Deal EvaluatorExclusive Data
The Deal Evaluator: how our Deal Rating compares an asking price with recent sales
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Short answer
The Deal Evaluator checks whether a home's asking price sits below, inside or above a range we build from recent sales of similar homes nearby. It shows up as the Deal Rating beside the price on a listing. It is our estimate from comparable sales, not an appraisal, and it cannot see a home's condition. Treat it as a reason to look closer, then compare the home yourself or with me.
What is the Deal Evaluator?
It is a check on price. For each home for sale with enough data, we work out a likely range for what it would sell for today, then set the asking price beside that range. The result is a plain label next to the price: priced below our estimate, priced in line with our estimate, or priced above our estimate.
You will meet three names for the same thing. The Deal Evaluator is the feature, Deal Rating is the label on a listing, and Value Rating is the name on the gold data badge.
What do I get on a listing?
- A Deal Rating beside the asking price, shown with an icon and words so it never depends on color.
- Our likely range for the home, visible to everyone. Registered visitors also see our single-number estimate.
- A High, Medium or Low confidence level and a note on which sales the range rests on.
- A "less certain" warning where the math is thinner: homes over $1 million, homes with few recent similar sales, condos, duplexes and manufactured homes.
A real example. In mid-September 2026 a Cypress home was listed at $489,990 (address left out). Our range was $420,000 to $560,000 with High confidence, from recent sales in its subdivision. The price fell inside it, so the label read priced in line with our estimate.
Why did we build it, and who does it help?
An asking price is a seller's opinion, and buyers rarely have a quick way to test it. Pulling comparable sales by hand takes hours. The Deal Evaluator does the first pass instantly, from the same MLS sales I would pull myself.
Buyers can decide where to spend tour time, spot a price that deserves a closer look and negotiate with a range in hand. Sellers can see how a price reads to buyers who are comparing homes, and can check nearby listings before choosing their own price.
How is the rating worked out?
First we find recent sales of similar homes of the same type. We start in the same neighborhood and go out to about a mile, widening the search only when there are too few sales. Each sale is adjusted for differences from the home in question, such as size, age, lot, pool and garage, and for how prices in the county have moved since that sale closed.
The closest matches are blended into one estimate. The range around it is not a guess. We size it from how far our past estimates missed real sales, and we re-test that every month. In our back-tests on sales closed from March through September 2026, ranges built this way held about 8 in 10 of the sales.
Two inputs are left out on purpose: the asking price and the county's tax value. Keeping them out gives an independent view to compare the asking price against.
The sales come from our MLS database, loaded from the Houston Association of REALTORS MLS, with five-plus years of history.
Sources
- HAR MLS sales and listings in our database, five-plus years of history, checked September 25, 2026.
- Our back-tests of the ranges, sales closed March to September 2026, re-run monthly.
What does a rating not tell me?
It is not an appraisal, a promise about price or advice to buy or skip a home. It cannot see condition, repairs, upgrades, layout or views, which can move a price either way. A "below" rating can mean an opportunity or a problem the data cannot see.
In our March to August 2026 testing, homes priced below our range still sold a median of about 1% under asking, and homes priced above it sold a median of about 3% under asking. Those are past results, not a forecast for any one home.
Over $1 million the ranges are wider and errors were larger in our testing, about 13% on a typical sale, so those homes are marked less certain.
Free with registration
Do I need an account to use it?
Registration is free. The rating and likely range appear without signing in. Signing in adds our single-number estimate and details MLS rules limit to registered visitors.
Why do we ask you to register?
Some of what we share, like recent sold prices, a home’s sales and listing history, and our home value estimate, comes from or is built on data from the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) MLS. MLS rules let us share that information only with registered visitors. Allen is a REALTOR® licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), and he follows those rules because he values his license and your trust. Registration is free.
What else do people ask?
- Is the Deal Rating an appraisal?
- No. An appraisal is a licensed appraiser's opinion, usually ordered by a lender. The Deal Rating is our automated estimate from comparable sales.
- Does a rating of "below" mean the home is a bargain?
- Not by itself. It means the asking price is under our range. The home may need work our data cannot see, so walk it with me first.
- Why do some homes have no rating?
- When too few similar homes sold recently, or the range would be too wide to help, we show no rating. We also do not estimate property types we have not tested.
- How often does a rating change?
- Each estimate shows its update date, and it moves as new sales close and as the listing price changes.
Ask Allen about the Deal Evaluator
Have a question about the Deal Evaluator? Browse the short answers other buyers and sellers have asked, or send me your own. I read every question myself.
Want the numbers on your own home or the one you are eyeing?
I will walk you through what the data shows and what it cannot. No pressure, and no cost to ask.
Written by Allen Markel, REALTOR®, Texas Premier Realty, TREC #0658294. Last updated September 25, 2026. Next review December 2026.
This page is educational information, not an appraisal, legal, tax or financial advice. Figures come from the sources named above and can change.