Or, there are some websites that will give you prices of houses sold in the past year or so in the neighborhood and you can get an approximation - there’s been a few mentioned on here, including one from yahoo (sorry, I didn’t print it out)
Good comps are created from the sale price of similar homes in the same neighborhood, without adverse conditions (foreclosures, rehabs, etc.) over the past 6 months to a max of a year. They are based on the square footage of the house, type of construction, number of bedrooms, baths, etc., roof type, and condition of home.
Today I went to my county appraisal district (might be different name in your county). I gave the property address to the information desk and the lady found the neighbor code from the system and then whipped out a thick book…voila! there were about 20-30 properties that were sold recently in the same neighborhood. The sheet had addresses, years built, sq.ft., sales price, sates date, tax appraisal, price per sq.ft.,etc.
So, check with your local tax appraisal authority. Frankly, I think it will be much easier than brownnosing a realtor to supply you with comps every time you come accross a property. : )
The best thing you can do is find you a realtor and make them your new best friend. I got one this week and she is amazing. She is GIVING me a copy of the MLS book every week and because I am going to let her handle all my deals where the houses are listed, she will run comps on any address I call her about. Even if it is a FSBO and she will be getting nothing from it.
I am a newbie big time (only been doing this for 3 weeks) but I think she is going to make my work alot easier.