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Blog · Situations · 2026-07-31 · 2 min read

Owning several parcels: check them together, appeal them separately

Assessments are individual. Reviewing a portfolio at once shows you which one is the outlier.

Owners of several properties frequently assume their assessments are consistent with each other. They are usually not, because each was set independently.

Review as a set

Compute assessed value per square foot for each parcel you own and put them side by side. Wide variation between similar properties in similar areas is a signal — one or two are usually the outliers while the rest are unremarkable.

Appeal individually

Each parcel is a separate assessment with a separate appeal, even under one owner and one deadline. There is no portfolio appeal, and a filing covering several PINs without separating them causes problems.

Prioritise by value, not by grievance

Rank by likely annual saving multiplied by the years it will persist. Appeal the top of that list. Filing on all of them costs effort on parcels that were fine and exposes each to review.

Entities

If the properties are held by an LLC, remember that at PTAB an entity generally needs an attorney. At the Board of Review a member can usually appear — check locally.

The record-keeping benefit

Doing this once gives you a baseline. Next year you compare against your own figures rather than starting again, and outliers announce themselves.

This is general information about how Illinois assessments and appeals work. It is not legal advice, not an appraisal, and not a prediction about your case. Deadlines and rules differ by county — check yours with your Board of Review.

Check your own assessment free →

More on Situations

Condominium assessments: your best comparables are in your own building Units in one building share everything except floor, view and finish — which makes the comparison unusually clean.Vacant land: assessed on what it could be, not what it is Land assessment follows zoning, buildability and access. Any of those can be wrong on file.Rental property: no homestead exemption, every other remedy intact Landlords lose the exemption and keep the appeal. Condition is often the strongest argument.Inherited property: exemptions end, and the record is usually stale The exemptions died with the owner. The assessment probably has not been looked at in years.

Mobile and manufactured homes: two different tax systems →