Thinking about selling your Texas home? You’ve probably already asked yourself, “What is my Texas home’s value?” The answer typically starts with a quest to find real estate comps. Comps are just comparable properties sold in your area, or properties sold near you that share similar characteristics to your home. This includes things like square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, and details concerning every repair and property upgrade.
If you’re still Googling “how to find comps in my area”, you can finally stop. We’ve put together this guide to help you figure out one of the most crucial steps for home sellers. While the time and effort it can take to find real estate comps can feel like heavy research, as one of the most important steps, it pays off. Accurate comps give you the best insight into and supporting evidence for selling prices.
We’re going to walk you through finding recently sold properties similar to yours. We’ll help you get a deeper understanding of your home’s fair market value and how to set a realistic price that will attract real buyers. All you need are a few online tools and a local real estate agent.
What Are Comps In Real Estate?
In the real estate space, “comps” is short for “real estate comparables”. These are sales of comparable properties that help establish the market value for other nearby homes. They’re usually drawn from recently sold properties that are located in the same neighborhood or school district. They might also be taken from a pool of similar properties in terms of number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, and the overall condition of the property.
The comparable home sales review process can make sure you’re getting as close as possible to a property’s value on the modern market. It’s your benchmark for what buyers, as a whole, are willing to pay. Recent sales data can help show you current market trends, which move short-term markets rapidly.
Real estate comps aren’t just about finding any specific number. Finding comparable sales is primarily for your personal information regarding the local real estate market. When you compile all the solid comps and add the recent sales, active listings, and pending offers together, you’ll start to get a more accurate picture of the recent sales, active listings, and pending offers on your property’s value.
Understanding The Real Estate Market in Texas
Texas homeowners know better than anyone that no two cities move at the same pace. The local real estate market for Denton will be wildly different from the market of Houston, depending on the recent market conditions and current market trends. This is the biggest reason why knowing how to find comps is so important.
For example, strong job growth in North Texas often pushes recent sales higher, while slower growth in smaller towns may mean recently sold homes linger at lower sale prices. Keeping an eye on housing market predictions in Texas with reliable market forecasts can help you anticipate shifts in the market.
Local real estate market reports also matter. People in Denton are going to look at the Denton market data, not the Houston market data. Knowing why the local market matters is going to be the foundation of your process to identify comparable properties.
How To Figure Out How Much Your House Is Worth
The best way to figure out your home’s value for the market is by finding accurate comps and comparing them to your home, and creating a listing price from there. Comps are critical for estimating fair market value.
Real Estate Websites
Real estate websites and online real estate platforms are typically your first stop for anything home sellers could want. These sites will let you search for recently sold properties in the area, while simultaneously filtering for things like square footage and critical property details like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
Online listing sites will give you a good idea of the current active listings, in the same display as recently sold properties. This gives you a much more well-rounded view of the local market trends and conditions. It won’t always be perfect, but it can be a source of important insights into what buyers are paying in the local market.
Online Home Valuation Tools
There are more online tools for real estate valuation than hairs on a steer. Each of these tools uses a unique approach or algorithm, along with recent sales data, to estimate a home’s price. They’re a solid place to start, just remember not to rely on them exclusively, and blend their information with a trusted real estate agent or other real estate professional.
Many of these tools pull data from public property records and properties sold over the past few years, so they tend to have fairly reliable market data. While they can be helpful to estimate values, most of them can’t account for unique property features, renovations, school choice, or other upgrades or perks that could be justification for a higher price.
About Real Estate Agents
A local real estate professional, like a real estate agent or realtor, will be your personal source of some of the most accurate real estate comps you’ll get. Agents have access to the multiple listing service, or MLS, which tracks recent sales data, MLS comps, and comparable home sales that aren’t necessarily visible to the public.
Agents can also create a comparative market analysis that reviews recently sold homes, pending sales and offers, and active listings right in your neighborhood. This type of report is more detailed than just simple averages. It will give you a far more accurate picture of fair market value in your local space.
Public Property Records
All counties in Texas maintain public property records that include details like sale price, square footage, and number of bedrooms for properties sold nearby. By searching these records, you can compare similar properties and get a sense of your property’s market. Or, you can break them down to metrics, like price per square foot, and use those to gauge your options.
While it takes more effort than checking a website, these records provide actual market value data, which is often more reliable than estimates. Checking public property records is especially helpful if you want to verify the accuracy of online sources or double-check the selling prices of homes in your area.
Comparative Market Analysis
The most thorough, in-depth method is a comparative market analysis, CMA, prepared by a local real estate agent. A CMA considers recently sold homes, comparable sales, and market research while factoring in similar characteristics like condition, location, and size.
It may also review properties sold years ago to identify long-term market trends. A CMA not only helps set an accurate listing price but also positions your property competitively in the local real estate transaction process.
Many agents will automatically provide a CMA as part of their service offering. Others may offer it as part of a premium package or upper service tier. Either way, it can give you insights you can’t get anywhere else, from an industry expert with deep familiarity with the area.
Why Finding Comps Are Useful When Selling Your Home
Knowing how to find real estate comps is more than just an exercise in numbers. For home sellers, it is one of the most powerful tools for understanding your property’s value and setting yourself up for a successful real estate transaction.
One of the biggest benefits is setting the right listing price. If you price too high, your home may sit on the market and lose momentum. If you price too low, you risk leaving money on the table. By reviewing comparable sales and recently sold homes in the same neighborhood, you can list with confidence.
Accurate real estate comps also help during negotiations. Buyers often come armed with their own recent sales data and property comparables. When you can show comparable properties with similar bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, and location within the same school district, you have evidence to back up your asking price. This can make it easier to hold firm and secure a higher sales price.
Another advantage is gaining insight into the local housing market. By analyzing current market trends and market conditions, you can see whether similar properties are selling quickly or slowly. This knowledge lets you adjust your expectations and prepare for the process ahead.
In the end, finding the most accurate comps possible gives you valuable insights about your own property. These insights lower stress and give you a more realistic idea of your home’s fair market value.
Conclusion
For anyone looking to sell their home, finding real estate comps is one of the best ways to make sure your home’s value is represented accurately in the listing price. It helps pave the way for a smooth transaction, and by looking at recent sales, similar properties, and essential tools, Texas homeowners can price more confidently. For expert help beyond the numbers, Four19 Properties is ready to help you navigate the selling process.