HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 24-1853INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
No. 24-1853
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
June 4, 2024
Page 1 of 2
SUBJECT: COMMERCIAL OWNERSHIP OF SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTIES
The purpose of this informal report is to provide an estimate of the degree to which single-family residential
properties are held by commercial interests in the City of Fort Worth. The data below is based on the April
estimated property rolls received from Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD).
Data Provided in TAD Rolls
TAD property rolls include data fields such as property address, owner name, owner address, and the
exemptions applied to individual properties. While the owner of each property is specified, there is no clear
data field indicating whether the property owner of a single-family residential property is owner occupied
as opposed to an individual or legal entity operating in a commercial capacity. The nature of home rentals
is not indicated in appraisal district records, and we have no means of determining a property's use for
rental purposes. This analysis is solely focused on determining the nature of single family home ownership
between owner occupiers and commercial interests.
In general, properties with an individual listed as the owner are owner occupied. However, there are cases
in which multiple properties are used as income -generating investments by individual owners and other
cases in which owner occupiers attribute property ownership to their businesses. The FWLab has taken all
data provided into account and drawn conclusions about the nature of ownership for each of 247,485
single-family residential properties on TAD's April estimated rolls.
Owner occupied properties are generally defined as:
- Any property with a Homestead Exemption applied
- Those for which the property address matches the owner's address and the owner name does not
indicate commercial ownership (see below)
Commercial properties are generally defined as:
- Properties with owner names indicating commercial ownership, including acronyms and phrases
such as `LLC,' `LTD,' `INC,' `Trust,' etc.
- Properties without a Homestead Exemption for which the property address does not match the
owner address, especially for cases in which the property owner holds several properties
Estimated Percentage of Single -Family Residential Ownership by Group
Of the 247,485 single-family residential properties on TAD's April property roll, FWLab has identified
183,113 as resident -owned and 64,372 as commercial properties. Of the former group, 154,138 have a
Homestead Exemption applied. The remainder have a match between property address and owner
address, an individual's name listed as the owner, and an owner which owns only one property.
In total, this amounts to 74% (or roughly 3/4) owner occupancy of single-family properties, with the
remaining 26% held by commercial interests. Some property owners have properties in both categories:
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
No. 24-1853
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
June 4, 2024
Page 2 of 2
SUBJECT: COMMERCIAL OWNERSHIP OF SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTIES
they have a property with a homestead exemption as well as one or more properties that are assumed to
be held for commercial interests.
Residential Inventory
Excluded from the analysis above are all properties designated as residential inventory. These are, to a
substantial degree, in the possession of owners with names indicating commercial ownership. Of 5,937
properties reported by TAD as residential inventory, four (4) have an owner address matching the property
address, and none of the 5,937 have a Homestead Exemption applied.
If you have questions concerning this information, please contact Christianne Simmons, Chief
Transformation Officer of the FWLab, at 817-392-6222.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS