Verifying Comparable Sales: Best Practices for Appraisers

Confirming details of comparable sales with a party to the transaction is critical, yet it is an often overlooked part of the appraisal process. While MLS and public records provide useful baseline data, the full context surrounding a sale requires additional investigation. As licensed appraisers, we have an ethical responsibility to pursue answers beyond surface-level data.

This blog shares tips to professionalize the verification process and build collaborative relationships with real estate agents over time.

Guidelines for Confirming Sales

1. For complex or important comparable sales, leverage phone interviews to obtain detailed, and timely responses.

2. Email/Text any less urgent questions at least 24 hours beforehand out of courtesy and to accommodate agents’ schedules.

3. Avoid redundant questions easily answered by the listing. Wasting agents’ time can damage future cooperation.

4. Express gratitude for any information provided, however limited. Verification itself demonstrates due diligence and its importance is critical to share with agents.

5. Connect with both the listing and buying agents to understand both perspectives on the property’s key value factors.

Information to Request

Target questions at filling MLS gaps across buyer/seller motivation, condition, views, outbuildings, and more:

• Distress factors impacting timeline. Did the buyer need to sell the property quickly?

• If the property has a blow-grade finished area, what was the percentage of the finished basement area?

• What type of condition was the property really in? How new were the interior finishes? Was the property well cared for? Was there any deferred maintenance?

• Was the buyer affected by the proximity to the busy road?

• Concession terms and required repairs.

• Was there any personal property included in the sale? Did that affect the sales price?

Sample Questions

Adapt inquiries to the unique property type and scope. Here are some examples:

• Were there any concessions tied to necessary repairs?

• Did the view meaningfully influence the buyer?

• What was the exact outbuilding configuration?

• Did the improvements need any updating?

• If the property was rented, were the rents at, below, or above market rate? Were the tenants expected to remain after the sale?

Follow tailored questions with an open-ended prompt about anything you may have overlooked influencing value.

By improving how we verify critical sales data, appraisers can demonstrate our expertise and build relationships with agents to access better information over time. 

Confirming the true conditions around comparables raises the quality of our work for all parties that depend on reliable and credible valuations.