By Harsha N Hegde
Homeowners in Bremen Township do not necessarily need a property tax attorney or representative to obtain a reduction. Historical appeal results show that homeowners who filed their own appeals achieved higher success rates than agent-represented homeowners at both the Cook County Assessor and the Cook County Board of Review.
The difference was especially pronounced at the Board of Review. From 2020 through 2025, 55.2% of DIY appeals resulted in a reduction, compared with 39.2% of agent-filed appeals. DIY appellants also received a higher median reduction in every year analyzed.
This does not prove that filing without an agent causes a better result. The two groups may involve different properties, evidence, requested values and case difficulty. But it does show that Bremen Township homeowners can successfully handle their own appeals when they submit a well-supported case.
Key findings
- At the Board of Review, DIY appeals had a higher success rate than agent-filed appeals in every year from 2020 through 2025.
- Across those six BOR years, DIY appeals had a 55.2% success rate, compared with 39.2% for agent-filed appeals.
- DIY appellants received a higher median assessed-value reduction in every BOR year.
- In 2025, DIY homeowners obtained 958 reductions from 1,998 appeals. Agents obtained 950 reductions despite filing 2,397 appeals.
- At the Assessor, DIY appeals also had a higher combined success rate from 2021 through 2025: 15.8% versus 12.1% for agents.
- Appeal success was substantially higher at the Board of Review than at the Assessor for both groups.
Bremen Township Board of Review appeal results
| Tax year | DIY appeals | Agent-filed appeals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appeals | Reductions | Success rate | Median reduction | Appeals | Reductions | Success rate | Median reduction | |
| 2020 | 1,337 | 730 | 54.6% | $1,418 | 3,451 | 1,491 | 43.2% | $1,128 |
| 2021 | 1,642 | 847 | 51.6% | $1,492 | 2,560 | 751 | 29.3% | $1,190 |
| 2022 | 907 | 391 | 43.1% | $1,250 | 1,712 | 338 | 19.7% | $1,152 |
| 2023 | 1,692 | 1,118 | 66.1% | $2,000 | 3,807 | 1,878 | 49.3% | $1,717 |
| 2024 | 2,033 | 1,264 | 62.2% | $1,906 | 2,616 | 1,076 | 41.1% | $1,423 |
| 2025 | 1,998 | 958 | 47.9% | $1,809 | 2,397 | 950 | 39.6% | $1,730 |
| Total | 9,609 | 5,308 | 55.2% | Not combined | 16,543 | 6,484 | 39.2% | Not combined |
The annual advantage was not marginal. The DIY success-rate lead ranged from 8.3 percentage points in 2025 to 23.4 points in 2022. In 2023, the strongest year for both groups, 66.1% of DIY appeals received reductions compared with 49.3% of agent-filed appeals.
The median reduction figures also favored DIY appellants every year. These amounts are reductions in assessed value. Because residential property in Cook County is generally assessed at 10% of market value, a $1,809 assessed-value reduction corresponds to approximately $18,090 in estimated market value. It does not represent the property-tax savings itself.
Bremen Township Assessor appeal results
| Tax year | DIY appeals | Agent-filed appeals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appeals | Reductions | Success rate | Median reduction | Appeals | Reductions | Success rate | Median reduction | |
| 2021 | 739 | 115 | 15.6% | $2,154 | 1,539 | 168 | 10.9% | $1,576 |
| 2022 | 448 | 117 | 26.1% | $1,244 | 878 | 107 | 12.2% | $1,197 |
| 2023 | 2,348 | 388 | 16.5% | $1,954 | 2,805 | 441 | 15.7% | $1,780 |
| 2024 | 784 | 97 | 12.4% | $1,433 | 1,520 | 134 | 8.8% | $1,318 |
| 2025 | 1,561 | 211 | 13.5% | $1,434 | 1,485 | 146 | 9.8% | $1,342 |
| Total | 5,880 | 928 | 15.8% | Not combined | 8,227 | 996 | 12.1% | Not combined |
The Assessor results were less favorable overall. DIY success rates ranged from 12.4% to 26.1%, while agent success rates ranged from 8.8% to 15.7%.
DIY appellants had the higher success rate in all five available years. They also received the higher median reduction each year. Still, the relatively low Assessor success rates show why homeowners should be prepared to continue to the Board of Review if the Assessor does not grant a reduction.
Why were Board of Review results better?
The data cannot establish why BOR success rates were much higher. Several factors may contribute:
- The Assessor and BOR are separate reviewing authorities and may evaluate evidence differently.
- Homeowners may improve their evidence or requested value before filing at the BOR.
- The mix of properties and cases reaching the BOR may differ from the Assessor appeal population.
- Reassessment and non-reassessment years may produce different appeal volumes and case characteristics.
The figures should not be read as a guarantee that an individual BOR appeal will succeed. They show the historical outcomes of the appeals included in the analysis.
Do Bremen Township homeowners need an appeal agent?
The historical results do not support the assumption that hiring an agent automatically improves the odds of a reduction. DIY appellants had better aggregate results at both review levels, particularly at the Board of Review.
That does not mean every homeowner should file without professional help. Complex valuation disputes, commercial properties, legal issues and unusual property characteristics may justify professional representation. But a typical homeowner with a single-family residence may be able to prepare an effective appeal independently.
The quality of the evidence matters more than simply submitting a large number of comparable properties. Good comparables should be genuinely similar to the subject property and support a defensible lower value.
cookcountyappeal.tax analyzes your property and selects comparable homes that support a Cook County property tax appeal. You can check your potential reduction for free before deciding whether to order a report.
How the analysis was calculated
This analysis covers single-family residential properties in Bremen Township. An appeal was counted as successful when the final assessed value was lower than the property’s initial assessed value at that appeal stage.
The success rate is calculated as:
Number of appeals receiving a reduction ÷ total appeals filed
DIY appeals are appeals filed without an identified tax representative. Agent-filed appeals are appeals associated with a representative. Median reductions include only appeals that received a reduction.
The combined success rates are weighted rates calculated from the total number of reductions divided by the total number of appeals. Annual medians were not averaged or combined because doing so would not produce a valid overall median.
Data limitations
- Assessor data for 2020 was unavailable and is excluded rather than treated as zero appeals.
- The analysis reports associations, not causation. It does not control for property characteristics, strength of evidence, requested reduction, case complexity or appellant selection.
- The same property may appear at both the Assessor and BOR if the homeowner continued the appeal. Results across the two authorities should not be added together as though they represent unique properties.
- A successful appeal means the assessed value was reduced. It does not show the resulting tax savings, which depend on the local tax rate, exemptions and other factors.
- Cook County may refresh or correct its public records, so totals can change.
Historical results cannot predict the outcome of a specific appeal. Homeowners should review their own assessment, comparable properties and applicable filing requirements before submitting a case.