Tarrant County Rental Owners Lose the 20% Appraisal Cap After 2026

The Cap Ends After 2026. Tarrant Plans a 2027 Reappraisal

Texas Tax Code section 23.231 is the 20% cap. It limits how fast a property's appraised value can rise. If the property isn't your residence homestead, is valued at $5,320,000 or less for 2026 and has been yours for a full calendar year, the appraisal district can raise its appraised value only to the lesser of two numbers: its market value, or last year's appraised value plus 20 percent plus new improvements. Subsection (k) sets the end date: the section expires December 31, 2026.

Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) has a figure for the cap: its adjusted certified totals, run July 24, 2026, subtract $2,002,155,067 from Tarrant County's appraised value on a line labeled CB CAP Limitation Value. That's a countywide total. It isn't limited to rentals. It doesn't say whether your house is one of the properties it holds down.

TAD's 2025 and 2026 mass appraisal reports both keep residential market values at their 2024 level, except for accounts with new construction or new improvements. The TAD board approved its 2027-2028 reappraisal plan on September 8, 2026. The plan says residential properties will only be reappraised in odd years. On its proposed 2027 calendar, the first residential homestead notices go out in April, and real property value notices keep going out through May and June.

Without the cap, section 23.01 has the appraisal district appraise your rental at its market value as of January 1.

In our view, a home's price comes from market evidence, not from a formula. The appraisal district values a property as of one date: January 1. First decision: whether the rental still pays if its tax value follows the market.

2,080 New Listings and 2,125 Pending: Both September Lows

Realtor.com counted 2,080 new listings in Tarrant County in September 2026. That's the fewest for any September in its series, which starts in July 2016. A year earlier: 2,102.

It counted 2,125 pending listings. Also the fewest for any September. In September 2025 it counted 2,187 pending listings. A pending listing hasn't closed. So that count isn't a count of sales.

Active listings stood at 5,976. Among Septembers, only 2025 had more: 6,233. Price cuts hit 2,828 listings in September 2026. September 2025: 2,930.

All of these are countywide counts. The active count is single-family and condo or townhome listings, and it doesn't include pending ones. None of them says which homes compete with yours, or why this September saw fewer new and pending listings than any September before it.

We judge a price by how buyers respond. In our view, a home that gets no interest is priced above the homes buyers do want, and we think buyers walk when the house they see in person doesn't match the price. Of two similar homes, the better value gets the first buyers. To us, a listing's days run from the day you list to the day the sale closes.

Second decision: your list price. Set it against what Tarrant buyers are choosing now, and count the days you can wait.

Selling a Tarrant Rental: Listing, Cash Offer or Premium Offer

When a tenant lives in the house, the win is certainty: a number on paper you can set beside a listing.

Third decision: the route. Two offers for your house, Cash or Premium, and you choose. Cash Flow Deals terms, in order:

1. Cash offer: Cash Flow Deals buys the house as-is and closes. There's no listing. Our team walks through the house once and puts the number in writing. If a tenant lives there, check your lease for its entry terms before anyone schedules that visit.

2. Premium offer: More money. A pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have buys directly from you. The buyer comes from the pre-approved FHA or conventional buyers we already have, ready to go. You sign with us at the agreed number and let us bring a buyer in our place. That buyer signs a new contract directly with you. Title transfers once, from you to the buyer. The buyer's lender funds the purchase. While the 15 business days of inspection run, the home may be listed. Each buyer comes through a licensed agent. Showings are set up with you ahead of time and take 10 to 15 minutes. We think the higher number comes from that exposure: the house is shown to buyers whose lenders fund the purchase.

3. If a Premium buyer's financing falls through, you can still take our Cash offer.

4. Inspection: 15 business days of inspection on both offers.

5. Closing: 45 days or less; the seller helps pick the date.

6. Fees: the Cash offer has no listing commission to Cash Flow Deals. On the Premium offer, Cash Flow Deals is paid as a separate line item on the closing statement.

7. Your number: You get the amount you agree to, and we'll handle any costs on top of that. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens.

8. Binding: Nothing is binding until a written contract is signed by both sides; you can take it to an attorney first.

In our view, a listing trades time for price. A higher number can come with it. So can a long wait. Get both offers first, so you're comparing real numbers. If the listing still leaves you ahead once you count the days, list the house.