Running Your First Comp Analysis

Comparable sales analysis is the foundation of every wholesale deal. Deal Run's comp tool gives you an interactive map and grid view with condition evaluation tools, so you can build a defensible ARV (After Repair Value) or ARR (After Repair Rent) estimate in minutes instead of the 30-60 minutes it takes with manual MLS research. This guide walks you through the entire workflow.

Getting to the comp analysis page

There are two ways to open the comp analysis tool:

1. From a deal: Open any deal from your Deals board, then click the "Comps" tab or the "Run Comps" button on the deal detail page. This is the recommended path because it ties your comp analysis directly to the deal.
2. From the Hub: Search for a property on the Hub page. Once the property data loads, click "Comp Analysis" in the analysis navigation. The property becomes your subject, and comps are loaded for that address.

When the comp analysis page opens, Deal Run automatically searches for comparable properties near your subject. The search pulls from MLS data first (which is free and includes listing photos) and falls back to property search data if MLS results are insufficient. This happens in the background -- you will see a loading indicator for 2-5 seconds while comps are retrieved.

ARV vs ARR tabs

At the top of the comp analysis page, you will see two tabs: ARV and ARR. These control which type of comparables are displayed.

ARV (After Repair Value)

The ARV tab shows sold properties -- homes that have closed within your selected date range. These are used to estimate what your subject property would sell for on the open market after renovations are complete. This is the primary metric for flip buyers and for calculating your Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO).

Sold comps are the most reliable pricing data available. They represent actual transactions where a willing buyer paid a willing seller at arm's length. Every comp shows its sold price, sold date, and days on market.

ARR (After Repair Rent)

The ARR tab shows rental comparables -- properties that are currently listed for rent or have recently rented in the area. These are used to estimate what your subject property would rent for after repairs, which is the key metric for landlord/rental buyers evaluating cash flow.

If you are marketing to rental investors (and you should be -- they make up roughly 60-70% of active buyers in most markets), having solid rental comps is just as important as having solid sale comps. Your rental buyers will calculate cash-on-cash return, cap rate, and debt service coverage ratio based on the rental income your ARR suggests.

Understanding the map view

The default view shows an interactive map with your subject property at the center, marked by a distinct pin. Comparable properties appear as colored markers around the subject. The color coding tells you the listing status at a glance:

• Green markers -- Sold/Closed. These are completed transactions with confirmed sale prices. Green comps are the backbone of your ARV analysis.
• Blue markers -- Active listings. Currently on the market. Active listings show you the competitive landscape but are not reliable for pricing because they represent asking prices, not transaction prices. Use them as a ceiling, not a data point.
• Yellow markers -- Pending sales. Under contract but not yet closed. Pending comps are somewhere between active and sold in terms of reliability. The final sale price may differ from the pending price, but they indicate current buyer appetite.

Click any marker on the map to see a popup with the comp's key details: address, sold/list price, beds, baths, square footage, year built, and distance from your subject. From the popup, you can select or deselect the comp for inclusion in your ARV calculation.

The map is fully interactive. Zoom in and out with the scroll wheel or pinch gesture (on mobile). Pan by clicking and dragging. On mobile, the map responds to standard touch gestures -- pinch to zoom, swipe to pan. If you are viewing comps in a dense area, zoom in to separate overlapping markers.

Flood layer toggle

The map includes a toggle to overlay FEMA flood zones. When enabled, shaded polygons appear on the map showing Zone AE (high-risk), Zone X (minimal risk), and other designations. This is useful for quickly checking whether a comp is in a different flood zone than your subject -- a factor that can affect value by $10,000-$30,000 or more due to insurance cost differences.

Switching to grid view

Click the grid icon (four squares) in the toolbar above the map to switch to grid view. Grid view replaces the map with a sortable table of all comps. Each row shows one comparable property with columns for:

• Address
• Sold price (or list price for active/pending)
• Price per square foot
• Bedrooms and bathrooms
• Square footage
• Year built
• Distance from subject
• Sold date
• Days on market
• Condition (with listing photos for evaluation)
• Status (sold, active, pending)

Click any column header to sort by that column. Click again to reverse the sort order. Sorting by distance puts the closest comps first. Sorting by condition groups renovated properties together so you can quickly identify the comps most similar to your subject's post-repair condition.

Grid view is particularly useful when you have 20+ comps and need to quickly scan and compare across multiple dimensions. Many users switch between map and grid during their analysis -- the map for spatial context, the grid for detailed comparison.

Selecting and deselecting comps

Not every comp that loads is appropriate for your analysis. A property might be in a different subdivision, built 30 years apart from your subject, or in a completely different condition tier. Deal Run lets you hand-pick the comps you want to include.

To select or deselect a comp:

• On the map: Click a marker to open its popup, then toggle the checkbox or click the "Include"/"Exclude" button.
• In the grid: Click the checkbox in the leftmost column of each row.

Selected comps are highlighted on both the map and the grid. The ARV estimate displayed at the top of the page recalculates automatically whenever you add or remove a comp from your selection. This lets you see in real time how each comp affects your estimate.

A good comp analysis typically uses 3-7 selected comps. Using fewer than 3 creates an unreliable estimate. Using more than 7 usually means you are including comps that are too different from your subject, which dilutes accuracy rather than improving it.

Filter controls

The filter toolbar sits above the map/grid and lets you narrow the comp set before you start selecting. Filters apply to the initial search results -- they hide comps that do not match your criteria without removing them permanently. You can adjust filters at any time and previously hidden comps will reappear.

Radius

Controls how far from the subject property to search for comps. Options range from 0.25 miles (same immediate neighborhood) to 3 miles (broader area). Start tight and expand only if you don't have enough comps. The default is 1 mile, which works well in suburban areas. In rural areas, you may need 2-3 miles. In dense urban neighborhoods, 0.5 miles may be sufficient.

Date range

Controls how far back to look for sold comps. Options are 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The default is 6 months. In active markets with plenty of sales, 3 months gives you the most current picture. In slower markets or unique property types, you may need 12 months to find enough comparable sales. Comps older than 12 months are rarely appropriate -- markets change too much over longer periods.

Property type

Filters by property type: single family, townhouse, condo, duplex, or all. This should almost always match your subject. A single-family subject should use single-family comps. Mixing property types introduces significant variance because they serve different buyer pools with different pricing dynamics.

Beds and baths

Filter comps to match your subject's bedroom and bathroom count, or expand to include +/- 1 bedroom or bathroom. The tighter the match, the fewer adjustments you will need to make. A 3/2 subject should ideally use 3/2 comps. Including 4/2 or 3/3 comps is acceptable but requires a price adjustment for the configuration difference.

Condition evaluation

One of Deal Run's most valuable features is the ability to evaluate each comp's condition using listing photos, MLS descriptions, and property data. You can categorize comps by condition:

• Poor condition: Significant deferred maintenance, distressed, investor-grade
• Below average: Dated but functional, original finishes, needs cosmetic work
• Average to good: Well-maintained, some updates, livable as-is
• Renovated: Recent updates to kitchen, baths, flooring, and fixtures
• Fully renovated: New construction quality, complete top-to-bottom renovation

For ARV analysis, you want comps in a condition that matches what your subject will look like after repairs. If you are planning a full cosmetic renovation, focus on renovated comps to ensure you are comparing your post-renovation property against similarly renovated sold homes.

Proper condition evaluation eliminates the biggest source of error in traditional comp analysis: mixing renovated sales with distressed sales and averaging them together. That average is meaningless. When you separate comps into proper condition tiers and use the right tier for your analysis, your ARV is far more accurate.

Reading your ARV result

The calculated ARV appears prominently at the top of the comp analysis page. This number is a weighted average of your selected comps, adjusted for differences in size, configuration, and proximity. Below the headline number, you will see:

• Number of comps selected -- how many properties are included in the calculation
• Price range -- the lowest and highest sold prices among your selected comps
• Average price per square foot -- useful for quick sanity checks
• Median sold price -- the middle value, which is less affected by outliers than the mean

The ARV you land on here flows forward into every subsequent step. It feeds into the MAO calculator (which determines your maximum offer), the repair analysis (which compares repair costs against potential profit), and your marketing package (where you present the ARV to potential buyers as the expected resale value).

Once you are confident in your ARV, proceed to the repairs analysis to estimate renovation costs, or head straight to the margin calculator to determine whether the deal's numbers work. For the complete end-to-end workflow, see Your First Deal.