Identify the ownership interest before selecting sales
A San Ramon pricing analysis should define the actual home, ownership interest and obligations before comparing prices. Detached construction, a townhouse appearance and a development name do not necessarily identify the same purchase. The comparison needs to show which verified differences matter to buyers and what transaction evidence supports any proposed adjustment.
No permissioned closed-sale dataset or named broker price opinion was supplied for this draft. The verified closing sample is zero. The local public examples and original plan-range calculation below prepare the evidence screen without claiming current value. Use the San Ramon guide, Contra Costa County overview and selling process guide for the wider preparation context.
A detached building can still be a condominium
The City’s January 28, 2026 project list describes the Marketplace project at 130 Market Place as including 40 detached condominium homes. The entry also identifies proposed junior accessory dwelling units and a condominium-purpose subdivision. Those descriptions establish a local ownership-category distinction; they do not establish present private title, completed construction or current offerings.
For the actual subject, have the title reviewer explain the interest being sold and obtain the relevant governing package. A detached condominium and another detached home may offer similar interiors while involving different exterior, grounds or shared-property responsibilities. A broker can use the comparison as context, but the analysis should not conceal those differences inside a single detached-home average.
Keep the private outdoor area, parking and shared facilities tied to their actual documents. A plan illustration may show a useful arrangement without establishing exclusive rights. Ask which rights would transfer with the subject and whether the selected sales offered comparable arrangements. A space’s appearance and the buyer’s legal right to use it need separate evidence.
Public plan ranges do not establish private living area
The same dated Marketplace entry gives a proposed floor-plan range from 2,183 to 2,309 square feet. The descriptive difference between those endpoints is 126 square feet. This is exact arithmetic on public project descriptions. It does not measure any current private home, identify a particular completed plan or establish an adjustment supported by sales.
For the subject and each actual comparison, record the area source and what it includes. A project narrative, assessor reference, approved plan and qualified current measurement may not describe identical categories. Reconcile the material difference before using a price-per-square-foot calculation. The denominator deserves as much attention as the verified closing price.
Accessory accommodation also needs its own description. A separate area for a proposed junior accessory unit should not be silently added to a home’s represented living area or assumed to supply a particular income stream. Obtain the actual authorization, plans and relevant use evidence. A development proposal alone does not establish what the particular owner can operate today.
The 126-square-foot calculation therefore supplies no dollar adjustment. Ask the broker which actual sales demonstrate how buyers treated a verified size or layout difference within the relevant ownership group. If the evidence supports only a qualitative distinction, preserve that limit rather than assigning a precise amount because the physical arithmetic is easy.
Original public plan-range comparison
| Descriptive input | Amount | Evidence boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Lower proposed plan-range endpoint | 2,183 square feet | No specific completed private plan verified. |
| Upper proposed plan-range endpoint | 2,309 square feet | No current as-built measurement verified. |
| Exact descriptive difference | 2,309 − 2,183 = 126 square feet | No monetary adjustment, current value or private income conclusion. |
Source: dated City register, relevant entry read October 26, 2026. Exact decimal arithmetic checked. Actual title, approved current plans, condition and permissioned sales absent.
Keep development stage and restrictions visible
The City’s project gateway describes monthly updates, but the attachment reached in this research is dated January 2026. Its Approved or Building Permit Issued labels should not become current completion statements. Obtain the actual later records and condition evidence before using a development-stage entry to describe the asset being priced.
The City Village proposal identifies several housing forms, while the City’s April 2025 program notice identifies a below-market-rate townhome component. That history is a reason to check the candidate’s actual restrictions. It is not evidence that every home in the development has the same eligibility or resale terms.
A restricted transaction may answer a different question from an unrestricted market sale. Have the appropriate professional explain the actual covenant and its relevance before including the transaction. Keep the permission, sale terms and restrictions with the entry rather than relying on a development label. A past lottery announcement is not current transaction evidence.
Distinguish an upgrade from its contribution to price
An invoice can establish a seller’s expenditure without showing that another buyer paid the same increment for it. A repair may address a condition issue rather than add a dollar-for-dollar premium. Ask the broker which verified sales and competing alternatives support the proposed treatment of the actual work.
Obtain records for material alterations and compare them with qualified current observations. The City’s Permit Center separates planning, building and engineering roles. An architectural decision, issued building permit and completed inspection establish different stages. An attractive finished space should not become verified authorized accommodation merely because the interior appears complete.
For the actual subject, identify what was changed, when, which documents support the scope and what remains unresolved. Give the broker that evidence before requesting a price adjustment. A broad description such as “fully updated” can combine cosmetic work, repairs and altered space that have different significance to buyers and different evidentiary needs.
Current condition remains separate from work history. A documented improvement may still need maintenance, while a sparse online file does not itself diagnose a defect. Obtain the relevant professional assessment where material. The comparison should explain the actual condition difference rather than using age, permit status or a finish label as a proxy for the whole property.
Compare responsibilities outside the front door
Obtain current association statements and the relevant maintenance provisions for the subject and proposed peers. A regular payment may cover different components in different developments. Compare the inclusions and owner-paid duties before treating a dues difference as a valuation input. A universal price deduction for a higher monthly payment would require supporting market reasoning that is absent here.
The City’s Dougherty Valley GHAD resource identifies a public district separate from an HOA. Check actual parcel membership, charges and responsibility evidence where relevant. Similar-looking homes can have different public and private obligations, and a private assessment statement may not describe every recurring charge affecting ownership.
Keep useful layout and access evidence specific to the residence. Ask which outdoor areas, parking rights and routes are included, and verify any claimed proximity through an authorized visit or reliable current evidence. A development’s proposed amenity should remain distinct from an available facility the buyer can actually use under the offered rights.
Disclose the actual sale-study rules
The next stage requires authorized completed-sale data. State the source, permission basis, sale period, geography, ownership filters and exclusions. For each transaction, distinguish the evidence establishing closed price from sources supporting area, condition, restrictions and shared obligations. A public transfer record or listing summary may leave material context unanswered.
Keep asking prices and pending transactions separate from completed sales. They may help describe competition while answering a different question. A seller’s target price is not an amount another buyer has paid, and a pending transaction may not disclose its final terms. Label each category clearly so it cannot be mistaken for verified closing evidence.
Record why a proposed comparison was excluded. A nearby home may involve a different interest, unverified altered area or material restrictions. Preserving that reason helps prevent selecting examples simply because their prices support a preferred outcome. If later evidence resolves the issue, retain the date and explanation for changing the sample.
If the close sample is small, explain each expansion to another period, development or property type. A larger count is not automatically stronger evidence when the additional entries describe different purchases. Keep the closest verified peers identifiable and state the uncertainty introduced by broader context rather than hiding it inside an average.
Make the conclusion and its limits reviewable
Ask the broker to connect each material adjustment to the verified difference and the evidence supporting its market treatment. Some judgments may be qualitative or expressed as a range. Keep those limits visible. Exact arithmetic on a public plan range cannot replace the professional analysis of actual transactions required to reach a current price conclusion.
Check for overlapping adjustments. A condition correction, an altered-area issue and an ownership-cost difference may influence the same buyer comparison in related ways. Ask the professional to explain those relationships so the analysis does not count a single uncertainty several times. Preserve the underlying documents and assumptions beside the calculation.
Finish with a dated subject description, authorized sample and the facts that could change the result. San Ramon’s public development records help identify categories that a broad market summary can miss. The actual pricing decision should follow the particular home, its rights and condition, and the professional’s supported interpretation of completed-sale evidence.
