Why not use the town's assessed value?
Because it was built for a different purpose. Your town values every property at once through mass appraisal, using cost tables and broad statistical adjustments, frozen to April 1 of the tax year, and updates that only every few years.
That's a reasonable way to distribute a tax burden fairly across thousands of properties. It's a poor way to price one specific house, because it can't see the renovation you did in 2024, what your lot backs onto, or what buyers in your neighborhood did last spring.
The NH Department of Revenue Administration measures the gap each year through its equalization ratio study, and in most towns assessments run below market. The ratio tells you the town-wide average. It cannot tell you where your house falls relative to that average.
Why not use an automated estimate?
Because they disagree with each other by amounts large enough to change a decision.
Bedford is a clean example. In 2026, four sources put values on that one town: Redfin's median sale price for the 03110 zip at $738,000 in February, Zillow's Home Value Index at $772,570 in May, the NH Association of Realtors' year-to-date median sale at $815,000, and Movoto's median list price around $937,000 in September.
That's a spread of roughly $200,000 for the same town in the same year. None of those sources is wrong. They measure different things over different periods with different methods. But it means an automated number works as a starting point for a conversation and not as a basis for pricing.
The same pattern shows up in investment data. Published 2026 short-term rental figures for Conway range from 34% to 47% occupancy depending on the platform. Anywhere a number gets quoted as fact, it's worth asking what it's actually measuring.
What goes into a comparable sales analysis?
Six things, in order:
- Select the comparables. Recent closed sales, close to your property, similar in size, age, style, and condition. Recency matters more in a moving market; proximity matters more where values change block to block.
- Verify the details. Public records are frequently wrong on square footage, bedroom counts, and finished basement space. An error in a comp propagates straight into your price.
- Adjust in dollars. For each difference between that house and yours, a specific dollar adjustment with a reason: an extra bath, a finished basement, a two-car versus one-car garage, a busier road, a newer roof.
- Look at what didn't sell. Expired and withdrawn listings show where the market said no. That ceiling is often more informative than the closed sales.
- Look at current competition. Active and pending listings are what a buyer will be comparing your house to the week you go live.
- Produce a range, with a view on where in it your house sits and what would move it.
Step three is where the actual work happens, and it's the part no automated tool can do, because it requires knowing what the houses are actually like.
Who's doing the work?
I'm Hassan Essa. I've been a licensed New Hampshire real estate agent since 2019, and I've lived in the Manchester area for more than two decades.
I also own rental property in New Hampshire, both long-term and short-term, which means I've bought with my own money, dealt with New Hampshire property tax bills as an owner, and learned what the numbers look like when the projections meet an actual year. When I run cash flow on a building for a client, I'm using the same method I use on my own.
I work with three kinds of people across southern New Hampshire, from Nashua and Salem up through Manchester and Concord and out to the Seacoast: homeowners deciding whether and when to sell, buyers trying to figure out what a house is really worth before they offer, and investors evaluating rental income and cap rate.
I'm a licensed agent. I'm not an attorney, a tax advisor, or an appraiser, and where a question needs one of those, I'll say so.
What I won't tell you
What your house will sell for. I'll tell you what comparable homes closed for and where I think yours sits relative to them. The actual sale price is set by a buyer, and anyone guaranteeing a number is guaranteeing something they don't control.
That every property is a good opportunity. If the comps don't support what you were hoping for, or a rental's numbers don't work, that's the answer. It's a faster answer than a maybe and more useful than an optimistic one.
Numbers I can't source. Where the data is thin or the sources conflict, I'll show you the range and tell you why they disagree rather than picking the flattering one.
What I will commit to
Things I actually control:
- Two business days for a comparable sales report or a cash flow analysis.
- Sources shown, so every input can be checked.
- A plain answer when something doesn't work, including when that means not doing a transaction.
How do I check your work?
Look up the comps. Every closed sale I use is a matter of public record, and the addresses and dates are in the report specifically so you can verify them. Pull your own property record card from the town and check the square footage and room counts I'm working from.
If an adjustment doesn't make sense to you, ask what it's for. A valuation you can't interrogate isn't worth much.
