Running Property Comps and Reading Rental Valuations
How comps are selected, how to tune the comp set, and how to interpret the rental rate Rescover puts on a property.
Comps — comparable properties — are the foundation of every analysis Rescover runs. The platform pulls comps from your MLS feed (sale comps) and from rent surveys + market data (rental comps), and uses them to power Property Suite valuations, Analysis Engine projections, and Portfolio Insights reports.
Running comps on a property
- Open the property in Property Suite (search the address from the home screen, or click any property in MLS Search results).
- Open the Comps tab.
- Rescover shows two sections: Sale Comps (recently sold properties similar to the subject) and Rental Comps (rents on similar properties currently or recently leased).
- Adjust the comp selection if needed — see "Tuning the comp set" below.
How comps are picked
By default, Rescover selects comps based on:
- Distance: nearest properties first, expanding outward until enough comps are found.
- Property type: single-family stays with single-family, duplex with duplex, etc.
- Bed/bath similarity: within ±1 bed and ±1 bath where possible.
- Square footage: within roughly ±20%.
- Recency: sale comps from the last 6–12 months; rental comps from the last 90 days where available.
Tuning the comp set
The default selection is usually right, but you can override:
- Click the gear icon on the Comps tab to expand or shrink the search radius, change the bed/bath tolerance, or change the recency window.
- Uncheck individual comps that don't actually match (different street, vastly different condition, etc.). The valuation recomputes immediately.
- Add comps manually by searching for a specific address and clicking Use as Comp.
Reading the rental comp output
Rental comps drive the rental rate Rescover uses in Analysis Engine. The output you see is a market rent estimate based on the selected comps. If the estimate looks off, check:
- Are the selected comps actually similar? Beds/baths/sqft should be close. If they're not, tune the filters.
- Is the property's condition unusual? A newly renovated property in a market of older stock will rent above the comp median — adjust the rental rate manually if you have local knowledge.
- Is the property in an unusual sub-market within the ZIP? Some ZIPs span very different neighborhoods.
For a deeper explanation of where the rental rate comes from, see Where Does the Rental Rate Come From?
Common issues
- "Error in comps." Most common cause: MLS connection isn't live for the property's region. See How to Connect Your MLS.
- "No rental comps found." Rural areas and small towns sometimes have thin rental data. Try expanding the radius, or input a rental rate manually based on local knowledge.
- "Comp valuation seems too high / too low." Check the selected comps and uncheck outliers. The estimate is a weighted average — one or two outlier comps can pull it noticeably.
- "I keep getting comps from the wrong neighborhood." Tighten the radius or pick comps manually. Rescover doesn't know neighborhood names the way a local does — your judgment beats the algorithm in edge cases.