5,976 single-family homes in the 77035 ZIP area — the oldest housing stock in this set, a wide appraisal spread, and a below-average share of missing homestead exemptions.
Check your home FREE →| What HCAD's records show | Westbury | All of Harris County |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family homes counted (state class A1) | 5,976 | 1,157,293 |
| No homestead exemption on record | 1,183 (19.8%) | 328,310 (28.4%) |
| Median appraised value | $275,062 | $279,813 |
| Median appraised value per square foot | $119.35 | $111.97 |
| Middle 80% of homes, per square foot | $82.30 – $169.56 | $84.36 – $184.69 |
| Median year of the primary structure | 1960 | 1990 |
Against the county: 19.8% here versus 28.4% across all of Harris County (328,310 of 1,157,293 single-family homes) — Westbury runs 8.6 percentage points below the county rate.
| ZIP area | Homes | No homestead on record | Median value | Median $/sqft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77035 | 5,976 | 1,183 (19.8%) | $275,062 | $119.35 |
1,183 of 5,976 homes in the 77035 area — 19.8% — have no homestead exemption on record, well below the county's 28.4%. As with every ZIP-based figure on this site, the proxy under-counts landlord-owned homes, so the true rate for the area is likely somewhat higher than 19.8%.
The distinguishing number here is age: a median primary structure year of 1960, the oldest of any place in this set. Sixty-five-year-old housing appraised at a median of $275,062 — and here is the interesting part — at a median $119.35 per square foot, above the county's $111.97, with the middle 80% running $82.30 all the way to $169.56.
That is a very wide band for a single ZIP area of mostly mid-century ranch housing, and it has a specific meaning. When homes of the same era, the same size and the same street are appraised anywhere from $82 to $170 per square foot, the difference is largely renovation: gut-remodelled houses and original ones sitting side by side. If yours is the original one, the unequal-appraisal comparison is available to you — but it has to be made against homes in comparable condition, and condition is evidenced with photographs and written repair estimates, not asserted.
Westbury is wholly inside Harris County — a Houston neighbourhood in the southwest of the city. As with the other neighbourhood pages here, the caveat is measurement rather than geography: HCAD's records carry no neighbourhood field, so this page uses the owner mailing ZIP 77035 as a proxy. The 77035 ZIP area is larger than the Westbury neighbourhood proper and takes in adjoining subdivisions, so treat the figures below as "the 77035 area", not as "Westbury".
Three things follow from a 1960 median that are worth doing something about.
Condition evidence is the strongest tool here. HCAD's mass appraisal cannot distinguish a renovated 1960 ranch from an unrenovated one on the same block. Dated photographs, written repair estimates and contractor bids for specific defects — foundation, roof, original electrical or plumbing, single-pane windows — are what put that difference in front of an appraisal review board. Upload it through owners.hcad.org ahead of the hearing date.
Over-65 is disproportionately relevant. On housing this old with long-tenured owners, the extra $60,000 school-district exemption under §11.13(c) and the school tax ceiling under §11.26 are frequently unclaimed. They are separate boxes on the same free form as the general homestead exemption, and §11.43(k) gives you until the first anniversary of qualifying to apply.
The homestead cap. §23.23 limits annual growth in appraised value to 10% plus new improvements — but only on an account with the homestead exemption on record. On a street where renovated sales are pulling market values up, that cap does quiet work every single year.
There are three ways to file, and all three are held to that same deadline: online through iFile at owners.hcad.org, by mail, or in person at Harris Central Appraisal District, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77040-6305. Online is the only route that connects to iSettle, HCAD's electronic settlement-offer process, which resolves a large share of protests without a hearing.
The full walkthrough lives in our free guides rather than being repeated on every area page: the complete Harris County protest guide, how to file online through HCAD iFile, and what actually happens at an ARB hearing. If the deadline has already passed, §41.44(b) late protests and the other remedies are covered honestly there, including what they do not cover.
Exemptions are separate from a protest, they are free to file, and they are not filed through iFile. For most households they are also the bigger number — a protest argues about value, an exemption takes value out of the tax base outright.
| Exemption | What it does | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| General residence homestead | $140,000 off the value your school district taxes, on a home you own and live in as your main residence | Tax Code §11.13(b) |
| Age 65 or older, or disabled | Another $60,000 off school-district value on top of the $140,000. From any one taxing unit you take the age-65 or the disability exemption — not both (§11.13(h)) | Tax Code §11.13(c) |
| Filing homestead late | A late residence homestead application must be accepted and decided if it is filed within two years of the delinquency date for those taxes; tax already paid is refunded without a separate application | Tax Code §11.431 |
| Filing disabled-veteran late | Disabled veterans get a far longer window — up to five years after the delinquency date | Tax Code §11.439 |
Full detail on each: the homestead exemption guide, the over-65 exemption and school tax ceiling, and the disabled-veteran exemptions.
No. 77035 is a mailing ZIP area that contains Westbury along with adjoining subdivisions, and it is used here only because HCAD's records carry no neighbourhood field to filter on. Everything on this page describes accounts whose owner's mail goes to 77035 — a reasonable proxy for the area, not a map of the neighbourhood.
Not necessarily, and the spread suggests not — the middle 80% of homes in 77035 are appraised between $82.30 and $169.56 per square foot, a very wide range for one ZIP area of similar-era housing. If you believe your home is being appraised as though it were renovated, that is an unequal-appraisal or condition argument, and it is made with dated photographs and written repair estimates.
Texas Tax Code §41.44 sets it at May 15, or the 30th day after HCAD delivered your Notice of Appraised Value, whichever is LATER. It is not always May 15 — if your notice arrived late, the later date is the one that governs. You can file online through iFile at owners.hcad.org, by mail, or in person at Harris Central Appraisal District, 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77040-6305.
Yes. Checking what HCAD has on record for your home costs nothing and takes about a minute. Filing an exemption — homestead, over-65, disability, veteran, disaster — is also free: HCAD publishes the application as Form 11.13 and the Texas Comptroller publishes the identical form as 50-114, both at no charge. Anyone charging you a fee to file a homestead exemption is charging you for a free government form.
No. We are not attorneys and not tax agents, and we do not represent anyone before HCAD or the Appraisal Review Board. We prepare the forms and the comparable-property evidence; you file it yourself under your own account. iFile requires your own login tied to your own account number and PIN, so the protest stays on your own record.
Last updated: July 31, 2026. Property figures computed from Harris Central Appraisal District's public appraisal roll (single-family state class A1, vacant-lot records excluded), joined to HCAD's exemption records. Sources: Harris Central Appraisal District, hcad.org and owners.hcad.org; Texas Tax Code §41.44, §11.13, §11.431 and §11.439. This page is general information for Harris County homeowners, not legal or tax advice. Appraisal figures reflect the roll as loaded and change every year — verify your own account with HCAD before you rely on anything here.