Adjusting comparables when nothing matches exactly
Small differences can be adjusted for. Large ones mean you picked the wrong comparable.
Perfect matches are rare. Small gaps can be handled honestly; large ones cannot be handled at all.
Adjust on a rate, not a guess
The cleanest adjustment is per square foot. If a comparable is 1,900 sq ft and yours is 2,000, compare assessed value per square foot rather than raw totals. That handles size without you inventing a dollar figure.
Adjustments a board will accept
- Size, via per-square-foot comparison.
- Lot size, likewise, on the land component.
- A documented, priced difference — a garage, a finished basement — where you can show a cost.
Adjustments that will not survive
Unsupported percentages for "condition" or "updates". If you cannot show where a number came from, it reads as arithmetic invented to reach your conclusion, and it damages the comparables that needed no adjustment at all.
The honest rule
If a comparable needs more than one significant adjustment, it is not a comparable. Find another. Three properties needing no adjustment are worth more than ten you had to argue into shape.