A property tax appeal business is the rare service where you can open the email with the prospect's own number. Assessments are public, filing windows are short, and an owner who reads "your building is assessed at $2.4 million and three similar buildings nearby are assessed lower per square foot" has a reason to answer today. The plan: pick one county, pull assessments, work out which owners probably overpay, and write to them as early in the filing window as your county's calendar allows.

This guide covers choosing a county, finding candidates, the contingency offer with the arithmetic, a filled-in email, timing around deadlines, and the mistakes that get appeal companies a bad name.

Start with one county and its calendar

Every jurisdiction has its own assessment calendar, appeal process and rules about who can represent an owner. In some places an owner files on their own with a short form; in others you may need a particular license or an attorney. Before you write to anyone, find out for your county: when notices go out, how many days an owner has to file, what the first level of appeal is (an assessor review, an appeal board), and whether a person who is not an attorney can represent the owner. These answers are on the county assessor's or board of review's own site, and they should be the first thing you read. In Texas, for example, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation says people who help clients with property tax consulting in many cases must be licensed by it.

Then keep your territory small. A single county, or two neighboring ones, is enough for the first season. You will learn the board's habits and the assessor's methods, and you can quote local comparables from memory.

Which owners to write to

Owners of income-producing commercial property are the usual clients: apartment buildings, retail centers, warehouses, office buildings, hotels, self-storage and medical buildings. The tax bill is large enough for a fee to make sense, and the owner is a business person who understands contingency.

Use public records to find candidates:

  • Properties whose assessed value rose sharply at the last reassessment.
  • Buildings with higher assessed value per square foot than neighbors of the same type and age.
  • Properties with high vacancy or a recent sale at a price below the assessment.
  • Owners with several buildings, where a good result repeats.

Owner names on a deed are often an LLC. How to find who owns a business and how to find commercial property owners explain how to find the person behind it. Record the parcel, the assessed value, the comparable you will cite, and the filing deadline.

The offer and the arithmetic

Most appeal firms work on contingency: the owner pays nothing unless the tax goes down, and then pays a share of the saving. The owner pays you, out of the saving, and the terms should be on the first page of your agreement. Write it plainly in the email and again in the agreement.

A worked example, with made-up numbers:

  • A warehouse is assessed at $2,400,000. The effective tax rate in the area is 2.1 percent, so the annual bill is 2,400,000 x 0.021 = $50,400.
  • The appeal succeeds in lowering the assessed value by 10 percent, to $2,160,000. The new bill is 2,160,000 x 0.021 = $45,360.
  • The annual saving is 50,400 - 45,360 = $5,040.
  • At a fee of 30 percent of the first year's saving, you earn 0.30 x 5,040 = $1,512, and the owner keeps $3,528.

Whether the lower value also applies in later years depends on your jurisdiction, so check how your county handles it and write the answer into the agreement. Your fee percentage is yours to set. Pick one, apply it fairly, and never charge when there is no saving.

A filled-in email to an owner

Subject: The Larkin Road warehouse assessment

Hi Gloria, the county assessed the warehouse at 118 Larkin Road at $2,400,000, which works out to about $60 a square foot. Three similar warehouses within a mile are assessed between $44 and $51. Protests to the board of review this year must be filed by April 30. I handle appeals on contingency: you pay nothing unless your tax bill goes down, and then 30 percent of the first year's saving. Would you like me to send the comparison I prepared?

Haruto Mills, Mills Property Tax Review, 55 Court Square, Suite 10, Des Moines. Reply "stop" to opt out.

Every number in a real email must come from the public record and be checked before you send it. A wrong figure ends the conversation and could hurt your standing with the board. Include your physical address and an opt-out, as the FTC's CAN-SPAM guidance requires for commercial email, including to businesses.

Timing: write early, then again

Write as soon as the new values are public. Where your county's calendar allows it, six to eight weeks before the deadline is best, because the owner needs time to gather rent rolls and income statements; where the window is short, such as Iowa's April 2 to April 30 protest period, start on its first day. Send a first email then, a second at two weeks before the deadline, and a last one a week out, shorter each time: "The filing window closes on the 15th. I can still prepare your appeal if you reply by the 8th." After the deadline, put every non-responder in a sheet for next year and write once, in the quiet part of the calendar, with a note that you will watch their next notice.

Mistakes that hurt appeal businesses

  • Filing without permission. Get a signed authorization before you act for an owner.
  • Promising a reduction. The board decides. Describe your method and past results honestly, without a guarantee.
  • Picking weak comparables. A board sees a mismatched warehouse in another submarket at once.
  • Hidden fee terms. If the owner learns about a minimum fee or a multi-year share after you win, they will tell others.
  • Working outside your rules. If your state requires a license or attorney to represent owners, get it first or partner with someone who has it.

What to expect in a season

From 150 owners of qualifying buildings, expect 15 replies, 8 signed authorizations and 4 reductions. At an average first-year fee of $1,500, that is $6,000 in the first season, plus the same owners next year without any new outreach. Owners with several buildings are worth searching for first.

Others who serve the same owners are described in how to get clients as an appraiser and how to get land surveying clients.

Rocketship can find the people at the ownership and property management companies you describe, read each company's website before writing, send from your own Gmail and follow up before the deadline, and a 7-day trial with a card on file lets you try it on one county first.