Guide · updated 2026-08-02
What assessing authorities actually want to see
An assessment appeal is an evidence argument. Comparable sales and documented condition problems carry it; adjectives do not. This explains which comparables help, which ones weaken a list, and how to organise the rest.
Comparable sales are the argument
Recent arm's-length sales of genuinely similar nearby properties are the primary evidence in almost every jurisdiction. Similar means comparable in size, age, condition and location — not merely on the same street. Use the median of the comparables rather than the average. A small sample plus one unusual transaction produces an average that misrepresents the set, and assessing offices reason in medians for the same reason. Three comparables is a realistic minimum. One comparison is easy to set aside.
Some sales weaken a list rather than lengthening it
Distressed sales, foreclosures, transfers between family members and teardown purchases are routinely discounted as evidence of market value, and including one invites the whole list to be questioned. A short list of unimpeachable comparables is stronger than a long list containing two that can be dismissed. Choosing what to leave out is part of the work.
Condition arguments need documents
A property in materially worse condition than the assessment assumes is a legitimate argument, and it needs evidence: a dated photograph, a written repair quote, an inspection report, a permit record. Describing a problem is not evidence of it. This is the most common gap between an appeal that is granted and one that is not, and it is entirely within an owner's control before filing.
Organisation is worth more than argument
A review board processes a large number of protests in a short season. An appeal that arrives as an organised set of facts — parcel identifier, assessed value, the value contended for, comparables listed with address, date and price, condition items with their documents attached — is materially easier to grant than one that arrives as a complaint. That is what the letter generator assembles. It states facts and requests a review. It makes no legal argument and cites no authority, because a template cannot argue on your behalf and this site is not a law firm.
Official sources for this guide
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