Using photographs as evidence
Photographs prove condition and prove absence. Both are worth more than description.
Photographs rarely win an appeal on their own, and they frequently make one land. They work by turning an assertion about condition into something the reader can see.
What they are good for
Condition the model cannot know. Mass appraisal prices a house from its recorded characteristics. It has no idea your kitchen is original 1974, the roof is failing, or there is a crack running through the foundation.
Proving something does not exist. A garage on the record that was demolished. A "finished basement" that is bare concrete.
External factors. A commercial building that arrived next door, a rail line, a substation, drainage crossing the lot.
Comparing to comparables. If your comparables are demonstrably in better condition, that strengthens rather than weakens your case — you are showing the disparity is real.
What they are not good for
Establishing value. A photograph of a tired kitchen does not tell anyone what the house is worth. It supports a condition argument someone else has to quantify.
Nor does an unflattering photograph of a perfectly ordinary house help. Boards see a great many of these and they do not move anything.
Taking them so they count
- Date them. Metadata is good; a dated note in the caption is better. An undated photograph proves the condition at an unknown moment.
- Establish the date matters. Assessments are made as at 1 January. A photograph from after a repair does not describe the property as assessed.
- Show scale and context. A close-up of a crack proves little. The same crack with the wall around it proves more.
- Include something identifying. A house number, a recognisable exterior. It should be obvious the photographs are of your property.
- Caption each one. "Rear elevation, March 2026 — original 1974 windows throughout" beats a photograph the reader has to interpret.
How many
Six to ten, each showing something different. Thirty photographs of the same tired kitchen from different angles reads as padding.
Pairing them with numbers
A photograph is most effective attached to a figure. Not "the kitchen needs work" but "the kitchen is original to 1974 construction; a contractor's estimate for replacement is attached at $28,000". The photograph makes the estimate credible and the estimate makes the photograph actionable.
Where they matter most
In the Cook County decision record, vacancy and partial occupancy are among the most reliably granted grounds — "the result of the total vacancy of your property" appears on 5,262 decisions and produced a reduction in every one. Those are exactly the conditions photographs, dated and captioned, establish well.
If part of a building genuinely stood empty, photograph it, date it, and say so plainly. It is a distinct claim from any argument about comparables, and the record shows offices grant it when it is established.