| Course | MT361 Foundations of Real Estate Practice |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Comparative market analysis |
| Length | About 1,140 words, 7 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT361 Unit 4
Weighted Toward the Least-Adjusted Sale: An MT361 Unit 4 Comparative Market Analysis of a 1962 Brick Ranch
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT361: Foundations of Real Estate Practice
Unit 4 Comparative Market Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The subject, sales and adjustment rates are composite; the methods and sources cited are real.
The Subject
The Harlows' house in Maple Ferry is a 1,420-square-foot brick ranch built in 1962, with three bedrooms, one and a half baths, a one-car attached garage and an unfinished basement. Its kitchen and baths are original but well kept, which this analysis treats as average condition for the neighborhood.
Choosing the Sales
Selection comes before arithmetic, because a well-adjusted grid built on the wrong sales still misprices the house. The sales comparison approach rests on the principle of substitution: a buyer will pay no more for a property than the cost of acquiring an equally desirable substitute (Appraisal Institute, 2020). The comparables must therefore be houses this buyer would actually weigh against the subject.
Four rules were applied. Each sale lies in the same school district and within one mile. Each closed within the last six months. Each is a single-story house of similar age and brick or frame construction. And each sold in an arm's-length transaction, not between relatives or out of foreclosure.
Those rules removed the sale buyers mention most: a 1,420-square-foot ranch on the far side of the creek that sold for $352,000. It fails two rules. It lies across the school district line, which changes the buyer pool, and it was gutted and rebuilt, which places it in a different market segment. Adjusting it to the subject would require changes larger than the differences the analysis can measure.
Justifying the Adjustment Rates
Each rate is stated in dollars and justified before it is used. Colwell et al. (1983) showed that the adjustment grid is a simplified form of the price models appraisers estimate statistically, which is why each rate should come from market evidence rather than habit.
Time: plus 0.4 percent per month since the sale, from the change in the neighborhood's median price over the past year. The market is rising slowly, so older sales are adjusted up.
Living area: $60 per square foot. Neighborhood sales average about $205 per square foot, but that average includes the land, the kitchen, the baths and the garage, which do not grow when a house is forty square feet larger. The $60 figure is the marginal value of extra space, taken from two pairs of otherwise similar sales that differed mainly in size.
Half bath: $5,000, from a paired comparison of two ranches on the same street.
Garage stall: $9,000 per stall, from local contractor estimates and one paired sale.
Condition and basement finish: estimated from the cost of the work, discounted for age, at $14,000 for an updated kitchen, $9,000 for a finished basement and $8,000 for a house in below-average condition.
Adjusted Toward the Subject
Every adjustment moves the comparable toward the subject. A feature the comparable has and the subject lacks is subtracted from its price; a feature the subject has and the comparable lacks is added.
Comparable 1 sold two months ago for $289,000. It has 1,380 square feet and is otherwise the same as the subject. Time adds $2,312 and size adds $2,400, for an adjusted price of $293,712. Gross adjustment is 1.6 percent.
Comparable 2 sold one month ago for $296,000. It has 1,440 square feet and a finished basement. Time adds $1,184, size subtracts $1,200 and the basement subtracts $9,000, for $286,984. Gross adjustment is 3.8 percent.
Comparable 3, the neighbor's sale, closed four months ago for $318,500. It has 1,510 square feet, a two-car garage, a second full bath and an updated kitchen. Those three features alone take $28,000 off. With time adding $5,096 and size subtracting $5,400, the adjusted price is $290,196. Its net adjustment is 8.9 percent, but its gross adjustment is 12.1 percent, because the pluses and minuses partly cancel.
Comparable 4 sold five months ago for $283,700. It has 1,396 square feet, one full bath and no half bath, and below-average condition. Time adds $5,674, size $1,440, the missing half bath $5,000 and condition $8,000, for $303,814. Gross adjustment is 7.1 percent.
Comparable 5 sold three months ago for $280,000. It has 1,452 square feet and no garage. Time adds $3,360, size subtracts $1,920 and the missing garage adds $9,000, for $290,440. Gross adjustment is 5.1 percent.
A small net adjustment can hide a comparable that needed heavy correction, which is why the gross figure decides each sale's weight.
Net and Gross, Both Shown
Net adjustment is the sum of the adjustments with their signs; gross adjustment adds them without signs. Comparable 3 shows why both are needed. Its net figure, 8.9 percent, looks moderate, but its gross figure, 12.1 percent, shows that it needed more correction than any other sale. A reader who saw only the net figure would trust it more than it deserves.
Reconciliation
The five adjusted prices range from $286,984 to $303,814. Their simple average is $293,029. The analysis does not use the average, because it gives the heavily adjusted neighbor's sale the same weight as the nearly identical comparable 1. Instead, each sale is weighted by the inverse of its gross adjustment, so the sales that needed the least change count most. Comparable 1 receives about 47 percent of the weight; comparable 3 receives about 6 percent. The weighted value is $292,740.
Active and Pending Listings
Six active and three pending listings in the segment are shown below the grid for context. They are not included in the calculation, because asking prices are not sales, but they show what the Harlows' house will compete against: four of the six active listings are priced between $295,000 and $310,000.
Market Direction
The time adjustment assumes the slow rise of the past year continues through the listing period. Two signs support that assumption: sales in the segment have held near nineteen a month for six months, and the share of listings that cut their price has not grown. One sign argues for caution: mortgage rates rose slightly in the past month, which could slow the pace. The analysis therefore uses the time adjustment for past sales but does not project any further rise into the recommended list range.
Recommended List Range
The indicated value is about $292,700. With about two months of supply in the segment and prices rising slowly, the analysis recommends a list range of $294,900 to $299,900. The choice within that range, and the case for staying below $300,000, is argued in the Unit 5 listing presentation. Ling and Archer (2021) note that a market value estimate is a judgment about the most probable price, and the range reflects that judgment rather than a single certain number.
References
Appraisal Institute. (2020). The appraisal of real estate (15th ed.). Appraisal Institute.
Colwell, P. F., Cannaday, R. E., & Wu, C. (1983). The analytical foundations of adjustment grid methods. Real Estate Economics, 11(1), 11-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6229.00277
Ling, D. C., & Archer, W. R. (2021). Real estate principles: A value approach (6th ed.). McGraw Hill.
The Purdue Global MT361 Unit 4 instructions
In Unit 4 students prepare a comparative market analysis for a listed property. The assignment usually asks for selection criteria, an adjustment grid with dollar figures, a reconciliation and a recommended price or range. Instructors expect comparables chosen by stated rules, such as distance, recency, school district and similar construction, with any excluded sale explained. Adjustments should move each comparable toward the subject, and each rate should come from paired sales or a cited market source. Net and gross adjustments are often required. Reconciliation should explain how the sales were weighed, not just average them. Active and pending listings may be shown for context but kept out of the value calculation.
Inside the MT361 Unit 4 example
The subject is described in one paragraph. Selection rules follow, with the principle of substitution cited, and the rebuilt sale is excluded on two grounds. Each adjustment rate is justified in its own paragraph, the living-area rate explained as a marginal value. Five comparables are then adjusted one at a time with every dollar shown. A highlighted line explains why gross adjustment decides weight, and a section uses the neighbor's sale to show how net figures can mislead. Reconciliation weights by the inverse of gross adjustment and reports the simple average alongside. Active listings appear for context, a market-direction section explains the time adjustment, and the list range closes the paper.
Reading the MT361 Unit 4 grading rubric
Market analyses are often marked on selection, adjustment logic, arithmetic and reconciliation. Stated selection rules, applied visibly, earn more than a list of nearby sales. Rubrics reward adjustments made in the right direction, with rates justified from market evidence. Showing both net and gross adjustment percentages demonstrates understanding of comparable reliability. Arithmetic must be traceable, so a reader can recompute any adjusted price. Weighting sales by reliability, with the method explained, shows judgment beyond averaging. Keeping asking prices out of the value estimate shows discipline. A recommended range tied to market conditions completes the analysis, with sources cited in APA 7 and the grid summarized clearly.
MT361 Unit 4 help: mistakes that cost points
A common error in market analyses is adjusting the subject instead of the comparables, or adjusting in the wrong direction. Another is using the neighborhood's average price per square foot as the size adjustment, which overstates the value of extra space several times over. Some students include a sale that fails their own selection rules because it is memorable. Reconciliation is often a plain average that treats a heavily adjusted sale as equal to a near twin. Before you finish, recompute every adjusted price from the rates alone and confirm the gross percentage for each sale. If one comparable needed far more correction than the others, give it less weight and say so.
Get an MT361 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Which subject property and which sales did your Unit 4 prompt supply? If the section expects you to gather comparables, say so and include the rubric. Due within 24-48h, the free first custom analysis selects sales by stated rules, adjusts each toward the subject in dollars and reconciles by weight, not by average. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT361 Unit 4 questions, answered
Why adjust the comparable and not the subject?
Because the subject's features are fixed and the question is what each comparable would have sold for if it matched them. A comparable with a feature the subject lacks is adjusted down; one lacking a feature the subject has is adjusted up. Adjusting in the wrong direction is among the most common errors graders find, so state the rule once at the top.
Where do adjustment amounts come from in a course paper?
Ideally from paired sales, two sales alike except for one feature, or from a published market source. Many sections supply the rates, and where they do, use them. If you must estimate, label the rate as an assumption and keep it plausible for the market. Graders care more that each rate is explained and applied consistently than that it matches an appraiser's.
Is a comparative market analysis the same as an appraisal?
No. A market analysis is a licensee's opinion of likely selling price, prepared to set or negotiate a price. An appraisal is performed by a licensed or certified appraiser under professional standards, often for a lender. Course papers should not present a market analysis as an appraisal, and the conclusion is best framed as a recommended range.
Where can I find a free MT361 Unit 4 sample paper?
This page holds the complete MT361 Unit 4 comparative market analysis, adjusting five sales toward a 1962 brick ranch and weighting them by reliability.
Why is size adjusted at $60 a square foot in the MT361 Unit 4 sample when the area average is about $205?
The average includes land, kitchen, baths and garage, which do not grow with forty extra square feet, so the marginal value of space is far lower.