Table of Content
Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Doing your own comps gives you a decent idea of value — at no cost or obligation. What’s more, it can be fun and informative to get a deeper understanding of your neighbors’ home values — and your own.
Walkability, parking, or quiet may be important aspects of the area. For example, comps might be used to resolve contested estate settlements, insurance claims, or divorces. Carroll says trust attorneys often use comps and appraisals. Taxes – Property taxes can vary from one municipality, suburb, or subdivision to the next. The third-party home value estimates may be fast, but they may also be confusing.
How Are List Prices Set?
Don't forget to factor in size, too, as square footage can have a major impact on home value. Number of bedrooms and bathrooms – The number of bedrooms and bathrooms significantly impacts the price of a home, so it’s important to match those numbers exactly in comparable homes. If the final price doesn’t look totally right to you, it’s okay to adjust it up or down. Underpricing means you won’t get what your home is worth, meaning you’ll leave money on the table. Overpricing can make buyers wary of purchasing your home, leaving it on the market for an extended period of time. For example, if one of your comps has a renovated kitchen, but your house doesn’t, subtract an estimated value from the comp’s price.
Similarly, buyers use house comps to help them calculate a fair offer. Comps can prevent a buyer from overpaying for a home by knowing what similar properties in the area have recently sold for. House comps generally include more than one recently sold property to measure your home against.
How to find comps for your home
Many real estate agents and brokers have software they use to generate comprehensive CMA reports. If you’re creating your own report, it would be best to use a spreadsheet to keep track of your research. Home trends that could increase the value of your home, such as being a waterfront property or having a view. Keep in mind that if you get too specific in your searches, you might not find enough recently sold homes in your area that you can use as reliable comps. Here’s an example of how you can filter for real estate comps based on a three-bedroom house with two bathrooms and which were sold within the last month.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Jennifer Bradley Franklin is a multi-platform journalist and author, often covering finance, real estate and more.
Home Buyers
Title representatives have access to the title database, which contains records of all sold properties – including FSBOs . Age of the home – Because some buyers think older homes aren’t in as good condition as new homes, or may need more work than newer homes, it’s important to find homes of a similar age to compare. It’s recommended that there is no more than five years difference in age. Date of sale – Typically, sales within three to six months are considered comparable because the market can change rapidly, making older sales irrelevant. At HAR, we are excited to announce development of a new tool that lets consumers compare home values INSTANTLY – from leading sources.
Once you’ve identified comparable candidates, inspect them more carefully to find the ones most similar to yours. Ameralis suggests compiling a list of four to six comps in order to appropriately evaluate your property. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Savvy real estate agents regularly run comps to keep an eye on their local market and gauge overall trends. Real estate prices are based on several factors, including supply, demand, location, condition, and property features and amenities. Because these values can be relative and ever-changing, comparable properties on the MLS are a respected method for setting fair and competitive list prices.
Another valuable resource for homebuyers and sellers is your county’s public property records. Unfortunately, public property records can be a hit or miss when it comes to comps, as you’ll only be able to find the last recorded sales price, which may be from ten years ago. So if the area market has few or no recent transactions, you could be stuck with property comps that don’t reflect today’s market conditions. Public property records can be a good place to start, but you’ll need additional research to find accurate numbers. Once you have an understanding of your home’s attributes, the next step is to look for recently sold or pending properties with similar characteristics.
Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com tend to have the most comprehensive and current listings. In county sales records, you will be looking at the negotiated final price, not the listing price. County records typically don’t indicate if any seller concessions were involved, such as credits for repairs or closing costs. Zoom in on your area, then your neighborhood, and find your house to use as a reference point. Look for comps in the closest proximity to your own location that match your home’s characteristics. Click on a property to see details, such as the address, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, and the date it sold.
Once you’ve nailed down your search criteria, you can zoom in on the map and look at all the recently sold homes in your neighborhood and find the ones that are the most comparable to yours. One way to find comps in your area is to use an established real estate listing website for your research. Redfin offers an easy way to identify recently sold homes in your neighborhood quickly.
Partner with a top agent familiar with the area – Knowing the area and its sales history can make a big difference, so it’s important to find a top agent familiar with your neighborhood. Better yet, visit the property – Photos don’t tell the whole story. Visit the property to better ascertain the level of maintenance, assess curb appeal, gauge the level of traffic, witness local attractions, and experience the neighborhood ambiance. Realtor websites may also provide comps, but Carroll warns that they can be inaccurate.
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