Yeah ... I get it now that you tell me that out of 22 comparable listings (active 4 and pending/contingent 18) in 1,2,3 miles from the subject the only ones you can use are the 4 active (since the client's request is "When choosing List/Active Comps only ACTIVE MLS listings should be used. EXPIRED, PENDING, or homes UNDER CONTRACT are not acceptable.")

Are you sure you are using the best active comparable listings ? Because as far as I care ... I always cross over that 1 mile distance ... don't you ?

CandyMan: silly me to doubt you about your comps selection ... shame on me !! And I definitely must restrain myself from commenting when I had a long work day ...

This was going out 2 miles (suburban).......It makes no sense.

I have another one going that is killing me......subject is manufactured (rural).........I've gone out 20 miles, GLA... endless, Age...endless....Solds ...one year ......I've found 2 solds and two lists with a ton of adjustments......still short two comps......will be calling QC in the morning...
Whatever happened to the day of cookie cutter comps?.....lol.

Yeah ... and this is what I love about real estate ... we get our cookie cutter assignments, but after that it comes the difficult one where you can't distinguish if it's a stick, mobile or manufactured house and you ... as the professional in the area must make a determination ... I just love it ... 'couse their Zillow.com won't work in those cases ... and you can ask for higher fees and longer time to get it done ... and if you are a preferred vendor ... they will give it to you because they know they will get quality of work and 1-2 years from now they will still use your bpo as the base for others ...

I suggest that if you have at least 3 sales and 3 active that you consider that are located in the same type of neighborhood, the 2 sold and the 2 active you already have selected, and then another sold and another active with even more adjmustments (I would assume the chunk of the adjustments are in GLA, lot size, age and condition) ... then use those ... even if you have a difference of 1,000 sqft in GLA as long as the subject and the comps being built prior to 1978.

And if lot size derives values in the subject's market ... which you say is manufactured in a rural area ... then I would not discount any ranch style homes in the neighborhood which are located in closer proximity and closer is size on similar lot size just because their quality of construction and style is superior ... just depends on your local market ... you are the professional and it's up to you to make the judgment ... don't just base it on the QC people that were fed the comps from prior bpos or appraisals ... If I were you ... I would give it a shot with what I've got and see if I get a QC after I lay out my reasoning based on the subject's market, location, style, use, size of GLA whatever ...

Don't even know if your subject is being used as a cattle / horse farm or whatever ... that could play a big role in you being able to comp it out ... I don't know ... but there are a lot of variables and Realtor.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com or any of the sorts won't be a good source of information for any of those QC people ... unless they have a recent bpo or appraisal on file that has sold comps within the past 8-10 months ... which I would research in detail to make sure some of them are still valid comps ...

I've actually had a mill suggest I use expireds if I couldn't find active/pendings that fit the bill. But that's a last choice option, in my opinion. I use pendings all the time. Don't tell anyone...used one the other day with a mill that said don't use them...took out the part about "sale pending" in the remarks and sent it back through again. (shhhh.....)

To each their own, but I personally wouldn't want to do that. Why risk a relationship with a mill that you work for? Especially if it is a mill you wouldn't want to jepordize a relationship with. To me it's just not worth it. If they don't want you to use contract pending (CPs) as list comps, make it their problem not yours.

I agree with the sentiment about CPs often telling the true story about what the market is presently tolerating in terms of price in the area you are doing a BPO on. Just to play devil's advocate, maybe the bank considers CPs to be ineligible comps because they are already "spoken for" and are not true 100% available competition to the subject property. Just a thought.....

I recently completed a CC that had that instruction. My sold comps firmly supported a value in the $280Ks. Two of my list comps were near $400K with DOMs over 180 days. I simply stated that list comps are being used despite being highly overpriced due to being the most comparable homes currently for sale in this neighborhood in relation to the subject, that are not contract pending in MLS. Contract pending listing comparables could have been used as list comps that better supported determined value, but were not chosen due to BPO special instructions.

The file passed without any QC issues. So again do as you please, but IMHO CC or a mill of similar caliber is too good of a company to purposely ignore their instructions to us. That's just me...

Must agree with you on this one. I just finished a difficult one that I priced at 95K but some of my actives were are 115K and 140K. I like it whe my 140K one has a pool and we all know that people buying in Florda want a pool and will pay premium money for it especially when it's screened, has a spa, a waterfall and landscaping beds around the waterfall ... beautiful view from the master bedroom, living room, family room or kitchen

Great insight, I did not in the past consider this pending reasoning.

To remind QC, before they decide to call, of the small comp choices available, I have been adding in the addendum:

#_MLS active 2 bedroom 2 bath (whatever the subject is) listings, # _ pending and #_ closed in this area.

I do this, too, and save a copy of the grid just in case I need to refer back to it for why I decided to use the comps I did.

When it comes to using pendings instead of actives. I must disagree with the bpo mills. I will always use a pending over an active listing if it is comparable to my subject. The reason for that is it shows what price point properties are going into contract. Since we are determining prices and not value. I have had QC call me only once on this and I told them if you want me to do my job right let me do it.

"Please provide explanation why comps with similar bed/bath count and GLA were not used."

Subject is 3,378 sq.ft, with 6 BR/4.5 BA, 9 total rooms. Comps used between 3,111 and 3,378 sq.ft. ALL have 9 total rooms and between 4 to 6 BR and 3.5 to 4.5 BA.

This is as similar as it gets! What am I missing???

[quote=moxi]I got this one the other day and about fell off my chair. My area is still depreciating rapidly.

"The client would like to see an appreciation in value, despite current market conditions".

This was from a reputable,well known mill. [/quote]

Here's another one.

"Comps#2 and #3 are boarded up on the pictures. The client does not want you to use boarded up comps". :confused:

Huh? It's predominantly REO driven. It's bad neighborhood. Properties are getting looted and squatted so REOs are getting preserved in a minute.

So, Mr. and Mrs. Client do you want the accurate value or do you want the pretty pictures?

Un-friggin-believable. How about giving out the instruction for not using certain type of comps PRIOR to assigning the order? That might actually help. :mad:

This reminds me of an upstart QC intellectual at Finiti who asked me the same question and then provided examples of the Comps that I should have considered; which he had diligently obtained from Trulia, Zillow and drew from other Orders in this small State.

So, when he is involved, I have played along, always seeking to improve on my game. I have asked for the addresses and MLS Numbers of these contenders, and then took the time to research them.

This consumed quite a bit of time which turned out to be a waste. Often, the proposed "better" Comp with such good GLA/Room Count characteristics:
. may have the same GLA, but is decades younger or older than the Subject;
. has a lot size which is hundreds of times larger than the Subject . . . . or occupies just a minuscule fraction of the Subject's Lot;
. is not present in the MLS, as it is a FSBO (sometimes FSBOs don't do a very good job of distinguishing between GLAAG and GLABG; if they provide GLA at all);
. has already expired in the MLS, as Finiti's data from past Orders is static, and once submitted, cannot be changed to reflect the fact that things change.

I have posed the question "Would they prefer that I cease using the MLS altogether ?" . . . . since they seem to find these other sources more trustworthy (even though they lack complete information); but if I drop it for one because it isn't convenient, then I should drop it for all. Maybe Craig's List would be a good data source for uniform information . . . . "Would their Clients like that ?"