The Homequant application has two major modules – Valuation and Sales Query. The Valuation module is the micro module and is provided to help users value one subject at a time, while the Sales Query is the macro module to help describe the global attributes of a market (county/city) or sub-market (neighborhood) area.

Therefore, users have to use this Valuation module to define (simulate) and value individual subjects. Unlike other home valuation sites, while we do not allow valuation of address-specific subjects from within our own database, we have now integrated Google maps to enable users define a subject by picking an existing address from the embedded Google Maps database. If the address matches, it will be anchored and valued as the subject by the appropriate comps, as well as displayed on the map alongside the comps. If the user is unsure of the street address and hence leaves that field blank, the subject would be valued at the neighborhood level. Remember, Google Maps helps point to a specific address only, so the user must still enter the subject's property characteristics data. Thus, the "Valuation" module helps define and value an actual or near-actual subject, on an individual basis.

1. State, County/City, Neighborhood/District and Zip Code:
   

   Since residential real estate is all about location, users need to know their general location. So the first selection is State, followed by County/City (name of the County/City; for example, Queens). Once the County/City is selected, only the Neighborhoods/Districts within that County/City will be displayed in the Neighborhood/District (“Nbhd/District”) drop-down. Next, select the Nbhd/District from the drop-down and the corresponding Zip Code(s) will be displayed as well. When only one Zip Code is displayed do not try to change it. When two or more Zip Codes are linked to one Nbhd/District select the Zip Code you would consider as the leading one. If less than five comps are available within your selected Zip Code our program will automatically evaluate the other associated Zip Codes in pooling and ranking the sales so the best comps can be generated.

2. Street Address:
   

   If you know the actual street address of the subject property, enter it into the street address field (“St Address”). Even if you do not know the exact address of the subject but know one in close proximity, enter it. As you start to enter the address, a new validation (“Validate Address”) box, right underneath, will appear. Click on it to validate the address. If the address resides in Google Maps database, a new ranking option (“Rank comps by”) in the next shaded area will appear. If the address does not exist, this option will not appear, resulting in the subject being valued at the generic neighborhood level. For example, the address entry – 7134 162nd Street – is valid, whereas 1000 Sid Som Street is invalid (does not exist). Avoid all special characters, e.g., do not enter 7134 as #7134.

3. Building Area, Land Area and Building Age:
   

   In defining the subject, the values for these three quantitative variables – Building Area, Land Area and Building Age – are required. For example, if your subject is 1,500 SF on a 40' by 100' lot, just enter 1500 in Building Area and 4000 in Land Area. If you know that the subject was built in 1950's just enter 60 as Building Age.

4. Comparables range %:
   

   This is essentially your adjustment matrix to control the selection of comparable sales (“comps”). This range varies between 10 percent and 40 percent in increments of 5 percent, so you will see the values of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 in the drop down. While the defaults are set at 10 percent each, they are mutually exclusive and therefore can be reset to higher and variable ranges. For instance, the Building Area may be set at 20%, Land Area at 30% and Building Age at 25%. Since you will need a minimum of five comps to value a subject, use these three ranges to control the selection of the comps. If the default 10 percent ranges do not return five comps, widen the ranges to 15 percent. Even then, if you are not getting the required five comps, widen the ranges to 20 or 25 percent, etc. Land Area often requires a greater range than Building Area and Building Age.

5. Rank comps by:
   

   This option will be available only when a street address match occurs. The options are 'Distance' and 'Sale date.' If 'Distance' is chosen, all comps will be ranked by actual distances (from the subject), otherwise it will default to 'Sale date.'

You must press the 'Go' button to activate your selections. Even when you just make limited changes (say, Building Area from 1,500 to 1,800 and Range from 15 to 20) you must again press the 'Go' button to reactivate your selection; otherwise you will continue to see the same prior output.

REMEMBER TO PRESS THE ‘GO’ BUTTON TO ACTIVATE YOUR SELECTIONS

6. Working with Outputs:

   Again, to value a subject at least five comps are needed. If more than five comps are returned, the five closest (by Distance) comps or five most recent (by Sale Date) comps will be ranked and displayed. If less than five comps are returned, you will have to adjust your selection - generally Building Area, Land Area, Building Age, and Range – one or any combination thereof. Ranking does not change the number of comps selected.

1. Once you press the 'Go' button, you should see five comps displayed in tabular form under the 'Go' button, along with some geographic, characteristics, and sales details. When five comps are displayed, you will also see two active buttons, namely: 'Accept' and 'Reject' right underneath. If less than five comps are displayed, the 'Accept' button will be inactive, prompting you to adjust selections in order to proceed. When street address is not entered, you will notice that the comps are ranked by the sale date, the most recent ones at the top followed by the older ones. Even when you have the required five comps displayed, you will have a choice to reject and readjust your selections.

2. Once you press the 'Accept' button, the initial output will disappear and an output in a more traditional comps-based appraisal format will reappear. Additionally, you will see a 'Value Parameters' box at the bottom. The most important value parameter is the Median which simply means the midpoint (that is, half of the values are above the median and half are below). The other value parameters – including the percentile distribution curve – are informative to researchers, fund managers, and others real estate and mortgage professionals.

7. Displaying output on the Map:
   

   Now if you want to view the output spatially, that is, the location of the subject and five comps on the map, just click on the orange 'View Map' button. A new window will open up with the spatial output. If the subject carries a valid street address (via the 'Validate Address' process as explained before), it will be differentiated on the map by a bouncing legend, while the comps will also have similar but static legends. Conversely, when the subject is not identified by an actual street address, only the five comps will be displayed on the map.

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Sales Query Module

Since this module helps users understand the macro (overall) picture of the local market (County/City and Neighborhood/District), we strongly recommend that all users spend some time here, (preferably prior to experimenting with the Valuation module) to get a clear understanding of the value ranges. Users can analyze the sales and the quantitative property data using one of the following two top-down choices:

8. County/City:

   If you are unfamiliar with the County/City you are interested in, then first choose this selection alone. For instance, if you want to know more about Queens County (NY), select that county only, without zeroing in on any particular neighborhood/district. By selecting this choice, you will get analyses showing the sale prices as well as the three quantitative variables. This will help you understand what a median property is like in that county. Likewise, you will also understand the characteristics of the smaller (25th percentile) and larger (75th percentile) properties there. Therefore, if you are interested in a larger property, you should concentrate on the 75th and 95th percentile stats. Conversely, if you are interested in a smaller property, pay more attention to the 5th and 25th percentile stats. If you are unsure, start at the median and then familiarize yourself on both ends of the percentile curve. Display the output on the Map to see the distribution of sales.

9. Neighborhood/District:

   Once you are familiar with the County/City level stats, you may like to drill down to the specific neighborhood (often defined by school district) you are more interested in. So, select the County/City followed by the Nbhd/District. You will notice the count (number of sales) drops significantly relative to the County/City count. As you experiment with other neighborhoods you will also notice that the percentile curves (from sales to property characteristics) are often significantly different. For example, certain neighborhoods may show older (Building Age) housing stocks (relative to the County/City median) while others may show larger home lots (Land Area). Again, display the output on the Map to see the distribution of sales.

The single most important value parameter is the Median, which simply means the midpoint (that is, half of the values are above the median and half are below). In other words, unlike the Average, Median is not prone to the influence of outliers. Since we do not separate the arm’s length from the non-arm’s length sales (e.g., sales within the family, etc.), any bias introduced by the latter can be minimized by the use of the Median. As you know, the National Association of Realtors, National Homebuilders Association, and a number of US Govt. agencies report median home prices (new homes, existing homes, mortgage categories, etc.) every month.

TO SWITCH BETWEEN SALES QUERY AND VALUATION, CLICK ON ‘HOME’ ON THE TOP MENU

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