Meaning & use
comparable properties
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Meaning
nounpluralbusiness
Homes or buildings that resemble a given property in size, condition and location and have recently sold, used to judge what that property is worth.
Grammar: Usually plural, since a valuation uses several examples: three comparable properties.
Patterns
- comparable properties in something
- comparable properties to something
The appraiser studied six comparable properties before naming a price.
Comparable properties on our street sold for around three hundred thousand dollars.
Without recent comparable properties, it is hard to know if the asking price is fair.
Common combinations
- recent comparable properties
- Recent comparable properties suggest the house is overpriced.
- pull comparable properties
- The agent will pull comparable properties from the last six months.
- based on comparable properties
- The offer was based on comparable properties nearby.
- search for comparable properties
- We searched online for comparable properties before negotiating.
- sold comparable properties
- Sold comparable properties carry more weight than listings that are still on the market.
Synonyms and how they differ
- comps
- This is the informal industry shorthand and is used between agents, while comparable properties is the full phrase in reports.
- similar homes
- It is looser and does not suggest the strict matching of size, date and place that a valuation requires.
- market comparables
- It stresses the use of market data in a formal valuation and is slightly more technical.
Word family
- compare verb
- to examine how things are alike or different
- comparable adjective
- similar enough to be compared
- comparison noun
- an act of comparing
- comparability noun
- the quality of being comparable
Commonly confused: comparable properties or comparative?
comparable properties vs comparative
Comparative means measured by comparison, as in a comparative study. Comparable means similar enough to be compared.
Practice
The appraiser valued the house by looking at three recently sold ____ in the neighborhood.
Choose one answer.
Comparable properties are similar recent sales used for valuation. Commercial properties are used for business, a tempting but unrelated meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comparable properties”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.