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How Outsourced Comps Research Works
Comparable research is the part of a BPO or appraisal that expands to fill whatever time you give it. You run a search, the results are thin, you widen the radius, you check each listing's photos and history, you look up public records for the ones with missing data, and an hour later you have a shortlist. Multiply that by a dozen orders a week and comps research becomes a part-time job of its own.
Outsourced comps research hands the searching and sorting to someone else and leaves the choosing to you. This post explains how it typically works, what to send, what you should expect back, and where the responsibility stays with you.
What "comps research" means when you outsource it
When people say they outsource comps, they rarely mean someone else decides the comparables. In practice the researcher does the legwork:
- Runs the MLS or data-source search using criteria you define.
- Filters out obvious mismatches (wrong property type, distressed sales if you exclude them, sales outside your date range).
- Checks each candidate's listing details, photos and history for condition and features.
- Fills gaps from public records: GLA, lot size, year built, sale date.
- Ranks the candidates and notes why each one fits or doesn't.
- Sends you a shortlist, often with more options than you need.
You then review the shortlist, pick the final sales and listings, and make your adjustments. For an agent completing a BPO, the opinion of price is yours. For an appraiser, comparable selection and the value conclusion are part of your professional judgment and stay with you; check your state's rules and USPAP on assistance and disclosure.
What you send the researcher
The quality of what comes back depends almost entirely on what you send. A good request includes:
- Subject details: address, property type, GLA, bedrooms and baths, lot size, year built, garage, pool, basement, condition as you observed it.
- Vendor or client requirements: how many sales and listings, maximum distance and age of sales, GLA and age brackets, whether distressed sales are allowed. These vary by vendor and product, so copy them from the order or the vendor's guidelines.
- Your search preferences: neighborhoods or boundaries to stay within (a main road, a school district, a subdivision), what to avoid (across a highway, different school zone, gated versus not).
- Photos or notes from your inspection, if it has happened, so condition matching is realistic.
- Data access as your MLS and clients allow. Many MLSs restrict sharing logins; some permit assistant accounts or let you export the search results yourself. Check your MLS rules first.
What should come back
A useful comps package is something you can review in a few minutes, not a pile of printouts. Look for:
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Shortlist of sales and listings, more than the minimum | Gives you room to choose |
| Key data per comp: price, date, distance, GLA, beds/baths, lot, year built, condition notes | Lets you compare at a glance |
| Data source for each figure | You know whether GLA came from MLS or public record |
| A one-line reason each comp fits, plus any weakness | Speeds your decision and helps with comments |
| Flags for anything unusual | Conflicting records, a sale that looks non-arm's-length, a big renovation since last sale |
| Search parameters actually used | Shows whether the radius or dates were widened |
A worked example
Say you have an exterior BPO on a 1,650 square foot, three-bed, two-bath ranch built in 1988 in a suburban subdivision. The vendor asks for three sales and three listings. You send the researcher the subject details, the vendor's requirements, and a note: stay inside the subdivision if possible, don't cross the state highway to the east, exclude short sales.
The researcher comes back with:
- Six closed sales inside the subdivision in the last six months, sizes between 1,450 and 1,900 square feet. Two are flagged: one sold with a new roof and kitchen per the listing remarks, one has a public-record GLA 200 square feet larger than the MLS figure.
- Four active listings, one of which has been relisted twice at falling prices.
- A note that only three sales fall inside a 0.5 mile radius, and the rest are 0.6 to 0.9 miles, still inside the subdivision.
You pick three sales and three listings, decide how to treat the GLA conflict, and move on to pricing. The searching took the researcher most of the time; your review and choice took a fraction of it. For a deeper look at the choices themselves, see picking comps for a BPO.
Where outsourced comps can go wrong
- Vague criteria. "Find comps" produces a list that matches the form but not the neighborhood. Give boundaries.
- Desk-only condition guesses. A researcher can read listing photos, but only you have seen the subject. Make sure condition matching is based on your observations.
- Blind trust in the shortlist. If you always pick the top three without looking, you are no longer selecting comps. Spot-check at least the data on the comps you use.
- Stale searches. A search run two days before you price may miss a fresh sale. Ask the researcher to note the search date, and re-check on fast-moving files.
- Credential misuse. Sharing an MLS login against your MLS's rules can put your membership at risk. Use the access methods your MLS allows.
Turnaround and timing
Comps research is most useful when it is waiting for you, not the other way around. Common setups:
- Before the inspection: the researcher pulls candidates as soon as the order is accepted, so you can drive by likely comps on your way.
- Overnight: you send requests at the end of the day, and the shortlists are ready by morning. Teams in other time zones are well suited to this.
- Same day for rush orders: agree in advance how rush requests are flagged and how fast they come back.
Is it worth it for you?
Track your own time for a week. If comps research is taking a large share of each order, and the searching rather than the choosing is the slow part, outsourcing it is likely to pay off. If your markets are small and you know every sale by heart, it may not. One way to find out is to compare a researcher's shortlist against your own on a few past orders. AppraiseQ's team offers a free sample that you could use for exactly that comparison.
Whichever way you go, keep the same rule: someone else can find the comps, but you choose them and you stand behind the result.