PropStream Feature
Sales Comps — Know What It's Worth Before You Offer
By FlipProperties Editorial TeamPublished September 8, 2026Updated October 20, 2026PropStream figures checked October 2026
Sales Comps is PropStream's comps tool: it pulls recent sales comparable to your target property, so you can adjust them and build an ARV you can defend. 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.
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3-5 comps
A common range for a defensible ARV
0.5 mi
A common starting radius: same neighborhood, same buyer pool
3–6 mo
A common starting window; widen toward 12 if sales are thin
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 holds up when a lender, buyer or seller questions it. An ARV pulled from an AVM with no comp check is much easier to challenge.
Where the comps come from
MLS sold data
PropStream carries 70M+ MLS records.
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.
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“Show single-family homes sold in the last 6 months in [ZIP].”
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What PropStream's comps tool does, and what you do yourself
PropStream's comps tool finds recent sales near your property and shows their average sale price, price per square foot and average days on market. It doesn't adjust each comp for you or set the ARV. That part is your job. Here's how PropStream's default settings compare with the guidelines appraisers follow for Fannie Mae loans.
| Setting | PropStream's default | Fannie Mae appraisal guideline | Common investor starting point |
|---|---|---|---|
| How recent | Sold within the last year | Closed within the last 12 months | The last 3–6 months; widen toward 12 if sales are thin |
| How close | Within half a mile | No fixed distance; sales from the same neighborhood are best | Half a mile; widen to 1 mile in rural areas |
| Square footage | Within 20% more or less | No fixed limit | Within 15–20% |
| How many | Every sale that matches | At least 3 closed sales | 3 to 5 |
| Adjustments | None; it shows averages | Made by the appraiser | You adjust for size, condition and features |
One more thing to check: in the 12 states that don't disclose sale prices in public records, PropStream says the public-record sale prices it shows are estimates. In those states, confirm your comps against MLS sales wherever you can.
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 3–6 months
A sale from 18 months ago is from a different market. Prices, rates, and buyer behavior have changed. Widen toward 12 months if your market has too few recent sales — 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 15–20% 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 15–20% 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. Treat that as a starting ceiling, not a law: adjust it for your market, your exit and your costs.
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.
Related Tool
Flip Comps
Add rehab estimates and profit projection to your ARV.
Related Tool
Land Comps
Price per acre for vacant lots and raw land.
Related Guide
Analyze Equity
ARV minus loan balance — the number that makes deals work.
Related Guide
PropStream Review
Full feature breakdown across all plan tiers.
Related Guide
County Property Records
Check recorded sales and deeds for your comps.
Glossary
Real Estate Glossary
Plain-English definitions for comps, ARV, AVMs and more.
Learning Center
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Five criteria: (1) Sold recently — start with the last 3–6 months and widen toward 12 if sales are thin. (2) Within 0.5 miles — same neighborhood, same school district, same buyer pool. (3) Similar square footage — within 15–20% 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 a common range, and Fannie Mae appraisals require at least three closed sales. 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 — an additional comp seldom 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 (using a per-square-foot value from your own 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.
No. PropStream's comps tool finds comparable sales and shows averages like sale price and price per square foot, but it doesn't make line-by-line adjustments. You adjust each comp for size, condition and features, then set your ARV from the adjusted range.
As recent as your market allows. A common starting point is the last 3–6 months, widening toward 12 months if sales are thin. PropStream's default is the last year, and Fannie Mae's appraisal guidelines call for sales closed within the last 12 months.
Not always. In the 12 states that don't disclose sale prices in public records, PropStream says the public-record sale prices it shows are estimates. Confirm comps there against MLS sales wherever you can.