Pulling comps

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Pulling comps

Joe Salimao
Real Estate Investor · Blackwood, NJ · Member since 2009 · 79 posts · 10 votes

Hi,
How can one effectively pull comps on a property? Are there sites that you can use, besides zillow, that show you comps and the actual details of the property rather than just what it sold for? Obviously I will use a realtor for the official comps but I need something to get a basis.
Also, what do you guys offer the realtors who pull comps for you? What is in it for them?
Joe Salimao

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Curt DavisBusiness Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
17y

Joe, I use an actual appraiser to get the real comps. My agreement is if they give me the comp then they will get the appraisal on he home when I either sell it or keep it for myself.

Curt Davis - KAIZEN Realty538 Reviews
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  • JP Bouka
    Real Estate Investor · West Bloomfield, MI · Member since 2008 · 11 posts · 0 votes
    17y

    Try homegain.com; realtor.com(free) and icocw.com(pay).

    0Reply
  • AJ L.
    Riverside, CA · Member since 2008 · 49 posts · 2 votes
    17y

    You can also check the county tax rolls. Use caution with the free sites such as zillow, since values given on some homes are overvalued or undervalued, and not a true reflection of the value of the home.

    0Reply
  • Curt DavisBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    17y

    Joe, I use an actual appraiser to get the real comps. My agreement is if they give me the comp then they will get the appraisal on he home when I either sell it or keep it for myself.

    Curt Davis - KAIZEN Realty538 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    3Reply
  • Jon Holdman
    Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    17y

    County records, title companies, and realtors are the best sources. Be sure to get ALL comps, not a few cherry picked ones. If there are cherries to be picked, pick them yourself.

    0Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    17y

    This link should provide you with some useful information:
    Find House Values & Comps

    Podcast Guest on Show #100
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  • Harrison Painter
    Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2008 · 759 posts · 185 votes
    17y

    There are plenty of Realtors out there that will help you pull comps. The only comps that really matter are SOLD properties!

    Even if you are doing deals on your own and do not need a Realtor for the deal, just take them out to dinner, or pay them a small fee for their time.

    Just make sure they KNOW what they are doing. As comps can be very misleading if done incorrectly.

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  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    17y

    Harrison is ABSOLUTELY correct. I shared the link above to get you to the sites you were looking for, but as I say over and over again, NEVER rely on the information from these sites to make any business decisions!

    Particularly in the current market, the only data that matters are recent sales.

    Podcast Guest on Show #100
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  • Jon Holdman
    Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    17y

    I'll disagree just a tad. If you're doing fix and flips and trying to sell retail, you need to look at current listings. For one thing, they're going to be your competition when you put your house on the market. For another thing, the current listings will give you an idea of what sells and what's on the market. If there are two retail houses with 200+ DOM and 100 REOs, you might want to reconsider the area. Finally, an appraiser will look at current listings, too. So, you better know what he or she is going to find.

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  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    17y

    Jon -
    Logically, you should look at current listings too, but I've seen too many that are simply priced WAY above any reasonably realistic value to find them of any value. I guess that's not going to be true for all properties, so I'll relent and say that current values should be considered, but be wary of the outliers (something you should be doing anyway)

    Podcast Guest on Show #100
    0Reply
  • Elizabeth Martinez
    Real Estate Broker · Denver, CO · Member since 2009 · 17 posts · 1 vote
    17y

    It is all objective to your intent with the property.

    But you need to make sure you are looking at properties that sold within the last four months and are very similar to your subject property.

    0Reply
  • Aaron Norris
    Lender · California and Florida · Member since 2008 · 319 posts · 194 votes
    17y

    The back end of the MLS will tells you some very important information about what's going on in a particular market. What Zillow, Trulia, and the front end of Realtor.com won't tell you is if there were any concessions, how many days on market, and the overall jounrey of a property. This information can be very helpful in trying to calculate what a property is really worth.

    Say an out-of-town investor is looking in a new area to invest and there are two properties at the same price. Let's make it more specific. Say a Los Angeles investor is looking into the Inland Empire (ground zero for foreclosures in Southern California). Being new to the area and used to LA prices they get excited about the prospect of buying a home at $135k! However, little do they know this particular area is on the outskirts of active comps. One home is listed by a retail seller unable to lower their price any further and the other property has been listen by an unrealistic bank for over a year. If this investor had access to the MLS, they could have seen the REO property's journey through different agents and the tremendous price drop in one year. They also would have realized both were not market value since there were no good comps in the past several months in the area AND the REO still hadn't sold after being listed for over one year dispite a drop by 50% in price. This is actually a very real scenario in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties right now.

    Build a relationship with a Realtor who understands what you're trying to accomplish. Find one that's been through a down cycle before or one that's ready to write offers for you and get hit over the head a few times.

    Build their commissions into the offer, let them represent you at auctions (doesn't cost you anything), and/or let them represent you when you're selling the proeprty if you're flipping. I think a good Realtor is one of the most important pieces to your team. As an investor, it's hard to know and do everything. A good team member might just save you a world of hurt on the other side.

    Also, I am a very visual person and do pop my head into RealtyTrac now and then. I like to see what's coming down the pipeline as far as REOs go. Everything is a little screwy right now because of the hiatus of some banks on their REOs but when it's working, you can see the homes in the NOD process, trustee sales, and those already REO. Match that with what's listed on Realtor.com and you get a nice sense about what's going on in the neighborhood and what you can expect after holding the property 90 days before you sell.

    1Reply
  • Joe Salimao
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Blackwood, NJ · Member since 2009 · 79 posts · 10 votes
    17y

    Thanks for all the replies.
    I have a mailing campaign unerway and it is pretty large so I am assuming I will get a bunch of phone calls. So am I going to call my realtor eveytime I get a phone call to see what the house is worth? This seems like alot of work for them.
    Also, I have heard that you should always provide a offer over the phone and then revise it based on repairs and anything else they left out of the phone conversation. How can this be done if you don't have comps pulled for the property.
    Joe

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  • Jon Holdman
    Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    17y

    You should get out and learn your target area. I assume you selected the target area based on some criteria, so you should be able to learn that area or areas.

    From what I hear, I wouldn't expect many phone calls until you've done a few rounds of mailings.

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