In a sales comparison approach, if the subject property has a pool but the comparable does not, how should the comparable be adjusted?

• A. Upward by 24%
• B. No adjustment
• C. Upward by 10%
• D. Downward by 24%

Answer: (A)

In the sales comparison approach, you adjust the price of a comparable for any feature the subject has that the comparable lacks, so you’re comparing like with like. Since the subject includes a pool and the comparable does not, you need to add value to the comparable to reflect the pool. That makes the adjustment upward, bringing the comparable in line with the subject’s feature set. The specific 24% upward adjustment represents the market-supported value impact of having a pool in this scenario. The other options don’t fit because there would be no adjustment when comparing different features, or the direction would be wrong (you wouldn’t reduce value for a feature the subject has that the comp lacks, nor would a smaller increase adequately reflect the pool’s value).