How Does a Homestead Exemption Work for Frisco, Texas Homeowners?

How does a homestead exemption work for Frisco, Texas homeowners? It lowers the value your property taxes are based on, for the home you live in as your main residence. It is not automatic. You apply once with the appraisal district, and for a Frisco home in Collin County, that is the Collin Central Appraisal District.

I'm Omega Mejia, a real estate agent with Simply Great Real Estate Group, and I put the homestead filing on the checklist for every buyer I work with. Here is what it saves and when to file.

You qualify when you own the home and it is your principal residence. You can claim a homestead on only one home, in or outside Texas, so a second home, a rental or a vacation property does not qualify.

If you buy after January 1, you still receive the exemption for the part of the year you qualify, as long as the previous owner did not receive it that year. That is why the day you close is the day to file.

School districts must give a $140,000 homestead exemption. A $300,000 home with that exemption is taxed for school purposes as if it were worth $160,000.

Cities and other local taxing units can add their own homestead exemption on top of the school amount, and each one decides whether to offer it.

In Collin County, the filing window runs from January 1 to April 30. You file with the Collin Central Appraisal District online through its Taxpayer Portal, in person or by mail. The address on your Texas driver license or state ID must match the home's address.

You file once. You file again only when your homestead changes, such as when you sell and buy another home.

No, but it limits how fast your appraised value can rise. The appraised value of a homestead may not increase more than 10 percent per year, and that cap applies only to a home with a homestead exemption. It starts on January 1 of the tax year after you first qualify.

Your bill can still change, because each taxing unit sets its own rate. My post on how Texas property taxes work in Collin County shows how value, rate and exemptions combine.

School districts must give an additional $60,000 exemption to homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled, on top of the $140,000 school exemption. In Collin County, school taxes on a home owned and lived in by someone 65 or older cannot increase, and only one spouse has to be 65 or older.

Your first year of homeownership is when the homestead exemption matters most, because nobody files it for you. A missed filing can mean a year of tax on the full taxable value of the home.

That is why I put the homestead filing on the checklist we use for every purchase, and I remind my clients to file after they close. My closing day page shows where it fits, and my buying a home page shows how I work with buyers from the first showing on. If you bought recently in Frisco and have not filed, contact me and I will point you to the right place to start.

This is general information about my approach, not legal, tax, financial or insurance advice.