How PADS compares to the other options
You have four realistic ways to challenge a King County property tax appraisal. We've used our own methodology against the same appeal database other firms never disclose. Here's an honest, head-to-head breakdown.
PADS
The tool built for King County. We score your home against every arms-length sale within a mile, across seven similarity dimensions, using methodology calibrated on 173K paired KC sales. Free verdict, $59 flat-fee packet, rebuttal tool included.
Harley Hoppe & Associates
Full-service property-tax consultancy founded in 1984 by a former King County Assessor. Their analysts handle the case end-to-end, including representation at the Board of Equalization. Fee terms are not publicly disclosed; an initial analysis is offered at no cost.
Per KC Board of Equalization public records, Hoppe filed 218 King County single-family residential appeals 2021–2024, with 52 (23.9%) resulting in a value reduction — close to the overall KC baseline of 21.9%.
Ownwell
National property-tax-appeal company covering 40+ states. Entered the King County market in 2023. Per their public help articles, fees are 25% of first-year savings on the appeal-only service, billed only when an appeal succeeds. The engagement renews annually unless cancelled. Petitioners sign a limited power of attorney authorizing Ownwell to act as their agent.
Per KC Board of Equalization public records, Ownwell filed 217 KC appeals in 2023–2024 with 28 resulting in a value reduction (12.9%). The overall KC baseline over the same period was 21.9%.
DIY: write your own
King County publishes all the bulk data for free. If you have the time to learn the appraisal methodology, pull sales, calibrate for grade and vintage, and write a compelling narrative, you can do this for $0. Plan on 4-10 hours of work and some risk of missing the argument the Board responds to.
On King County residential appeals 2021–2024, the public record doesn't show any specialized firm clearly outperforming the overall baseline. PADS gives you the data and the methodology to file yourself, at $59 flat.
The public record
What King County's own data shows on appeals, 2021–2024.
The King County Board of Equalization publishes annual Clerk's Record of Hearing PDFs (linked below) listing every petition heard, the representative who filed it, and whether the value was reduced. We parsed all four years (15,694 petitions). Aggregated by filer:
| Filer | Petitions | Value reduced | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| All petitions (KC baseline) | 15,630 | 3,418 | 21.9% |
| Harley Hoppe & Associates (residential) | 218 | 52 | 23.9% |
| Ownwell (2023–2024, KC entry year) | 217 | 28 | 12.9% |
A few facts to note from the data:
- The KC residential market doesn't have a clear specialist outperformer. Harley Hoppe's single-family residential cases land at the overall KC baseline.
- Ownwell, the national contingency service, files a lot of appeals in KC. Per the same public records, fewer of them result in a value reduction than the overall KC baseline.
- PADS is too new to appear in this dataset. We launched in early 2026 and our customers' filings will show up when the 2025–2026 Records of Hearing are published. Until then, our published number is the backtest: +42% lift over baseline on 10,139 historical KC appeals (2020–2024) when our methodology is applied to cases with a 10%+ percentage gap.
Detailed comparison
All four options on one grid.
| Factor | PADS (us) | Harley Hoppe | Ownwell | DIY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $59 flat fee | Contingency (percentage not publicly disclosed) | 25% of first-year savings (per Ownwell help articles) | Free (your time) |
| Observed KC reduction rate (2021–2024) | Too new to appear; backtested +42% lift over baseline on 10,139 historical KC appeals | 23.9% on single-family residential (52 of 218) | 12.9% (28 of 217 KC filings, 2023–2024) | Not measured separately (most "by Owner Name" filings); KC baseline is 21.9% |
| KC-native? | Yes. Methodology built for KC data only | Yes. KC and WA specialist | No. National, covers 40+ states | You figure it out |
| See if you have a case before paying | Yes. Free verdict, full top-10 comp map | Yes. Free initial analysis | Partial. Estimated savings, no methodology shown | n/a |
| Methodology depth | 7-dimension similarity scoring, bucket age adjustment, grade-step calibration from 173K paired KC sales | Manual analyst review | Not publicly disclosed | Whatever you assemble yourself |
| Power of attorney required | No | Limited agency on engagement | Yes (per Ownwell terms) | No |
| Auto-renewal | No | Per-engagement | Annual auto-renewal (per Ownwell terms) | No |
| Who files the appeal | You file (15-minute form, narrative provided) | They file for you | They file for you | You file |
| Rebuttal when Assessor defends | Included free. Audits each cited comp on 10 weakness rules | Included in contingency. Their analyst writes it | Included in contingency. Their analyst writes it | You write it yourself |
| Hearing representation | You attend (most cases settle before hearing) | They represent you at BoE + State | They represent you at BoE | You represent yourself |
| Net cost on a $4,000/year property-tax reduction | $59 | Contingency-based (percentage not publicly disclosed) | $1,000 (25% of first-year savings) | $0 (plus 4–10 hours of research) |
The core argument
The property-tax-appeal industry runs on contingency because the data was hard to get.
It isn't anymore.
Firms like Harley Hoppe and Ownwell exist for a reason: until recently, the data a homeowner needed to mount a credible appeal (every nearby sale, proper grade and age calibration, defensible comparables) was genuinely hard to assemble. So the industry developed a contingency model: the firm eats the research cost, and keeps 25–50% of whatever savings they win.
That model made sense in 1984. It's harder to justify when a published, reproducible methodology can deliver the same evidence-file quality on every home, consistently, at a $59 flat fee, keeping the 25-50% contingency in the homeowner's pocket.
We lose a few cases the high-touch firms would win. If you need someone to argue your case at the hearing in person, they're the right call. But the vast majority of residential appeals resolve on the strength of the evidence file, not the presentation. The methodology is what the Board responds to, and ours is published, backtested, and reproducible from King County's own data.
When PADS is NOT the right fit
We'd rather lose your business honestly than win it dishonestly.
- Your home is outside King County. Our methodology is calibrated specifically on KC data (grade scale, plat structure, sale warnings, permit history). You'll be better served by a specialist in your county or, if no specialist exists, a generalist service.
- You want a third party to handle the entire process. If you'd rather have an analyst do the work and appear before the Board of Equalization in person, a full-service firm like Harley Hoppe is the KC incumbent. They charge a contingency on any savings.
- Your appraisal is based on a data error (wrong square footage, wrong bedroom count, wrong grade). Our comp-based methodology catches about 1 in 4 historical winning appeals. The rest are owner-supplied evidence (recent appraisals, deferred maintenance documentation) or data corrections. If you suspect a KC data error on your parcel, the ombuds office (linked on our How to File page) is the right first stop.
- You enjoy the process. If you're analytically-minded, have Excel skills, and genuinely want to research this yourself, you can do it for free using KC's bulk data. We'd rather you spend the $59 on a nice dinner than pay us for something you want to do yourself.
Run the free check first.
The verdict is free. If we don't see a case, you've lost 10 seconds. If we do, you'll have a concrete number to decide on.
Check your home →