Hello Nathan, nice to meet you.
I have me a 1yr old little girl so I find myself watching exhilarating shows about colors, shapes, & numbers quite regularly.

4. Mini donks.

Neither one of those 2 things qualify for ag where I live. Are you sure mini donkeys are allowed for ag?

Suh dude

This is more or less a PSA for those who are buying a new home. The first year I lived in my house, I had a homestead tax exemption that was filed by the previous owner. This year in May, I received my 2017 property value notice, and the homestead exemption was removed. I then filled out the paperwork and had it added back to my property. I was told that my homestead exemption was processed and applied to my 2017 taxes. Yesterday, I noticed that my escrow had been cleared out and sent off to pay for my 2017 property taxes. The taxes increased 34% from the previous year, as did my property value. The homestead exemption states that your property value cannot rise by more than 10% in a single year. I was confused, because the homestead exemption never lapsed on my house. While reading the property tax basics, I came across this line: The appraisal limitation only applies to a residence homestead. It takes effect Jan. 1 of the tax year following the year in which the homeowner qualifies for the homestead exemption.

Appears to me that I missed out big time. Hopefully this saves others the headache.

I am late to this post but wanted to shed a little insight for everyone.

You must be in your home on Jan 1 to apply for a homestead exemption even when a PO has a homestead in place.

The 10% increase limit only applies starting the year AFTER you file for the homestead following your purchase. Unfortunately for everyone in the DFW metroplex the counties have MLS access and typically(not always) raise the value to about 3-5k below what you paid for the home. This may be a small increase for some and a large increase for others as Brent experienced. Due to the county having MLS access pulling comps and arguing the increase becomes a mute point when they pull up the price someone paid shortly ago and read out the property description. Sometimes they WILL offer you a small reduction when protesting right after purchase but typically a minimal savings over the year.

If you forgot to file your homestead you can backdate the homestead date by 1 year!

When purchasing be sure to look at the current county assessed value and factor in the increase for what you pay for the home to be prepared of what taxes and your payment will most likely be the year following your purchase. Disclaimer again **this is not always the case but a very typical situation I have run across** Tarrant and Dallas County are the worst from my experience. ALSO DO NOT PAY THE $35 FILE YOUR HOMESTEAD SCAM that comes a few weeks after buying your home. This is a free service and paying for that is a scam!

Hope this helps others. More than happy to help answer any other questions too.