Plan — Price your home and map the process
- Research comparable sold properties to determine market value2 hours
This step produces the comparable-sales table that anchors your entire sale — a price no buyer will argue with, because it is built from real, closed sales in your immediate neighborhood.
The challenge is finding homes that are genuinely comparable — same size, bedrooms, age, location, and condition — not similar-looking listings that are still for sale.
Open the county records:
- Go to your county tax assessor's property search portal.
- Cannot find it? Search “[your county] property tax records” to land on the right portal.
Pull recently sold homes on Redfin or Zillow:
- Search your address.
- Scroll to “Recently Sold” within a 0.5-mile radius.
Match your comparables — identify 5–8 homes that line up with your property in:
- Square footage, within 10%.
- Bedrooms and bathrooms.
- Lot size.
- Year built, within 5 years.
- Overall condition.
Record each comparable in a spreadsheet or table:
- Address.
- Sale price.
- Sale date.
- Price per square foot.
- Days on market.
- Any seller concessions noted, e.g., “$5,000 seller credit”.
Calculate the average price per square foot across your comparables — this becomes your starting target.
Adjust your target up or down for the differences between your home and each comp:
- Updated kitchen vs. original.
- New roof vs. 15-year-old roof.
- Any other gap in condition or features.
Verify condition in person:
- Drive by each sold home.
- Listing photos can be misleading — trust what you see on the street.
Keep your completed comparable-sales table. This spreadsheet is your pricing anchor for every decision that follows — the asking price, the counter-offer ceiling, and the walk-away minimum you will set next.