The key to finding accurate, comparable sales is to find the properties that are closest in location, condition, square footage, features, etc.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHI TERMINE WHICH COMPARABLE SALES Y LE SALES YOU SHOULD USE AND WHICH TO IGNORE
The following comparable sales should not be used. Very few of these properties sell for a fair value. This is why each property type is not good for comparable sales. Bank-Owned/REO Properties: Banks always sell their homes for less than they are worth. The average bank-owned home in today’s market is selling for 5% to 10% less than its fair value. This is true even for homes that are in good shape. Short Sales: Buyers and their agents hate short sales because they are tricky and unreliable. A buyer often falls in love with a short- sale home, only to find out the banks won’t approve the short sale. Agents don’t like to show them for the same reasons. As a result, the pool of buyers for a short sale is much smaller than for a regular listing. Ugly Homes: These are unappealing homes that aren’t kept up. People buy houses because of emotion. Logic doesn’t always apply. As a result, a well-kept-up home will sell for more money. Well-maintained homes sell for 10% to 15% more than unappealing homes. We have witnessed professionally staged homes sell for 20% more than an unstaged property.
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