All Forum Posts by: Michael L.

 Its all about sq ft and quality, style not so much 

Yea so in that specific situation, what I've always tried to do is to play around with square footage, bed/bath count, distance, and even sold timeline. 

For example If I was trying to find comps on a 3/2, 1800 Sq Ft home, I would set my parameters to look for properties that were: 1600 - 2000 sqft, 2/1 - 4/2 (bed/bath), and Sold within the last 3 - 6 months. Then if I have too few results pushing out the sold date a little further back and maybe widening my search area outside of a mile but trying to stay on the same side of major highways and bodies of water. If after all that you still can't find at least 3 comparable properties, then consider incorporating the different style of home but with understanding that the comp may have sold higher or lower than your subject property because of its different style. 

To be honest, comping a property is really just a way of getting your offer or your suggested list price in the same ball field as the rest of the competition. And remember the law of substitution: no one will pay more for a property than what they would for an equivalent property that they can build or buy cheaper elsewhere. 

So consider where your subject property stands in relation to the competing properties, estimate what listing/offer price will make yours competitive, and worse case scenario make adjustments to your list price/offer if the feedback you receive indicates its not working in current market conditions. 

hope that helps and best of luck 🤝🍀

 When you say absolutely needing a comp, do you mean in the case that there are no comparable properties close by that match the same style of house as the subject property?

Hey Michael, 

As a general rule of thumb I would just take the style differences into consideration when giving weight to your comps. 

depending on your market, a cape cod or rancher may be seen as more desirable to buyers and so even with them being similar square footage may not give you accurate comps. 

Have you looked to see if the average price of a cape cod vs a rancher differs any significant amount?

@Michael L., no you want the same style of home, similar age, similar size, and preferably within a mile of the property.

Sometimes you have to flex on one of these, but never had to flex on the style. For example, a ranch may be more desirable because it specifically suits people who are older or who have mobility problems in addition to others who just like that style. So, a specific style can have higher or lower prices in any given market. 

@Michael L. means that the market rate would apply whether its higher or lower at the 12 month mark.  for example Tom had said current rate is at 7.5% when he checked...that would mean that mine would go up from 6 to t7.5%

@Tom S. yes. I applied at Advia credit union when they were running a special.  I qualify for the 1.5 but would need to borrow 25K otherwise I qualify for 75K at the 6.1% 12 month special and after the 12 months then goes to prime.  Just debating on whether or not I should go lower for the lower interest but I'm leaning towards max just in case I get a good opportunity come through.  :)