Using Comps When Buying or Selling Your Crested Butte Home

Comparables, more often known as comps, are a way of determining the value of a specific home. Appraisers use comps to figure out the value of a home by comparing it to other homes with similar characteristics. You will be using comps when buying or selling your Crested Butte home to make sure it is priced appropriately. While finding comps seem pretty simple, comparing homes in Crested Butte can get a more complicated. As a buyer or seller your home may be priced above other comparable homes in the market. There is usually a reason for this however.

Every Home is Different

The reality is that every home is different, especially in Crested Butte. Homes in Crested Butte are not like suburban USA where every home in the subdivision is “very similar” in age, size, finishes, quality, and, yes, price point. In Crested Butte, there may be three four-bedroom homes side by side that are totally different. There may be one home that was originally built as a small cabin in 1890, then moved to the lot, and expanded and remodeled five times. Next door is a home built in 1982 that has had one owner and has not been updated at all. Next to that a brand new home finished in 2015. None of these neighboring homes are going to be comps for the other. This makes using comps when buying or selling your Crested Butte home a little more difficult. 

Comparing Condos and Townhomes

Crested Butte has a ski area that also has a base area with many condo and townhome developments. There are some beautiful new base area condo developments. Many of these condos were built during the boom time of ski area development in the mid 1980s. Many of the condos’ interiors have had minor updates done to kitchen and bathroom. It is hard to raise ceiling heights, and it is impossible to make a three-bedroom 1,200 square foot condo into a four-bedroom 2,000 square foot condo. Usually these condo projects had two, three and four bedroom options, and each floor plan was identical in layout, quality, and finish-out. It is easier to identify comps for these properties. The differences will be views, furniture, and whether the individual unit has had remodels and updates.

Appraiser and Appraisals

Appraisers use comparable home sales to show that recent sales of homes of a similar size and character carry the same value. In suburban USA, it is easy to find three to five homes that can be considered comparable homes in any given subdivision. However, finding comps can be a challenge in Crested Butte. There are many unique homes that may be on the same street, but were built 100 years apart. The end result of an appraisal is a nice valuation report and all the supporting documentation, photographs, comps, and usually a narrative summary.

Using Comps When Buying or Selling Your Crested Butte Home Final Thoughts

If you would like to know more about the comps or value of your individual home, contact me.

I hope you see the level of detail and time and effort I put into this candid article Using Comps When Buying or Selling Your Crested Butte Home. I have become a Top Real Estate Agent in Crested Butte by helping my clients to make informed decisions.

This is representative of what you can expect from me as your agent.

If you’d like to use my knowledge and experience in Buying or Selling your Crested Butte home – call me.

Thanks,
Chris.

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Chris Kopf
Broker / Owner
Global Luxury Property Specialist
Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties
chris@chriskopf.com
(970) 209-5405