How to Use Comparable Sales to Price Your Home

When determining the value of your home, several factors are important. These factors will ultimately be what you use as your measuring stick against other “comps”. There is that word – comps. A “comp”, or comparable, is the popular Real Estate term used when discussing the value of a home based on other similar properties within close proximity.

Knowing how much a similar home to yours sold for will give you the best idea of the current estimated value of your home. Here are the factors that make a good comparable sale:

LOCATION

The closer a comp is to your house, the better. A house that simply shares the same zip code will not qualify. A good comparable sale is in your neighborhood, the same subdivision, on a similar street, and shares the same school district.

TYPE OF HOME

• Square footage
• Architecture style
• Number of bedrooms
• Number of bathrooms
• Basement (finished/unfinished)
• Yard size

NOTABLE UPGRADES

Is the bathroom new? Did you install new granite countertops in the kitchen? How about a new roof? Creating a list of the upgrades you have made and providing that to your Realtor would be helpful.

DATE OF SALE

The sale down the street from 3 years ago was a huge one! Unfortunately, that was a different time in a different market. The timeframe in which a home will qualify as a true comparable will vary, but you should be thinking around 90-120 days.

Bottom line, the comps do not lie.