Comparable Sales (Comps)
Comparable sales (comps) are recently sold properties similar to a subject property in location, size, and characteristics, used to estimate its current market value.
What comps are
Comps are the foundation of market-value estimation. To value a property, an appraiser, agent, or investor finds recently sold properties that are similar in location, size, age, condition, and use, then adjusts for differences. The closer the match and the more recent the sale, the more reliable the comparison.
What makes a good comp
Strong comps are nearby, sold recently (ideally within the last 6 to 12 months), and similar in the attributes that drive value — lot size, building size, zoning, and condition. For land, acreage, zoning, and access matter most. Weak or cherry-picked comps produce misleading valuations, which is why transaction history and ownership data are checked carefully.
Finding comps in Paxiv
Paxiv surfaces transaction history and ownership data on parcels nationwide, so you can identify recent sales of similar properties and the owners behind them in one place. Plain-English AI search lets you filter by location, acreage, and characteristics to assemble a comparable set without stitching together separate data sources. The core platform is free.
Paxiv by the numbers
| Parcel records | 150M+ Parcel records in the nationwide serving table, covering residential, commercial, agricultural, and vacant land. |
|---|---|
| State coverage | All 50 states Every U.S. state is queryable on every tier, including the free one — coverage is not a paid upgrade. |
| City infrastructure coverage | Water, sewer, and storm — mapped per parcel Sourced from municipal GIS, city by city rather than one national feed — the city-level layer most nationwide parcel tools do not carry at all. |
| Free tier | $0, no card, no time limit Includes 15 parcel lookups, 3 zoning reports, 5 AI search credits, 3 skip traces, and 1 deal room. |
| Transaction fees | Zero Paxiv is subscription software, not a brokerage. It takes no commission and never participates in a deal. |
Where this data comes from
Paxiv's parcel, ownership, and zoning records link back to the originating county assessor, county recorder, or municipal zoning code, with flood data from FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer and geographic reference data from the U.S. Census Bureau — so every figure can be checked against its authoritative source rather than taken on faith.
- County assessor and recorder offices — Parcel boundaries, ownership of record, assessed values, and transaction history. Every record in Paxiv links back to the originating county office for one-click verification.
- City and county zoning ordinances — Zoning classification per parcel, linked to the municipality's own published zoning code so the underlying ordinance can be read directly.
- FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer — Flood zone, Special Flood Hazard Area status, and base flood elevation, resolved by point-in-polygon lookup against FEMA's own published layer.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Census tract containment via the Bureau's official geocoder, plus TIGER/Line geographic reference files.
Frequently asked questions
What are comps in real estate?
Comps, short for comparable sales, are recently sold properties similar to a subject property in location, size, and characteristics. They are used to estimate the subject property's current market value.
What makes a good comparable sale?
A good comp is nearby, sold recently (ideally within 6 to 12 months), and similar in the attributes that drive value — lot size, building size, zoning, and condition. The closer the match, the more reliable the valuation.
How many comps do you need to value a property?
Three to six strong comparable sales is a common rule of thumb, though more is better when the matches are imperfect. Quality of the match matters more than the raw count.