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Setting your asking price by using comparables

Published on December 9, 2019

A good asking price is the key to a successful real estate transaction. Analyzing comparables is the method of choice for experts and owners wanting to estimate the value of a property.

In real estate jargon, a “comparable” is a house similar to yours that has recently sold in your area. A comparative market analysis therefore helps set a property’s sales price based on recent sales of the same type of property in a given neighbourhood.

What it involves

“First, a profile of your property is created by identifying its characteristics (year built, number of floors, livable surface area, property size, etc.). Then research is done on how much money similar homes in your neighbourhood have sold for,” explains Marc-Antoine Tardif, certified appraiser at DuProprio.

In other words, you wouldn’t base the value of a 10-room single-family home in the suburbs on the price of a two-bedroom condo in the downtown area of a major city.

Setting your price

Conducting a comparable market analysis gives you a good idea of the current market. You’ll know the approximate amount that buyers are ready to pay for a certain type of property in an area.

If comparable properties in a given neighbourhood have sold for between $185,000 and $195,000, a seller can reasonably list their home in that price range.

Finding comparables

Anyone can look up the comparables sold in their area, since real estate transactions are available on the website of the Registre foncier du Québec (land registry).

To make the search easier, our clients have also access to a directory of properties sold with DuProprio in their area1, on MyDuproprio. DuProprio’s team of appraisers also have other tools that can help owners set their asking price.

“Remember: to get a good idea of a property’s actual market value, it’s important to stay objective and select similar properties that have sold,” reminds Marc-Antoine Tardif. “Every detail can have an impact on a property’s value.”  

1 Available with all packages except for the Classic package. Note that this tool may not be available for certain types of properties or for properties with certain features.