Comparable sales are chosen from the subject house outward, not from a list of what sold nearby. The appraiser first decides which market the house competes in, then collects closed sales of similar homes from that market, verifies each one, and keeps only the sales a buyer of this house would actually have weighed. A reviewer throws out sales that were not arm's length, sit in another pocket or across a boundary with no explanation, are older than the market supports without a stated reason, or differ so much that the adjustments, not the sales, carry the conclusion.
For lender work the minimums come from Fannie Mae's Selling Guide; federal banking guidance says what a reviewer looks for.
What is a comparable sale?
A comparable sale is a closed sale of a property similar enough to the subject, the house being appraised, that a buyer of the subject would have weighed it as an alternative. Fannie Mae's topic on comparable sales, B4-1.3-08, says a minimum of three closed comparables must be reported in the sales comparison approach, and that comparables "should have similar physical and legal characteristics" to the subject. The subject's own earlier closed sale can be used as a fourth comparable or as supporting data. Contract offerings and current listings can be used as supporting data, if appropriate, but they are not closed sales and do not count toward the three.
The broader question of what comps are, and how they sit in the report, is covered in what real estate comps are and how an appraiser uses them in Claremont.
Step 1: Define the market before searching
The search starts with a boundary, not a radius. B4-1.3-08 defines market area as "the geographic region, for a subject property, from which most demand comes," and says sale activity from within the neighborhood is the best indicator of value. It allows sales from competing market areas, and it also says the appraiser must not expand the neighborhood boundaries just to encompass the comparables selected. The order matters: the neighborhood is drawn first, and the sales follow it.
In Claremont that boundary is rarely the ZIP code. One ZIP, 91711, holds pre-1940 Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival houses near the Village and the Colleges, postwar single-story tracts, hillside and custom homes in Claraboya and Padua Hills, the Arbol Verde neighborhood, and later tracts, townhomes and condominiums south of the 10. Each sells to a different buyer on different evidence. Appraising an Arbol Verde home shows one pocket where the house type decides the search.
Step 2: Collect and verify the sales
Each candidate sale is checked as a transaction before it is compared as a house. An arm's-length sale is one between unrelated parties, each acting in their own interest, with the property exposed to the market. The Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines, the federal banking agencies' guidance on appraisals for lenders, define market value as the most probable price under conditions requisite to a fair sale, with the buyer and seller typically motivated, a reasonable time allowed for exposure in the open market, and a price "unaffected by special or creative financing or sales concessions." A sale between relatives or one with heavy concessions does not fit that picture as recorded.
Distressed sales are a judgment, not an automatic rejection. B4-1.3-08 says foreclosures and short sales can be used as comparables if the market data indicates they are the best, that the appraiser cannot assume such a sale is equal to the subject, and that the report must address how common such sales are in the neighborhood. The same topic requires distance to be stated in miles, measured on a straight line, and says that in no instance may the appraiser create comparable sales by combining vacant land sales.
Step 3: Check the dates
B4-1.3-08 says comparable sales that closed within the last 12 months should be used. An older sale may be more appropriate when market conditions have affected the availability of recent sales, and the topic gives the example of a nine month old sale used with a time adjustment. In rural or slow areas the appraiser may use older comparables if the report explains why.
That time adjustment is a market conditions adjustment, a change made to a comparable's price for movement in the market between its contract date and the effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to. The adjustments topic, B4-1.3-09, says time adjustments, "or the lack thereof, must be supported by evidence." A sale with a recent contract date will likely not need one.
Step 4: Adjust for the differences buyers pay for
An adjustment is the amount a comparable's price is changed to account for a difference from the subject that buyers react to. B4-1.3-09 says adjustments must reflect the market's reaction. Net adjustment is the sum of the pluses and minuses on one comparable; gross adjustment is their total size, regardless of direction. Fannie Mae says it has no specific limitations on either, and that the number or amount of adjustments "must not be the sole determinant" in whether a comparable is acceptable. Ideally, the topic adds, the best comparable would require no adjustment at all.
Bracketing, choosing comparables that sit above and below the subject on a key feature such as gross living area or lot size, lets the adjusted results close in on the subject from both sides. It is an appraisal practice, not a term the Fannie Mae topic uses. Adjustments in a Claremont home appraisal goes line by line through the size, lot, condition and era rows.
The screening sheet: keep or reject
Examples on this site never carry a real address, sale or value, so every cell below is a dash. The full grid, subject plus three comparables with every adjustment row, is laid out in the sales comparison approach on a Claremont house, explained with a blank grid.
ScreenCandidate ACandidate BCandidate CCandidate D
Closed, arm's-length sale
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Same pocket, or a competing one named in the report
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Same county, or the line crossing explained
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Similar era, style and lot character
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Within the time frame, or the reason stated
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Data source and verification noted
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Kept as a comparable or rejected
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What a reviewer throws out in Claremont
These patterns come up in the kinds of review assignments that come in.
- A Village Craftsman compared with postwar ranch houses on bedroom count alone. Era, lot, original detail and location all differ.
- A Claraboya or Padua Hills view home compared with flat lots below. With no view or grade adjustment, they describe a different product; a wider search for similar view, grade and quality, with the radius explained, is often better evidence.
- A townhome south of the 10 used for a detached house near the Colleges. Attached and detached housing in different pockets are separate markets.
- A Montclair or Upland tract sale used for a Claremont house with no location adjustment. The Los Angeles and San Bernardino county line runs just east of the Colleges: cross Claremont Boulevard or Mills Avenue and you are in Upland or Montclair. Assessor records, school districts and buyer pools change there. What the county line does to comparable sales covers when a sale from the other side is the better evidence.
- A sale across the 210 or the 10 with no explanation. Using one is not wrong by itself; leaving the reader to guess why is.
- Gross living area copied from public records. Gross living area, the finished, above-grade living space, is measured. On older houses whose porches and back rooms were enclosed long ago, records and the house often disagree.
- A listing counted as one of the three. A listing is an asking price, not a closed sale.
How a reviewer reads the comparables
The Interagency Guidelines say a review should assess the reasonableness of the appraisal, "including whether the valuation methods, assumptions, and data sources are appropriate and well-supported." They also say a reviewer cannot change the value conclusion in the original appraisal. Fannie Mae adds a plain test for the written report: "A statement only recognizing that an adjustment has been made is not acceptable." The reasoning has to be on the page. The same tests apply to a finished report, and the appraisal review and second opinion page describes that assignment.
From three adjusted sales to one opinion
Reconciliation is the step where the adjusted comparables, and any other approach used, are weighed into a single opinion of value. The Interagency Guidelines say the appraiser "must analyze and reconcile the information from the approaches to arrive at the estimated market value." Fannie Mae's reconciliation topic, B4-1.3-11, says reconciliation must never be an averaging technique, except a weighted average with proper explanation. How the sales comparison, cost and income approaches fit together is covered in the three approaches to value on a Claremont home appraisal.
What comparable selection is not
It is not a list of recent sales. Recently sold homes near me vs. comparable sales explains the gap. An automated estimate, such as a Zestimate, is not an appraisal, and an agent's CMA, a comparative market analysis used to price a listing, is not an appraisal either. The appraiser is independent of every party, including the one who pays. Every article on this topic is gathered on the comparable sales and comps hub.
Next step
How an assignment works describes the steps from the first call to the delivered report, and the Claremont area page describes the pockets these comparables come from. To have a house appraised, request an appraisal or call (909) 324-6122.
Sources
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-08, Comparable Sales, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-09, Adjustments to Comparable Sales, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-11, Valuation Analysis and Reconciliation, accessed November 6, 2026
- Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines, 75 FR 77450 (December 10, 2010), govinfo, accessed November 6, 2026
- California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, license lookup for Gordon Hall, accessed November 6, 2026
Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.
Frequently asked questions
How many comparable sales does an appraisal need?
For loans sold to Fannie Mae, the Selling Guide requires at least three closed comparable sales in the sales comparison approach. Listings and contract sales can support the analysis, but they do not count toward the three. Other intended uses, such as an estate or a divorce, follow the scope of work set for that assignment.
How old can a comparable sale be?
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide says sales that closed within the last 12 months should be used. An older sale may be more appropriate when market conditions have limited recent sales, with a time adjustment where the evidence supports one, and the report must explain why it was used.
Can an appraiser use a sale from across the county line?
Yes, when it is genuinely the better evidence, such as a near-identical house just across the line. Assessor records, school districts and buyer pools change at the Los Angeles and San Bernardino county line, so the report explains the choice and the location adjustment. A Claremont house is appraised from Claremont sales first.
Is there a limit on how large adjustments can be?
Fannie Mae says it has no specific limitations on net or gross adjustments, and that the number or amount of adjustments must not be the only test of whether a comparable is acceptable. What it does require is that each adjustment reflect the market's reaction and be explained in the report.
