Free comparative market analysis
What your house is worth, from someone who has stood in it.
An automated estimate is a guess made from public records by something that has never seen your house. A comparative market analysis is a licensed REALTOR® reading closed sales against yours.
Free, and with no obligation to list.
The difference
An automated estimate against an actual analysis
The automated estimate
Free, instant- What it sees
- Public records: square footage, bed and bath count, lot size, and the last recorded sale price.
- What it cannot see
- A new roof, a failed slab, the flood in 2016, the renovation that was never permitted, or that the comparable it used backs onto a coulee and yours does not.
- How it handles condition
- It does not. Condition is the largest single variable in this market and the model has no input for it.
- What it is good for
- A rough order of magnitude, and watching a trend over time. That is genuinely useful and it is not a price.
A comparative market analysis
Free, takes a day- What it uses
- Closed sales of genuinely comparable properties from the REALTOR® Association of Acadiana MLS, which is data the public sites do not fully have.
- How it adjusts
- Line by line for age, condition, updates, lot, drainage and location, with the reasoning written down so you can argue with it.
- What you get
- A price range, the comparable sales behind it, and a plain explanation of what would move you to the top of that range.
- What it costs
- Nothing, and there is no obligation to list afterwards. Plenty of these end with somebody deciding to stay.
What moves the number
Six things that change what a house is worth here
- Roof age.
- In the current Louisiana insurance market this is close to a binary. A roof a buyer cannot insure affordably is a roof that reduces your buyer pool.
- Flood zone and flood history.
- Both. The mapped zone sets the required insurance, and a history of taking water is a disclosure item that buyers price.
- Slab condition.
- Movement is common in this soil. Progressive movement and a level house are two very different valuations.
- Kitchens and bathrooms.
- Not because they are fashionable, but because they are what a financed buyer looks at when deciding whether they can move in without spending more.
- Drainage on the lot.
- Where the water goes when it rains hard, which in this parish it does.
- What actually closed nearby, recently.
- Not what is listed. Listings are asking prices and asking prices are opinions.
Takes two minutes
Start with the address
The address does most of the work. The rest just makes the first draft more accurate, and anything you are unsure about can be left blank.
What happens after you send it
Three steps, no drip campaign
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He pulls the comparable sales
Closed sales near you, filtered to properties that are genuinely like yours rather than merely nearby.
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He asks about condition, or comes and looks
This is the step an automated estimate skips and it is the step that decides the number. A walk-through is free and takes about half an hour.
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You get a range and the reasoning
With the comparables attached, so you can check the work. If you decide not to sell, that is a perfectly good outcome and the analysis is still yours.
Or get both numbers
The listing figure and the as-is offer
If the house needs work, ask for both at once and compare them with the holding costs included. That is the only comparison that means anything.
Valuation questions
What a real analysis involves
Is a comparative market analysis really free?
Yes, and there is no obligation to list afterwards and nothing to sign to get one. A fair number of these end with somebody deciding to stay where they are for another year, which is a perfectly good outcome rather than a wasted afternoon. The analysis is yours either way, including the comparable sales it rests on, so you can take the same numbers to a different agent if you would rather.
How is it different from a Zestimate?
An automated estimate is a statistical model reading public records. It has never seen your roof, does not know the house took water in 2016, cannot tell that the kitchen was redone or that the addition was never permitted, and has no input for condition at all. A comparative market analysis is a licensed REALTOR® reading closed sales from the MLS and adjusting them line by line.
How long does it take?
About a day for the first draft from closed sales, plus roughly half an hour on site if you want the condition reflected properly. The walk-through is the step an automated estimate skips and the step that decides the number.
Is a market analysis the same as an appraisal?
No. An appraisal is performed by a licensed appraiser, usually for a lender, and follows a defined standard. A comparative market analysis is a REALTOR®’s opinion of the price a property should command, prepared for a seller deciding what to do. They frequently land close together and they are not interchangeable.
What if the number is lower than I hoped?
You get told, along with the comparable sales behind it and what would move you toward the top of the range. A valuation that tells you what you want to hear is worth nothing, and it costs you months on the market to find that out.
Check it yourself
Sources and offices you can use directly
Everything on this page is checkable against a public source. These are the ones behind it.
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Verify a license
Louisiana licenses are public record. Search a license number before you sign anything with any agent, including this one.
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FEMA flood maps
The current flood zone for a specific address, from the source. Zones vary lot by lot and the maps are revised.
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IRS
The federal rules on capital gains, the primary residence exclusion, depreciation recapture and like-kind exchanges. Talk to a CPA about your own numbers.
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REALTOR® standards
The code of ethics a REALTOR® is bound by, and what the 2024 changes to buyer representation actually require.
Related
Where to go next
The pages most people read after this one.
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Listing with a REALTOR®
Pricing, prep, marketing and what a traditional sale nets.
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Prep to sell
Which repairs pay for themselves in this market and which never do.
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Listing versus cash
The full arithmetic on one house, three ways, with the assumptions written down.
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About Nexus
Why one business does both sides, and how the conflict is handled.
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Selling a rental
Occupied or empty, and what the recorded lease does to the sale.