How to read a comp without fooling yourself
Three sales down the street don't tell you what your house is worth. Here's the short, honest version of how comparables actually work.
Everyone has a number in their head for what their house is worth. Usually it comes from a neighbor’s sale, an online estimate, or what they paid plus “the market.” None of those is a comp. Here’s the short version of how the real thing works.
Start with geography, then narrow. A genuine comparable is close — same neighborhood, ideally the same few blocks, because the same school zone and walk-to-downtown drive a huge share of price. Only after you’ve fixed location do beds, baths, and square footage matter.
Recent beats similar. A sale from three months ago on a slightly different street tells you more than a perfect match from two years back. Markets move; stale comps lie.
Adjust honestly, in both directions. A finished basement, a new roof, a primary suite the comp doesn’t have — those add. A busy road, deferred maintenance, an awkward layout — those subtract. The temptation is to count only the pluses. Resist it.
A range is more honest than a number. Anyone who hands you a single figure to the dollar is selling confidence, not analysis. A defensible low-to-high band, with the comps shown, is the honest output.
That’s exactly what we do on Sell with us: three real recent comps, a price band, and one note on what would move it up. No black box.
Questions on a specific house or block? Ask us — we’d rather walk you through it than hand you a number.