Comparable sales (also known as comps), are recently sold homes that closely match the subject property. What makes a good comparable sale? Your best comparable sale is the same model as your house in the same subdivision and it closed last week! If you can’t find that, here are other factors that count: Location: The closer to your house the better, but don’t just use any comparable sale within a mile radius. A good comparable sale is a house in your neighborhood, your subdivision, on the same type of street as your house, and in your school district. Home type: Try to find comparable sales that are like your home in style, construction material, square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, basement (having one and whether it’s finished), finishes, and yard size. Amenities and upgrades: Is the kitchen new? Does the comparable sale house have full A/C? Is there crown molding, a deck, or a pool? Does your community have the same amenities (pool, workout room, walking trails, etc.) and homeowners association fees? Date of sale: You may want to use a comparable sale from two years ago when the market was high, but that won’t fly. Most buyers use government-guaranteed mortgages, and those lending programs say comparable sales can be no older than 90 days. Sales sweeteners: Did the comparable-sale sellers give the buyers downpayment assistance, closing costs, or a free television? You have to reduce the value of any comparable sale to account for any deal sweeteners. **Your agent has access to this information and will help to adjust the price accordingly. Even if you live in a subdivision, your home will always be different from your neighbors'. Evaluating those differences—like the fact that your home has one more bedroom than the comparables or a basement office—is one of the ways real estate agents add value. An active agent has been inside a lot of homes in your neighborhood and knows all sorts of details about comparable sales. He/She has read the comments the selling agent put into the MLS, seen the ugly wallpaper, and heard what other REALTORS®, lenders, closing agents, and appraisers said about the comparable sale. More ways to pick a home listing price: If you’re still having trouble picking out a listing price for your home, look at the current competition. Ask your real estate agent to be honest about your home and the other homes on the market (and then listen to her without taking the criticism personally). Next, put your comparable sales into two piles: more expensive and less expensive. What makes your home more valuable than the cheaper comparable sales and less valuable than the pricier comparable sales? Are foreclosures and short sales comparables? If one or more of your comparable sales was a foreclosed home or a short sale (a home that sold for less money than the owners owed on the mortgage), ask your real estate agent how to treat those comps. A foreclosed home is usually in poor condition because owners who can’t pay their mortgage can’t afford to pay for upkeep. Your home is in great shape, so the foreclosure should be priced lower than your home. Short sales are typically in good condition, although they are still distressed sales. The owners usually have to sell because they’re divorcing, or their employer is moving them out of state. How much short sales are discounted from their market value varies among local markets. In some markets it could be as much as 8%, while other markets you'll see sellers price short sales the same as other homes in the neighborhood. For more information and to request a free market analysis contact Lindsey Marcovich, a REALTOR with Coldwell Banker at 720-261-8747. ...read more

NAR Housing Affordability Index hits 42-year high in January 2012!! The National Association of REALTORS®' (NAR) Housing Affordability Index reached a record high this January 2012 of 206.1. This is the first month since the index's inception in 1970 that the index has hit or passed 200, the group announced this week. The index, calculated monthly by NAR, is built from the relationship among three data points: median home price, median family income, and average mortgage interest rate. The higher the index score, the greater the affordability. The index aims to measure the affordability of a median-priced, existing single-family home by a median-income-earning family. An index of 100 represents a family's ability to exactly afford such a home, with a 20 percent down payment and mortgage payments at 25 percent of the family's gross income. Late 2011 saw a steady monthly rise in the index from June's 172.4, the 2011 low, to 197.9 in December 2011. The index has risen from 169.4 in 2009 to 174 in 2010, and to 184.5 in 2011. ...read more