PropStream Feature
Sales Comps — Know What It's Worth Before You Offer
Sales Comps is PropStream's valuation engine — it pulls recent sold properties comparable to your target, adjusts for differences, and gives you a defensible ARV. Every real estate decision starts with valuation. Before you estimate repairs, calculate MAO, or make an offer — you need to know what the property is worth after renovation.
3-5 comps
The standard for a defensible ARV range
0.5 mi
Ideal comp radius — same neighborhood, same buyer pool
6 months
Max sale age — older comps reflect a different market
Valuation is the foundation
Every number in a real estate deal flows from the ARV. Your MAO depends on it. Your rehab budget is justified by it. Your profit is the spread between it and your all-in cost. Get the ARV wrong and everything downstream is wrong — you overpay for the property, over-improve for the neighborhood, or price too high and sit on the market.
Sales Comps gives you the raw data to build an ARV you can defend — to your hard money lender, your end buyer, or the seller when you're explaining why your offer is what it is. An ARV backed by three recent, similar, nearby sold comps closes deals. An ARV pulled from an AVM with no comp verification gets challenged and collapses.
Where the comps come from
MLS sold data
Properties that sold through an agent and were listed on the MLS. The largest and most reliable comp source — includes list price, sale price, days on market, and property characteristics. Updated daily.
County recorder deeds
Every property transfer recorded at the county — including off-market sales, foreclosure auctions, and private transactions that never hit the MLS. Catches comps the MLS misses, but lacks condition and motivation data.
PropStream AVM
PropStream's Automated Valuation Model — an algorithmic estimate based on comps, property characteristics, and market trends. Useful for initial filtering and direction; always verify against actual sold comps before making an offer.
The five comp criteria
Not every nearby sale is a comp. Apply these five filters to every comparable property before using it to build your ARV:
Recency — Sold within 6 months
A sale from 18 months ago is from a different market. Prices, rates, and buyer behavior have changed. Extend to 12 months only if your market has fewer than 5 sales in 6 months — rural areas and luxury neighborhoods often need wider date ranges.
Proximity — Within 0.5 miles
Same neighborhood means same schools, same amenities, same buyer demographics. A property 2 miles away across a highway or school-district boundary is not a comp. Widen to 1 mile for rural or sparse-suburban markets.
Size — Within 15% of sq ft
Price per square foot is not linear — a 3,000 sq ft house sells for less per sq ft than a 1,500 sq ft house. Stay within 15% of the subject property's square footage to keep the per-sq-ft comparison meaningful.
Type — Same property type
Don't comp a single-family home against a condo, a townhouse against a duplex, or a rancher against a two-story colonial. Different property types attract different buyers at different price points.
Condition — Similar condition tier
A fully renovated property sold for $400K doesn't mean your gut-renovation project is worth $400K after repair. Match condition: turnkey vs turnkey, cosmetic vs cosmetic, gut vs gut. If you can't find condition-matched comps, adjust the sold price manually.
How to adjust comps — a worked example
Subject property: 1,800 sq ft, 3 bed / 2 bath, cosmetic rehab needed, estimated post-repair condition: updated but not luxury.
Comp A
123 Oak St
Comp B
456 Elm St
Comp C
789 Pine St
ARV RANGE
Adjusted comps: $301K – $317K. ARV estimate: ~$308K (midpoint of the adjusted range). Your MAO at 70% ARV minus $40K repairs: ($308K × 0.70) − $40K = $175,600. Offer below that — never above.
Where to go next
Sales Comps gives you the ARV. Next, run Flip Comps to layer on the rehab calculator and profit projection. Read the full PropStream review for the feature breakdown, and explore how to analyze equity — the other side of the valuation equation.
Know the value before you name the price.
Pull your first comps this week.
PropStream's 7-day trial. Enter any address, pull sold comps, apply the five criteria, and build an ARV you can defend to any seller, lender, or buyer.
Start the free 7-day trialSales comps questions
Five criteria: (1) Sold within the last 6 months — older sales reflect a different market. (2) Within 0.5 miles — same neighborhood, same school district, same buyer pool. (3) Similar square footage — within 15% of the subject property. (4) Same property type — SFR vs SFR, not SFR vs condo. (5) Similar condition — don't comp a gut renovation against a cosmetic flip. Meet all five and you have a defensible comp; meet three and you have a directional one.
Three to five solid comps is the standard. Fewer than three and you don't have a real data set — you're betting on anecdotes. More than five is fine but diminishing returns — the sixth comp rarely changes the ARV materially. Focus on finding three comps that meet all five criteria above; if you can't, widen your search radius or date range and note the adjustment in your analysis.
Start with the sold price per square foot of each comp. Adjust up or down for: square footage difference ($50-150/sq ft depending on market), condition (cosmetic vs gut vs turnkey), lot size (especially for rural properties), and special features (pool, ADU, view, waterfront). The goal isn't perfect precision — it's a defensible range. If three adjusted comps point to $280-310K, your ARV is ~$295K, and your offer math works from there.