Why Comparable Sales Aren’t Always Comparable

Accurately pricing a home is a complex process. A comparative market analysis is far more than identifying nearby sales. Its accuracy depends on selecting properties that are genuinely comparable and making appropriate adjustments for meaningful differences.

Those differences may include location, lot size and density, square footage, floor plan, bedrooms and bathrooms, condition, improvements, deferred maintenance, heating and cooling systems, financing terms, market conditions, seasonality, and the length of time a property was exposed to the market.

Many of the most important differences cannot be identified from MLS data or photographs. Because we see virtually every comparable home while it is on the market in the neighborhoods we serve, we understand characteristics and problems that may never appear in the listing.

In older, established neighborhoods, accurate pricing requires judgment, firsthand knowledge, and careful interpretation of the evidence. There are no reliable shortcuts.