Posted by Ginger Harris on October 29, 2000 at 18:53:09:
Phil said it exactly right. When my husband and I were purchasing no-money-down units, we were constantly aware of everything and knew prices. My one advantage though was that I am an independent real estate broker. But Phil is right about agents. I could not even get some of them to present my offers which is against Oregon Real Estate rules. Ginger
Newbie analysis - Posted by Joseph Madera
Posted by Joseph Madera on October 29, 2000 at 15:15:24:
I live in Miami.Here in order to do a comparable market analysis you have to sign up with ISC which costs about 100 per month.Does anyone know a cheaper alternative to do this besides pestering a realtor every time one to evaluate a house?
Re: Newbie analysis - Posted by AnnNC
Posted by AnnNC on October 30, 2000 at 15:17:10:
Joseph,
Does ISC offer month-to-month-services or a year
contract?. One equivalent service in NC as a $150 set-up fee, $90/month and year contract. Ouch.
I was thinking I could get a month of service to check
some things out when I go down there.
I did check the court house online,
http://www.co.miami-dade.fl.us/pa/
I don’t know the approximate ratio of county appraisal
to market. I think they have changed since I lived there.
(Any ideas, anyone?) Thanks, Ann
Re: Newbie analysis - Posted by Eric Fl
Posted by Eric Fl on October 30, 2000 at 06:49:15:
Joseph,
I invest in the Miami area as well. I also do most of my own comps only because I think I can trust my own judgement. If you want I can give the name of a realtor that runs comps for me from time to time. He only deals with investors (specializes in HUD, VA, REO).
Bill 305.387.5777 He works with a lot of investors like us?
Re: Newbie analysis - Posted by phil fernandez
Posted by phil fernandez on October 29, 2000 at 16:35:09:
Rule number #1, do your own comps. It’s the lazy mans route to get realtors, who I wouldn’t trust, because they have a vested interest in getting you to pay whatever for a property so they can make a sale and a commission. Or even drive around neighborhoods and then call the realtors asking what the listed price is. This too can be disasterous. What difference does it make what the property is listed for. We have to know what it sold for.
Go down to your city/town/county recorders office and pull out all of the recent sales in the particular area you are interested in. Then do drivebys of these actual sales. After awhile you will get a good feel for fair market value.
This process will take time. I’d give myself 90 - 120 days of checking comp sales myself before I would feel comfortable with what a particular property is worth.
Re: Newbie analysis - Posted by Mark-NC
Posted by Mark-NC on October 29, 2000 at 15:54:07:
Joseph,
Although it would be nice to have that information I generally do my own comps by just cruising the neigborhood and seeing if there are any other homes listed for sale via MLS.
If there are I just call the listing agent and ask how much they are asking for it and how big it is. This will give me a general idea of what price per Sg ft is in the area. This is not an exact science and I may make some adjustments for condition and usually the listing price is slightley inflated but it quickly puts me in the ball park without a lot of effort or money. Once you know your area’s you don’t even need to bother checking.
Another thing you can do is go to realtor.com plug in the area you are looking at and see whats available. And price it out accordingly.
This is the way I have always done it and it has worked fine for me.
Good luck!
Mark
Re: Newbie analysis - Posted by AnnNC
Posted by AnnNC on October 30, 2000 at 15:06:45:
Eric-glad you posted. I have family property in Miami I need current value on. Would Bill want a fee for doing comps? (I’m not the owner, and it is not for sale at this time, and I’m trying to get an idea of
current rents). Thanks.Ann
It all depends! - Posted by Mark-NC
Posted by Mark-NC on October 29, 2000 at 19:18:54:
Phil,
Maybe it’s not the same in all area’s. For instance when I check Realtor listings in this area and I find out they are all priced in say the 60 to 65 dollar a sg ft range I know there is a reason for that.
The Realtors check comps before they list a home. At least they do in our area. The Realtors usually don’t list a real high sales price unless the seller wants them to. If they do it’s pretty obvious and it is out of the norm on the price per sg ft range.
I also know in my market through information from Realtors and with my own experiance of making offers that most homes are sold at full price or within 5% of the asking price. I use this information to determine where I need to be on the deal that I am looking at. I also know that when I go to resale my property I will be safe in that range when I sell it.
This system has never lead me wrong and many times I have been able to sell for the same price range per sg ft that the Realtors were listing for unless I wanted to move it real fast, then I would sell it for less.
Like I said this may not work in all areas. Some areas are very volatile and there seems to be no rhyme or reason for pricing. If this was the case I would be spending time at the court house. But working with the MLS in my area has not failed me yet. Also it is much faster for me than going down to the court house.
I guess it all depends on your market and your ability to find out the same type of information I use to determine these values.
I think your method of going to the court house is probably a good safe way for a beginner. But for me It would be way to slow. The only time I would do this is if there was nothing listed in the area.
I also beleive that an investor should be able to determine that the property they are looking at is a deal after a few phone calls. If they can’t they are spending way to much time on it or they are going to offer to much and make it a risky deal.
Mark