Real Estate Comps: How Investors Pull and Adjust Them

Real estate comps are recently sold properties similar enough to a subject property that their prices tell you what the subject is worth. For an investor, pulling real estate comps is not one task but three: comps for the house as it sits today, comps for the house after repairs, and rent comps for the buyer who plans to hold it.

Most guides stop at “find three sales nearby.” That is where beginners get burned. This guide shows how investors choose, filter, and adjust comps for each of those three values, with a worked example, a selection checklist, and the mistakes that cost wholesalers their buyers’ trust.

What counts as a comp (and what does not)

A comparable sale is a closed, arm’s-length sale of a property that a typical buyer would have considered instead of the subject. Each part of that sentence matters.

• Closed: the sale recorded. Active listings and pending sales show where the market is heading, but they are not final sale prices.
• Arm’s-length: unrelated parties, normal marketing, no pressure. A sale between relatives, a foreclosure auction, or a sale to a tenant at a discount does not show market value. Our guide to the arm’s-length transaction explains how to spot these in public records.
• Substitutable: a buyer shopping for the subject would have toured it. Same property type, similar size, similar age and style, same school district and the same side of any busy road or rail line.

Lenders formalize this. Fannie Mae’s appraisal rules require at least three closed comparables in the sales comparison approach and say sales that closed within the last 12 months should be used, with listings and contract offerings allowed only as supporting data. Your end buyer’s lender, or their appraiser, will follow rules like these, so your comps should survive the same test.

The three kinds of real estate comps investors pull

Retail agents pull one set of comps. Investors usually need three, because a distressed house has three different values depending on who is looking at it.

Comp set	What it answers	Who relies on it	Best source sales
As-is comps	What the house would sell for today, unrepaired	You, the seller, and buyers who will rehab	Other dated or distressed sales, investor purchases, estate sales
After-repair comps	What the house sells for once renovated	Flippers, lenders, and your MAO math	Updated retail sales from the last 3 to 6 months
Rent comps	What the house will rent for after repairs	Landlords, BRRRR buyers, DSCR lenders	Current leases and recent rental listings of similar size

The after-repair set is the one most people mean when they say comps, and it feeds your ARV. Our step-by-step guide on how to calculate ARV walks through that number in detail. This article focuses on the comp work underneath all three values, because a wholesaler who only knows the ARV number cannot explain to a seller why their house is worth less today, or tell a landlord buyer whether the deal cash-flows.

As-is comps: the number the seller needs to hear

Sellers anchor on the renovated sale down the street. As-is comps let you show them, with real data, what houses in their condition actually sold for. Look for sales described as needing work, sold for cash, or bought by an LLC and resold months later. The first sale in a flip pair is often the best as-is comp you will find, because it shows what an investor paid for a similar project.

After-repair comps: the number the buyer checks

Your cash buyer will pull their own after-repair comps within an hour of seeing your deal. If yours are stale, oversized, or from a better school zone, they stop opening your emails. Use the most recent renovated sales, ideally within three to six months, because rehabbed houses compete with new listings and price shifts show up there first.

Rent comps: the number landlords care about

A growing share of buyers on any list are landlords. They want the market rent, not the rent the current tenant pays. Pull three to five comparable rentals of the same bedroom count, condition, and neighborhood, and note whether utilities are included. A rent estimate that is $200 a month too high can make a house look like it meets the 1 percent rule when it does not.

How to pull real estate comps, step by step

The process below works on the MLS, a paid data tool, or free public records. The tools change; the filters do not.

1. Write down the subject’s facts first. Above-grade square footage, bedrooms, full and half baths, lot size, year built, garage, basement, style, and condition. Pull them from the county assessor and confirm them on site, since assessor records are often wrong on finished basements and additions.
2. Start with a tight radius. In a dense neighborhood, begin at a quarter mile. In suburbs, half a mile. Rural areas may need several miles. Do not cross major boundaries such as a highway, a school district line, or a shift from owner-occupied blocks to mostly rentals.
3. Filter by date. Start with sales in the last six months. Extend to twelve only if you need to, and note the market trend if you do.
4. Filter by size. Keep comps within about 20 percent of the subject’s square footage, and match the bedroom count where you can. A three-bed buyer and a two-bed buyer are different buyers.
5. Match style and age. A 1990s split-level does not compare cleanly to a 1920s bungalow even at the same size.
6. Read every listing. Photos and remarks tell you condition. “Investor special,” “cash only,” or “as-is” belongs in the as-is set. New kitchen, new roof, and staged photos belong in the after-repair set.
7. Check how each sale happened. Days on market, price cuts, seller concessions, and whether the buyer was a relative or entity. Remove anything that was not a normal sale.
8. Keep three to six that fit. Three strong comps beat eight weak ones. If you cannot find three, the house is unusual, and your value range should be wider.

Adjusting comps: a simple grid that holds up

No comp is identical to the subject. Appraisers use an adjustment grid: start with each comp’s sale price, then add value for features the subject has and the comp lacks, and subtract for features the comp has and the subject lacks. You always adjust the comp toward the subject, never the other way around.

Where do the dollar figures come from? The best method is a paired-sales comparison: find two otherwise similar sales that differ by one feature, such as a garage, and the price gap is roughly the market’s value for that feature. Fannie Mae requires appraisers to make market-based adjustments and explain them, as set out in its guidance on adjustments to comparable sales. Rules of thumb vary widely by market, so build your own from local paired sales and update them every few months.

Typical adjustment categories, from most to least common in investor work:

• Condition and updates: the largest adjustment in distressed deals, and the one people most often get wrong.
• Square footage: applied per square foot of difference, at a rate well below the average price per square foot, because extra space adds less value than the base house.
• Bedrooms and bathrooms: a missing full bath often moves value more than a missing bedroom.
• Garage, basement, and lot: highly market-specific. A garage can matter a lot in snow states and little in mild ones.
• Time: if prices have moved since a comp sold, adjust for it; the FHFA House Price Index shows broad direction.
• Location: a busy road, a commercial neighbor, or rail noise.

A useful self-check: if your adjustments to a comp add up to a large share of its sale price, that comp is not very comparable, and you should look for a better one rather than adjusting harder.

Worked example: three comps, three values

The figures below are hypothetical, built to show the method. They are not from a real property.

Subject: a 1,350 square foot, three-bed, one-bath ranch with a one-car garage, built in 1962, in a suburb of a midsize city. Original kitchen, roof near the end of its life, dated bath, no basement.

After-repair comps (sold in the last four months, within half a mile):

Comp	Sale price	Size	Beds/baths	Notes	Net adjustment	Adjusted value
A	$268,000	1,420 sq ft	3/2	Renovated, two baths, one-car garage	-$7,000 for second bath, -$2,800 for size	$258,200
B	$255,000	1,300 sq ft	3/1	Renovated, no garage	+$6,000 garage, +$2,000 size	$263,000
C	$259,500	1,360 sq ft	3/1	Renovated, one-car garage, busy road	+$5,000 location	$264,500

The adjusted values cluster between roughly $258,000 and $265,000. Weighting comp C most heavily, because it needed the fewest adjustments apart from location, a reasonable after-repair value is about $262,000. Note that the investor would quote a range, not a single figure.

As-is comps: two nearby ranches sold as-is to cash buyers in the past six months, at $171,000 and $178,000, both needing kitchens, baths, and roofs. The as-is value of the subject sits around $172,000 to $178,000. That is the number to share with a seller who believes the house is worth the renovated price.

Rent comps: three renovated three-bed homes nearby leased for $1,850, $1,900, and $1,975 a month. A landlord buyer would likely underwrite at about $1,900.

With those three values, the investor can run an offer through the MAO calculator, show a landlord buyer the rent-to-price picture, and walk a seller through why the as-is number is lower than the street’s best sale.

Where investors find comp data

• The MLS: the most complete source of sold data with photos and remarks. Access usually comes through a licensed agent; many investors partner with an investor-friendly agent who sends comps in exchange for listing or buying business.
• County recorder and assessor records: free and authoritative on sale dates and prices in disclosure states. In non-disclosure states, sale prices may not be public at all, which makes MLS access more valuable there.
• Paid investor data platforms: combine public records, listing data, and owner information. Useful for speed, but their automated values are only estimates.
• Local title companies and appraisers: some will share recent sales data or give a quick opinion, especially if you send them business.

Real estate comps for unusual properties

Some properties have few or no true comps. That is where wholesalers either earn their fee or lose a buyer.

Small multifamily

Duplexes through fourplexes are valued two ways: by sales of similar small multifamily properties, and by income. Pull both. If sales comps suggest $340,000 but the rents and expenses only support $300,000 at the local cap rate, investors will pay closer to the income number. Our guides to gross rent multiplier and cap rate show how to run the income side.

Rural houses and land

In rural markets, you may need to look back further and farther. Explain the gap in your deal sheet rather than hiding it. Adjust for acreage carefully: the first acre usually carries most of the value, and each added acre is worth less. When the lot looks worth more than the house on it, pull vacant lot and new-construction sales as well and run a highest and best use analysis before you settle on a value.

Unusual layouts and conditions

A house with a structural problem, a missing bathroom, or a non-conforming addition needs as-is comps that share the defect, or a cost-to-cure deduction from the after-repair value. Our guide on how to estimate repair costs covers how to price those fixes.

Common comp mistakes that cost wholesalers money

• Using the highest sale on the street. One outlier is not the market. If your ARV relies on the single best sale, your buyers will notice.
• Mixing renovated and unrenovated comps. Averaging a gut-rehab sale with a dated estate sale gives a number that describes neither house.
• Ignoring concessions. A $250,000 sale with $10,000 in seller-paid closing costs is closer to a $240,000 sale.
• Crossing a boundary. The same house can be worth very different amounts on either side of a school district line.
• Leaning on automated estimates. Portal values are blended algorithms. They are a starting point, never a comp.
• Forgetting the trend. In a falling market, six-month-old comps overstate value. Watch recent price cuts and how long listings are sitting.

When comps are the wrong tool

Comps are the right method for single-family homes and small multifamily in active markets. They are the wrong primary tool in a few situations, and pretending otherwise leads to bad offers.

• Larger income properties: buyers value five-plus unit buildings and most commercial property on net operating income and cap rates, not on what the building next door sold for.
• Very thin markets: if there have been two sales in a year within five miles, any value is an educated guess. Use a wider range and a lower offer.
• Properties with title or legal problems: a house with a cloud on title or an active code case is worth less than any comp suggests until the problem is fixed.
• Fast-moving markets: when prices are shifting month to month, comps lag. Weight the most recent sales and pendings heavily, and build a margin for error into your offer.

How to present comps to sellers and buyers

For sellers, show two or three as-is comps and one renovated comp, and explain the gap in plain terms: the cost of the repairs, the time to complete them, the holding and selling costs, and the profit an investor needs to take the risk. That conversation is far easier than defending a number with no support. If you are building your negotiation skills, pairing this comp work with a mentor who reviews your numbers, such as through our mentorship program, shortens the learning curve.

For buyers, put your after-repair comps in the deal sheet with addresses, sale dates, sizes, photos or links, and a one-line note on each. Include your repair estimate and, for landlord buyers, your rent comps. Buyers forgive a slightly optimistic ARV with honest notes far more readily than a number with no support.

Real estate comps FAQ

How many comps do I need?

Three closed sales is the minimum most appraisers and lenders use, and the standard Fannie Mae applies. Investors often pull five or six and keep the three or four that need the fewest adjustments.

How far back can comps go?

Twelve months is the outer edge in most lender guidance. Investors prefer three to six months for after-repair comps, because renovated houses compete directly with current listings.

Can I use pending sales or active listings?

Use them as context, not as comps. Pending sales hint at direction; active listings show your competition. Neither tells you what a buyer actually paid.

What is the difference between a CMA, a BPO, and an appraisal?

A comparative market analysis is an agent’s pricing opinion for a listing. A broker price opinion is a short valuation report, often ordered by lenders in short sales and REO work. An appraisal is a licensed appraiser’s formal opinion of value, usually required by a lender. All three rely on comps, but only the appraisal carries the lender’s full weight.

Do I need a license to pull comps?

No. Anyone can review public records and portal data. MLS access is limited to members, which is why many investors work with an agent. If you prepare a formal valuation for someone else for a fee, check your state’s licensing and appraisal rules first.

Comps are the foundation under every number in a deal. Pull all three sets, adjust honestly, and keep notes, and your offers, your seller conversations, and your buyer relationships will all get easier.

Keep sharpening your deal math