Using Comparable Properties to Protest Your Denton County Assessment

The most effective way to lower your Denton County property taxes is by proving that similar homes in your area are appraised at lower values. These "comparable properties" or "comps" are the core of virtually every successful property tax protest filed with Denton CAD.

What Makes a Good Comp in Denton County?

A comparable property should match yours in the key attributes Denton CAD uses for mass appraisal:

• Size: Within 20-30% of your home's square footage
• Age: Built within 10-15 years of your home
• Location: Same Denton CAD neighborhood code or subdivision
• Features: Similar garage count, pool, stories, central HVAC

Denton County spans from well-established areas in Flower Mound and Highland Village to rapidly developing communities in Aubrey, Sanger, and Pilot Point. Location matters enormously — comps should come from the same general area and era of development. A lakeside home in Highland Village is not comparable to a new-build in Cross Roads.

The $/sqft Metric

The single most important number in a property tax protest is appraised value per square foot. If your property is assessed at $170/sqft but comparable homes in your Denton CAD neighborhood are assessed at $145/sqft, that's strong evidence of unequal appraisal.

To calculate: divide the total appraised value by the total living area square footage. For example, a home appraised at $390,000 with 2,200 sqft = $177.27/sqft.

Two Types of Evidence

Equity (Unequal Appraisal) — Usually Strongest

Compare your assessed value per square foot to other properties appraised by Denton CAD. Under Texas Property Tax Code Section 41.43(b), your appraised value should not exceed the median appraised value of comparable properties, appropriately adjusted.

This is typically the stronger argument because you're using the district's own data against them. The ARB must rule in your favor unless Denton CAD proves your value is at or below the comparable median — the burden of proof shifts to the appraisal district.

Market Value — Recent Sales

Show that comparable homes have recently sold for less than your appraised value. Use sale dates, addresses, and prices from the last 6-12 months. This argument is strongest when the resale market has softened since Denton CAD's January 1 valuation date.

How Denton Value Finds Your Comps

Denton Value automatically analyzes your property against all residential properties in Denton CAD's appraisal data — roughly 300,000 properties. Our algorithm scores each potential comp on square footage similarity, year built, neighborhood, and features. Higher-scoring comps carry more weight in the analysis.

Building a Winning Case

• Use 3-5 strong comps rather than many weak ones — quality over quantity
• Highlight the median $/sqft of your comps vs. your own $/sqft
• Include both equity and sales evidence when available — they reinforce each other
• Be careful with comps in rapidly developing areas — new construction can skew values upward and may not reflect the condition of existing homes
• Denton Value generates both types of evidence with a match-scored comp list ready for your protest