July 3, 2008 - Excerpts from Westlake Picayune article

    Renovations (to the Eanes ISD property) completed in 2006 added more than 2,000 square feet to the dwelling.*

    * Note: TCAD records show an additional 2200 square feet. Keep Eanes Informed links:

                Wellman's appraisal - May 2008 - 3638 square feet, value $789.829

                New owner's appraisal - July 2008 - 5834 square feet, value $1,647,573

    According to a spokesperson for the Travis County Department of Transportation and Natural Resources, which regulates residential permitting, the proper request for a building permit, required for modifications on homes within the county, was not filed.

    The building permit would have alerted the Travis County Assessors Office that a significant upgrade of the property had taken place involving a 2,009 sq.ft. expansion.  The appraised value of the home would have then increased and taxes paid on the property, including the taxes paid to the Eanes school district, would have risen accordingly.

    Using the sales price of the home as a general 2007 assessment value, estimated property taxes due on the Knollwood home last year would have been $29,980, approximately $15,000 more than the $14,613 taxes assessed by TCAD on the undervalued property.

    Nola Wellman said the Knollwood home took 14 months to renovate from "the studs up."  She said she and her husband enjoy purchasing properties they can fix up together and then flip for resale.  "It's something we can do together, and it gives me a way to relax," she said.  "I decorate, and he builds."

Please purchase a July 3, 2008 Westlake Picayune to read full article.