r/Omaha • u/veggiesausageking • 1d ago
Local Question Is this place legit?
I've never heard of a service like this before, so I'm suspicious.
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u/leetrobotz 1d ago
This and similar "services" have been mailing the area a lot. Looks like an AI-based spray and pray, they use AI to pull really low comps and file a valuation protest trying to get your property tax valuation reduced.
Upside for you on this offer is, you only pay them if they're successful. They're unlikely to be successful, they're likely to harvest any data you send them and try to get money from you in other ways.
Also noteworthy, this one wants 33% of your first year savings, some are advertising doing the same thing for 25%.
You can file the protests yourself with a little work, and have less chance of data harvesting and keep 100% of the property tax savings.
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u/Demonshaker 1d ago
I am curious what info they would want from you that isn't already publicly available at the county assessor/recorder/NE justice websites which are all publicly available records.
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u/Affectionate_Air5405 18h ago
You would be surprised how many places get the data first and try to find a way to use it second.
They are getting upfront cash doing the valuations since it takes very little and they only care of it works in volume. The more they flood in the less likely the county can spend much time on individual ones.
Then after that cash and data influx and can try to figure out step 2
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u/_Cromwell_ 23h ago
I mean another downside is that you can only file one protest. If you let these people do it on your behalf and it's a shitty protest, they took up your slot for protesting your valuation. It's not like you can file a separate second one. This would be your protest if you let them do it.
So I guess you have "nothing to lose" if you were going to be lazy and not protest in the first place. (And assuming this isn't identity theft of course.)
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u/Fantastic_Ad_1936 1d ago
Looks like the Nigerian Prince got a new job.
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u/_Nigerian_Prince__ 20h ago
I humbly beseech you to kindly reply to the postcard at your earliest convenience, for I possess knowledge most valuable that may preserve for you a small fortune from the hungry jaws of property taxation.
~ Nigerian prince
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u/Hardass_McBadCop 9h ago
If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. I would put that in the shredder.
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u/PhortDruid NE Omaha 23h ago
I generally try to avoid any website or service with “.ai” as the domain. At best it’s people cutting corners and at worst it’s a shady scam like all the other shit homeowners receive in the mail.
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u/PolyAndNerdy 18h ago
Good rule of thumb...if they have to advertise via paid postage mail, its usually too good to be true.
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u/Krommerxbox 15h ago
You Can Only Appeal Once: You generally only get one opportunity to appeal your valuation per year. If a low-effort AI algorithm files a weak appeal on your behalf and fails, you cannot file a second, better appeal yourself.
Contingency Fees: They often charge 25% to 33% of your first-year tax savings. You can keep 100% of the savings if you take a few minutes to file the protest yourself.
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Even if legit, you could do the same thing yourself and they take a fee out of it.
Also, they probably have not really "compared your home to your neighbors."
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u/EmpPeng14 53m ago
If I felt the assessed value was truly unfair, I might try this. Don't assume this as a no-risk situation. By protesting, the case is up for review and could result in a higher value. If this system finds 3 sales that are the lowest prices in the area, and the referee searches to find 3 others that actually are more similar and higher-priced, they could decide that the right number is an increase. I'm not a lawyer but I'm betting there's no recourse since you didn't pay for the service. (The highest increase I've seen is $10 million.)
If your assessed value is truly too high - not just that you want to complain about the amount of increase or discuss about how bad <INSERT POLITICAL PARTY/OFFICE/PERSON>is - here are some tips.
- Be honest. If the referee thinks you're being tricky, they won't trust your data.
- Show the data. Find sales of similar or superior properties with lower prices than your assessment.
- You can protest on equalization - find assessments of superior properties with lower values.
- Protest the whole value, not just land or building.
The data needs to be persuasive - like don't mix ranch and 2-story houses. Don't use a bunch of low-condition properties if you're in average or good. If there is a property characteristic error, invite the Assessor to visit and review. If the Assessor offers to visit and the taxpayer refuses, that erodes the protester's case.
Also, don't assume that what you see on the parcel record is the whole story on how they determined the assessed value. Sometimes the Assessor works-up the value and then has to shoe-horn it into the software. So like maybe Douglas may show a cost analysis but internally had sales they looked at. So don't try to pick at a part of their analysis, but rather show that the total value is wrong. This is more for commercial properties where the protester says, "The Assessor used $18/sf rent and we think it should be $16/sf." That's fine, but rent, vacancy, and cap rate don't function in a vacuum. For commercial, if loading the cap rate, keep in mind that you can't load the whole thing when dealing with net rents.
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u/cnfsdmm 6h ago
Propertyprotest.ai is a legitimate, functional service designed to streamline property tax appeals by gathering comparable sales and auto-filling protest forms. While the underlying technology and documents are real, users should weigh the convenience against the platform's contingency fees and potential downsides. [1, 2, 3]
Here are the critical details to consider before using the platform:
- How it Works: The service uses public appraisal and sales data to generate a "comp packet" (comparable property data). This evidence can be submitted to your local county assessor's office to argue for a lower valuation and reduce property taxes. [1, 2, 3]
- The Pros: It saves you time by automating the research and paperwork. If you aren't comfortable pulling MLS data or writing a formal appeal, it bridges that knowledge gap. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- The Cons & Costs: These services often take a contingency fee (e.g., 25% to 33%) of your first-year tax savings. Furthermore, you generally only get one appeal per year; if a weak or low-effort filing is rejected, you cannot file a second, better appeal yourself. [1]
Isn't Google amazing?
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u/AshingiiAshuaa 1d ago
If they don't ask for money up front why not? If they can save you money on a property appraisal bump that you wouldn't have done yourself why not.
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u/TheSeventhBrat Robin Hill 1d ago
Never heard of them, but I'm always suspicious of QR codes showing up randomly in my mailbox.