“There’s No Place like Home” is one of those quaint sayings that somehow lasts forever, probably just because it’s so true. “Home is Where the Heart Is” is another one: corny, maybe, but undeniable.

There’s a strictly real estate saying that Plano residents will recognize at once, too. Less corny as well as a good deal more practical. It’s “Location! Location! Location!”—and it’s every bit as true as the other ones. It’s the where of real estate, and although it is usually thought of in its commercial connection, to a slightly lesser degree, it has major Plano residential significance.

For those of us who are already Plano residents, where our next home should be located is almost certainly one of the two or three primary considerations. But even more so for out-of-towners who will be moving into our area. After price range, it’s a ruling factor: location location location—which Plano neighborhood will be our best choice for home—is a good place to start.

When you’re brand new to any area, just thinking ‘location location location’ is one thing, but going about finding the right one in a timely manner isn’t necessarily easy. First step will be to consult the real estate professional you’ve teamed up with (a good one would be me!) and have an in-depth orientation conversation about our neighborhoods. Next come prioritizing your own priorities:

Professional. If you know the ‘location location location’ of where you’ll be working, the commute distance is likely to be a key factor. The convenience of having your Plano home as close as possible to your Plano work will only grow with time.

School. If you have school-aged children, you’ll want to research how the schools are rated, or opt to a top-notch private institution. Either way, getting the kids to and from can be less of a hassle if home is in the right place. Location, location, etc.!

Shopping. Weekend mall visits certainly don’t need to be right around the corner, but things like visits to the grocery store can become an irritant if it involves 15-minutes each way…every day! Perhaps not a governing factor, but one that gains importance over time.

Community. Church, social groups, cultural gatherings are either to your liking or less so. Once you have gauged all of those “practical” factors, it will take some local visits and conversations with residents to get the real flavor of the possible communities—and determine which seem most inviting. Access to sports and outdoor recreational facilities also fit into this category…which, taken together, can easily turn out to be the most important quality of life factor.

There are two kinds of situations that homeowners looking at Plano comparables run into:

1. THE SIMPLE COMPS: Your Plano home is part of an area that’s more uniform than not, in a neighborhood where there are a sufficient number of similar houses to have produced several sales recently. Your street may not be part of a literal development with models that have near-duplicate floor plans—but the area is, in general, homogenous. When it comes to selling your Plano home, you’re in luck!

2. THE NOT-SO-SIMPLE COMPS: AKA, the incomparable situation. Your Plano home is one of a kind, almost totally unlike any other in the neighborhood (two bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths) or unlike any other in any neighborhood (who else has a swimming pool built into the attic?). All right, maybe your house isn’t quite that weirdly incomparable, but it’s still the case that no similar home has sold within a 5-mile radius within the last year or two. When it comes to selling your Plano home, you may still be in luck—but not because of ‘the comps’!

When your property falls into the first category, one whole part of your selling situation becomes a piece of cake because of the comparables. Plano comparables from previous sales make the ultimate, convincing case that your home has at least $X value, because the market says so. In writing. Real people have plunked down their hard-earned dollars as proof. Even better, real banks have backed them up with their also very real dollars. It’s all verifiable in the public records.

When your property falls into the second category, in terms of the comparables for Plano, it really doesn’t matter if you have the most attractive house or the best bells and whistles and bathroom renovations that will take a buyer’s breath away. If no other home within a reasonable distance has sold with a reasonable period (say, six months) that are close to the same size as yours, or if none has anything like similar features, you and your Realtor® are going to be pretty much on your own even settling on a listing price. Here’s a few lesser known reasons why paying attention to comparables is important when selling your home.