage of your protests are successful where net savings beat fees?

   1. Success rates matter, but success without adequate net savings is hollow

About This Analysis

Data Sources: Comprehensive analysis of Austin-area property tax protest outcomes for residential properties under $2 million. Analysis includes 2025 tax years for Bastrop, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties. 

"Traditional Flat Fee Firms" Definition: Represents the aggregated performance of the top four property tax firms by residential property volume, where upfront flat fees or ‘greater of’ models are known.

Methodology and Calculations: The data reflect actual customer outcomes in which fees were charged, representing successful protests, not projections or estimates. 

We calculated net savings as gross tax savings minus estimated fees charged. To determine fee amounts, we identified the lowest flat fee plan offered by various protest firms and agents.

We calculated the fees for each property using the greater of a minimum fee or a percentage-based contingency fee, as specified in the firm's pricing plan.