Buyers of single family homes, whether investor or homebuyer, often check for recent market sales of comparable houses. Ideally, a comparable would be an identical house, on the same size lot, probably located next door, in the same condition, same landscaping, same interior decoration, etc. In the real world, though, that doesn't happen.
But, there is still a way to use information acquired from various sources and make dollar adjustments to account for the differences between the recent sale and the property being considered for purchase, often referred to as the "subject."
Be careful, though. If the reported sale amount is not a good measure of value, any adjustments to that amount for the differences between the properties are meaningless. The following are just a few examples:
1) a property acquired by the lender through foreclosure; that price doesn't represent a sale
2) a property acquired from relatives is not an arms-length transaction and may be for less than fair market value; this won't be obvious when the last names of the sellers and buyers are different
3) even if the property appears to be very similar on the outside, significant differences might exist on the inside that influenced the price that was paid for that property; it's often said that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, so consider that if the house had completely remodeled kitchen and bathrooms it would likely sell for more than a house that had it's original kitchen and bathrooms
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