AZ TX Realty Group Austin, Texas · Residential Sales ← Back to listings

The tax reset calculator

The listing shows the seller's tax bill. Not yours.

In Travis County, a long-held homestead's taxable value is held down by the 10% annual cap. When you buy, that cap comes off and the property is reassessed toward what you paid. Your tax bill can land hundreds of dollars a month above the figure on the listing — and no portal shows you this before you tour.

Your numbers

Everything is editable. Nothing is sent anywhere.

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The homestead exemption removes $140,000 from your taxable value for school taxes only (raised from $100,000 by Prop 13, effective Jan 1, 2026). It does not apply to investment property.

The reveal
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This is the number the listing and the portals quote. Leave it as-is for the median case, or paste the real figure from the MLS sheet to see the actual gap.

Carrying costs
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Texas homeowner premiums run well above the national average and have been climbing. Get a real quote before you write an offer — this line moves more than people expect.

Your true all-in, year one
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  • Principal & interest$0
  • Property tax $0
  • Insurance$0
  • HOA$0
  • True all-in$0
  • What the listing implies$0
Down payment$0
Est. cash to close$0

Want this run on a real address?

We'll pull the actual TCAD record, the exact district rate, and the seller's capped value — then send you the honest number in writing.

Prototype — this form is not wired up yet and does not collect or transmit anything.

Show your work

Every number above, sourced.

A calculator that hides its assumptions is just a different kind of sales pitch. Here is exactly what this model does and where the rates come from.

Verified inputs

  • Combined rate, City of Austin + Austin ISD: 2.0464% — Austin ISD 0.9252, City of Austin 0.5240, Travis County 0.3758, ACC 0.1034, Central Health 0.1180 (per $100 of valuation, 2025–26).
  • Eanes ISD school rate: 0.7940 — the Westlake-area district. Combined here assumes the same non-school entities as above.
  • Homestead exemption: $140,000, school taxes only, effective Jan 1 2026 under Proposition 13 (SB 4), up from $100,000.
  • 10% appraisal cap applies to homesteads, but only after you've held the exemption for a full year — so it does not protect you in year one.

How the math runs

  • Your taxable basis resets to the purchase price. The model assumes TCAD appraises at roughly what you paid — the core correction versus the listing's figure.
  • School tax is charged on (price − exemption); city, county, ACC and Central Health are charged on the full value.
  • P&I is a standard 30-year fixed amortization. PMI is estimated at 0.5%/yr of the loan when you put down less than 20%.
  • Cash to close is the down payment plus 2.5% for title, lender fees, escrow and prepaids — the middle of the usual 2–5% band.
Where this model is deliberately conservative: the City of Austin and Travis County each offer their own percentage homestead exemptions on top of the school exemption, and this calculator does not apply them — so for a homesteading buyer the real bill will likely come in somewhat below what you see above. It also uses a single district rate rather than your parcel's exact overlay, which can include MUD or PID levies that push the rate higher. For an address-level number, we pull the actual TCAD record. Rates change annually; verify against Travis County before relying on any figure here.