Pricing a Property: How to Build a Comparable Analysis That Holds Up

Overpricing is the most expensive mistake in a sale, and it is almost always the agent's fault for agreeing to a number they knew was wrong.

Use sales, not listings

A listing price tells you what one owner hopes for. A sale price tells you what a buyer actually paid. Build your analysis from registered transactions where you can get them, and from deals you or agents you trust have closed.

If you must use listings because nothing has sold recently, mark them clearly as asking prices and discount by whatever the typical gap is in your market — often 4 to 8%.

The five adjustments that matter

Take each comparable and adjust toward the subject property:

1. Floor. Higher floors typically carry a premium; ground floors a discount, unless there is a garden.
2. Facing and light. East and north-east command more in most Indian markets.
3. Condition. A renovated kitchen and bathrooms are worth real money; paint is not.
4. Carpet area. Compare per carpet square foot, never per super built-up, or you are comparing different loading percentages.
5. Parking. Covered, uncovered or none is a material difference in dense sectors.

Adjust in rupees, not percentages, and write the adjustment down. A seller who can see "+₹2 lakh for the renovated kitchen, −₹3 lakh for the third floor without lift" trusts the total far more than a number handed down.

Time-adjust the older comparables

A sale from eight months ago in a rising market understates today's value. If the sector has moved 6% in a year, add roughly 4% to an eight-month-old comparable. Say that you have done it.

The range, not the number

Present a range and a recommendation:

"The evidence supports ₹86 to ₹90 lakh. I recommend listing at ₹89. Below ₹86 you leave money on the table; above ₹90 the enquiries stop and we lose the first three weeks."

The first three weeks matter more than anything else. A listing gets its highest attention when it is new, and a price that suppresses enquiries during that window is difficult to recover from even after a reduction.

When the seller insists on more

Two options, both honest:

• Take it with a written review date. "We list at ₹95 and review on the 21st if we have fewer than five viewings." This converts a disagreement into a test.
• Decline. Sometimes the right answer. A listing you know will not sell costs you three months of effort and a reputation for stale inventory.

Track your own accuracy

Record your recommended price and the eventual sale price for every mandate. After a year you will know whether you are systematically optimistic or conservative, and you can correct it. Almost no agent does this, which is why almost no agent's pricing improves.