COMPS - MLS - Posted by BILLC

Real Estate Investing
1

Posted by John(TX) on April 16, 1999 at 23:11:53:

Mark,

I’m just north of Houston in the Spring/Woodlands area. Would you mind sharing the name of the vendor you referred to in the above posting? Associated costs would also be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

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COMPS - MLS - Posted by BILLC

Posted by BILLC on April 16, 1999 at 07:55:43:

Is there a way for someone that is not a real estate agent to run comps or check the MLS on the internet?

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Re: COMPS - MLS - Posted by MarkHOUTX

Posted by MarkHOUTX on April 16, 1999 at 09:49:25:

It depends on which state you reside in. Some states, like Texas, don’t record (at the County Recorder’s Office)the sale price of real estate. We are what is called a “closed state” (i.e. that data is non-public).
Here in Texas, you have to get to the MLS to get “sales” data since realtors are the only ones recording sales information. Recently, I found a vendor that ties into the MLS here in Houston and can provide access to me if I join the Houston Association of Realtors as an affilitate member. In some areas, all you need to do is become an affiliate member and the Association will give you direct access, but here I have to go through this independent vendor for access after I join (can you spell more expensive!).

Try Yahoo at http://realestate.yahoo.com/realestate/homevalues/
hopefully your state will be one that they cover.

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Re: COMPS - MLS - Posted by Carmen

Posted by Carmen on April 16, 1999 at 09:43:29:

Although there are some counties that “post” their MLS information, usually they are catering to the retail buyer, and they only list the available properties.

To do a “real” comp, you need to look at what has sold in the area in the last 6 months. I have not looked too deeply, but I don’t think this info is posted (no reason to).

You can check out www.realtor.com, at least you’ll get an idea of the asking prices - and, with a little bit of research through the tax rolls, you can probably determine with pretty good results how much under asking price (percentage-wise) the homes in your area sell for - but use it just a rule of thumb, not an actual comp.