How to Find Comps for My House: An Illustrated Guide

Once upon a time, the only place you could find property data was the MLS (multiple listing service), a series of private databases real estate professionals use to share listing information among one another and broker deals. Before contacting a real estate agent, you had no idea how much your house was worth, or how much you could make in a home sale. If you were making an offer on a house, was the asking price fair?

Today, all you need is a Wi-Fi connection to dig up specs like square footage, bedroom count, and selling prices on nearly any house across the country.

This “how to find comps for my house” crash course will teach you how to find comparable sales and calculate a rough estimate of your home’s value. Then you can decide if you’d like to go it alone or enlist a pro’s help.

What are comps in real estate?

In real estate, the term “comps” — short for comparables — refers to recently sold homes that are similar to your house. To be a comp, the house must have similar characteristics, such as size, school district, and amenities.

Comps give you a range for its “market value,” which you can then add or subtract from based on your home’s unique characteristics and features. For example, if you have a two-car garage and your neighbor has a one-car garage, your home might sell for more.

Once you’ve assembled your pool of similar properties, look at their sold prices. Active listings are not an accurate comparison point for your home’s value until they sell.

Why? Even if the home down the street is listed for $500,000, it hasn’t sold yet — so how do you know if it’s too high or too low?

Comps sold within the last 60 days are preferable because their sale price reflects current market conditions. However, recent sales aren’t always available, so you may have to pull comps from as long as six to 12 months ago.

What factors are used when finding comps?

Agents — and appraisers — use these factors to identify comps. Agents use the same factors as a home appraiser because they know that if your house fails to appraise appropriately, a buyer may not get a mortgage on it, and the sale could fall through.

Location: Neighborhood, access to major highways or public transportation, how close it is to the school or a public park, all of these influence a home’s price.
Location features: A home that backs up on a lake might be more valuable than a similar home in the same neighborhood that doesn’t have water access.
Date of sale: A home sale from three years ago doesn’t reflect market conditions today.
Home and lot size: A comparable home will have relatively close square footage and the same size yard.
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms: If your home has three bedrooms and one bath, it’s not comparable to a six-bedroom with three bathrooms.
Age of the home: A home built a hundred years ago won’t need the same maintenance and upkeep as a home built five years ago. Some buyers may prefer an older home, however, with character and unique features. An experienced agent would select a home of similar vintage to price your property.
Condition of the home: Have you been meticulous about having the furnace serviced every year, the air filters changed, and cleaning the gutters? A well-maintained home will price higher than one where the buyer might need to invest in catching up on maintenance.
Special features or upgrades: A newly-remodeled kitchen, a room addition, or a deck could all make one home worth more than another house just down the block.