How to Find Comps

Question

I found a potential house that I'm going to look into purchasing. Only problem is that I cant find it on the county's tax assessor. I also cant find any house on that street to compare house prices. Has anyone ever run into this issue?

Rob Brautigam · Answer

@Kevin Izquierdo, a good agent will show you comps and help you find a good deal based on your criteria.

I believe when an appraiser uses comps in their appraisal report (done for financing), they will only use similar properties sold in the last 6 months, within 0.5 mile radius of the subject property.

These are generally good guidelines when looking at comps yourself, but depending on your specific location, you will need to really get a feel for good/bad streets, neighborhoods, etc.

For example a 3 bed, 2 bath house on 1/4 acre lot in a great neighborhood could comp at more than twice the value as the same property in the hood. This is a very location specific subject.

Kevin Izquierdo · Answer

Id have to get in contact with an Agent to look at the MLS. Can an agent also help me calculate a good offering price by looking at recently sold comps in the area? And when you say area, how big of an area are we talking about?

Rob Brautigam · Answer

Do you have access to the MLS through a realtor? If not, use Realtor.com and search for comparable recently SOLD houses. The reason to search for sold houses in the area (not necessarily the same street) and not the asking price, is because the asking price is just that, what the seller's are asking for. The sold price will give you a better idea of market value of your comps.

Kevin Izquierdo · Answer

@Rob Brautigam thanks so much for the information! Greatly appreciated