Getting Started
- Open Perch in your browser
- Enter the password when prompted
- Select a county from the dropdown in the upper-left corner
- The map loads with all commercial/industrial properties as circle markers
Selecting a County & Segment
Use the dropdown at the top-left to choose a county. A segment toggle appears based on available data:
- Standard — Commercial and industrial properties (15,000+ SF)
- High Volume (HV) — Small commercial buildings (500–14,999 SF): convenience stores, restaurants, fast food, strip centers. Rockwall HV contains residential homes ($400K+) instead
- Land — Vacant, agricultural, and ranch parcels (Rockwall & Tarrant). Uses $/Acre for parcels ≥20 acres, $/SF for smaller lots
| County | State | Standard | HV | Land |
|---|
| Dallas | TX | 13,228 | 7,216 | — |
| Harris | TX | 20,596 | 13,989 | — |
| Tarrant | TX | 8,189 | 6,404 | 18,035 |
| Collin | TX | 3,982 | 1,465 | — |
| Travis | TX | 2,964 | 3,679 | — |
| Bexar | TX | 6,381 | 5,264 | — |
| Denton | TX | 3,187 | 2,193 | — |
| Rockwall | TX | 444 | 22,216 | 8,695 |
| Cobb | GA | 9,941 | — | — |
| Fulton | GA | 17,393 | — | — |
Finding a Subject Property
Search Bar
Type in the search bar to find a property by account number, property name, owner name, or city.
Map Click
Click any circle marker on the map to select it as the subject property.
Map Navigation & Marker Colors
- Radius Slider — Adjust the search radius (0.25–5 miles). Click × to remove the radius constraint entirely
- Map / Satellite — Toggle between street map and satellite imagery
- Show Submarkets — Overlay submarket boundaries (select counties)
| Color | Meaning |
|---|
| Cyan | Subject property |
| Amber | Suggested (best) comps |
| Purple | Comps valued higher than subject |
| Green | Comps valued lower than subject |
| Gray | Unselected properties |
Selecting Comparable Properties
- Click a marker to add/remove it from your comp set
- Suggest — Auto-identify the strongest comps (up to 9) by type, size, age, distance
- All — Select every property within the radius
- Clear — Remove subject and all comps
Reading Comp Cards
Each comp card shows property name, city, distance, confidence score, and badges:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|
| BEST | Auto-suggested by algorithm |
| TYPE ✓ | Excellent building type match |
| TYPE ~ | Partial type match |
| [Year] ✓ | Year built within ±5 years (blue) |
| KEA ✓ | Represented by KE Andrews |
| HC ◊ | Hard corner property (HV only) |
| PY SALE | Prior year sale detected |
| ❄ FROZEN | GA: Value frozen under 299(C) cycle |
| ✓ REASSESSED | GA: Value reassessed this cycle |
| 🔴 2026 | GA: Reassessment due this year (red) |
| 🟡 2027 | GA: Reassessment coming next year (amber) |
| ❄️ 2028 | GA: Frozen until 2028 reassessment (blue) |
Confidence Scoring
Each comp receives a score from 0–100 measuring comparability based on building type, size, age, proximity, quality, and market area.
| Score | Color | Meaning |
|---|
| 70–100 | Green | High confidence — strong comp |
| 50–69 | Amber | Medium confidence — usable with caveats |
| 0–49 | Red | Low confidence — weak comp |
Filters
Click Filters in the toolbar to narrow visible properties by:
- City / Building Class / Submarket
- SF Range / Year Range / Stories Range
- Match Subject Class, Market Area, or Building Class
- National Brands (HV only)
- Value Status (GA counties: Reassessed/Frozen)
Tax Savings / Value Reduction
Standard Segment
Tax Savings = (Subject Tax/SF − Median Comp Tax/SF) × Subject SF
High Volume Segment
Value Reduction = Subject Imp Value − (Median Comp Imp/SF × Subject SF)
Due Diligence (DD) Mode
Toggle DD in the toolbar for deeper analysis with purchase price, sale weight, and market trend inputs. Generates three scenarios:
| Scenario | Method |
|---|
| Worst Case | 95% of purchase price |
| Probable | Weighted blend of comps + market trends |
| Best Case | Comp-driven median value |
Generating Reports
Click Report to open the split-button dropdown with three report types:
- Standard Report (2 pages) — Subject summary, savings, comp chart, comp table
- DD Report (3 pages) — Adds scenario analysis and 3-year trend projections
- Comprehensive Report (4+ pages) — Full property analysis with Google Street View & satellite photos, assessment breakdown (Land/Building/Total/KEA Value), $/SF bar chart, Leaflet map, market context charts, and individual comp property pages
Reports use the current adjustment state (ON/OFF) and Comp Builder income adjustments (if active). Print at letter size.
Save & Load Comp Sets
- Save — Saves your current subject + comps to local history
- Save Set — Downloads a JSON file with subject, comps, county, and adjustments
- Load Set — Restore a previously saved comparison from a JSON file
- Share to Team — Uploads your comp set to the cloud so other appraisers can see and load it from the Shared tab
- History (via ⋯ menu) — Every selection is auto-saved locally; load, add notes, export/import
Shared Comp History
Click the Shared tab to browse comp sets saved by all appraisers across counties. To share your work:
- Select a subject property and comps on the Map page
- Click the ▾ chevron next to Save → Share to Team
- On first use, you'll be asked for your name (stored locally)
On the Shared page you can:
- Filter by county, segment, appraiser, or search by name/address
- Load — Click any row to restore that comp set on the map (auto-switches county if needed)
- Delete — Remove your own shared entries (only your entries show a delete button)
- Sort — Click any column header to sort
Owner Review (Batch Analysis)
Paste a list of properties (one per line) as county, account_number to analyze an entire portfolio. Results show match status, estimated savings, and a View button to jump to each property on the map.
Comp Builder (Income Adjustments)
Click Comp Builder in the toolbar to open the income-adjusted comp panel. This equalizes comps using rent data:
- Each comp card shows Raw $/SF and Adj $/SF with the adjustment percentage
- RENT $/SF/YR — Enter the annual rent per SF for each comp
- MODE — Toggle between Income (Inc), Manual (Man), and Off for each comp
- X button — Remove a comp from the analysis
- KPI bar shows Comps Selected, Median Raw $/SF, Median Adjusted $/SF, and Indicated Value
Income adjustments flow through to all three report types (Standard, DD, Comprehensive).
High Volume (HV) Segment
Focuses on small commercial buildings (500–14,999 SF) that trade at high volume: fast food, convenience stores, restaurants, strip centers.
| Feature | Standard | High Volume |
|---|
| Primary Metric | Total Value / SF | Improvement Value / SF |
| Savings Calc | Tax savings ($) | Value reduction ($) |
| Size Range | 15,000+ SF | 500–14,999 SF |
| Hard Corners | N/A | Detected & flagged |
| Brand Logos | N/A | Show at zoom 15+ |
Land Segment
Available for Rockwall and Tarrant counties. Focuses on vacant, agricultural, and ranch parcels.
- Primary metric: $/Acre for parcels ≥20 acres, $/SF for smaller lots
- Value basis: Land value (not total value)
- Confidence scoring: Based on acreage match, state use code match, proximity, neighborhood, and $/Acre outlier detection
- Land use codes: Agricultural (D1), Farm/Ranch (D2, E1, E3, E4), Vacant Commercial (C1, C2), and more
Land-Specific Filters
- Acreage Range — Filter by min/max acres (replaces the SF filter when in land segment)
- Land Use — Multi-select filter for state use codes
- Match Land Use — Show only comps with the same land use code as the subject
Reports
Land reports show “Acres” instead of “SF” in column headers, compact $/Acre formatting ($27K/acre), and hide Tax/SF.
Georgia Counties — Reassessment Cycle
Cobb and Fulton counties follow Georgia’s O.C.G.A. § 48-5-299(C) value freeze cycle. Once a property is reassessed, its value is frozen for up to 3 years.
How It Works
- Year 1 — Property value is reassessed (new appraisal)
- Years 2 & 3 — Value is frozen at the Year 1 level
- Year 4 — Next reassessment occurs
Reassessment Year Badges
Perch identifies reassessment status by comparing year-over-year value changes:
| Badge | Color | Meaning |
|---|
| ✓ REASSESSED | Green | Value changed 2024→2025 — reassessed this cycle, next reassessment 2028 |
| ❄ FROZEN | Blue | Value unchanged 2024→2025 — exact cycle year unknown (reassessment could be 2026, 2027, or later) |
Note: With only one year of value history, Perch cannot determine the exact position in the 3-year cycle for frozen properties. Check the county assessor site for appeal/hearing history to confirm.
Where Badges Appear
- Subject card — Badge in the header row next to SUBJECT tag
- Comp cards — Inline badge alongside FROZEN/REASSESSED status
- Priority table — Inline tag next to property name
- Property details — Prominent banner in the Value History section
GA-Specific Filters
- Value Status — Filter by Reassessed or Frozen properties (visible only for Cobb/Fulton)
Appeal Strategy
- Properties marked REASSESSED are top priority — new values can be challenged
- Frozen properties may still be within the freeze period — check hearing history on the county assessor site
- Use the Value Status filter to focus on reassessed properties when building appeal cases
Tips & Best Practices
- Start with Suggest to find best matches, then refine manually
- Check TYPE badges for building type compatibility
- Watch year-built differences — properties decades apart may not compare well
- Use Adjustments for size/age/quality differences
- Aim for 5–9 comps to establish a credible median
- Prefer lower $/SF comps (green markers) to support a reduction argument
- For HV, compare like-for-like and check hard corner status
- Save comp sets for important cases — reload them later
Perch v10.1 — Built for KE Andrews property tax consultants
