Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 44 posts · 13 votes
It seems to be the consensus around here that using comps is the best way to determine the value of a property. Texas is a non-disclosure state, so the MLS is the only way I can think of to get the comps. So here's the question, if you're not an agent, how do you get the comps from the MLS? I don't imagine there are many agents who will do this for free and their 3% commission would take a huge bite out of an assignment fee. What arrangements do you fellow investors use to get comps from agents? How do you agents here want to be paid?
Referrals for leads that can't be wholesaled; i.e. no spread or seller underwater. I'll take those all day long. It's not hard to run comps. But it will get old fast if there is no promise of future business.
Just send over the leads that you can't do anything with to the same realtor, hopefully they can convert them to listings or short-sales.
Best of luck to you.
Oh, and don't tell them that you will list with them if you never plan on holding a property, just be upfront with them on your strategy. If the agent is savy enough they will want to help you.
Referrals for leads that can't be wholesaled; i.e. no spread or seller underwater. I'll take those all day long. It's not hard to run comps. But it will get old fast if there is no promise of future business.
Just send over the leads that you can't do anything with to the same realtor, hopefully they can convert them to listings or short-sales.
Best of luck to you.
Oh, and don't tell them that you will list with them if you never plan on holding a property, just be upfront with them on your strategy. If the agent is savy enough they will want to help you.
MLS (multiple listing services) are generally used by agents for various regions. Thus you will find an individual MLS for every county more or less. The services are used by that local real estate association to post listings. Additional data such as SOLDs, (to be used for comps) but also expired, cancelled and pending listings are in there. Frequently one only uses SOLDS for comps but further analysis is always helpful For instance a very high number of cancelled and/or expired listings helps analyze the flux in a submarket. Furthermore I like to use ratios such as an ACTIVE/PENDING ratio to let me know how what is happening. Obviously a submarket with 25 active listings and 10 pendings is in better shape then a submarket with 25 active listings and 2 pendings.
As the web grew enterprising 3rd party providers saw a great business niche and the development of IDX grew. IDX is the process in which every MLS database is provided to a third party entity. That entity can use the database and advertise it on the web. Thus you have the birth of your Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc.... The MLS databases that these entities are provided get scrubbed a bit, (some information is removed) and then these entities can provide the database to consumers in their own framework.
Now some of these entities are national, they get EVERY MLS database and provide that. Realtor.com for instance. Other entities will get the MLS databases for only certain regions, like Redfin I believe has databases for a few counties around the nation.
So back to the question, should you pay a realtor for the comps. Alot of the work a realtor does is legwork and alot of it is actually free. If you hunt around enough you will find someone to do it for you. Generally more established realtors will not because they know you will just use the data and never use them. Hungrier realtors, especially those starting out may indeed get you a feed going, or service individual requests. To me it does somewhat depend on your intent as well. If you have no intention of using them, then yeah I guess maybe offering them some money is morally nice to do. Of course it also depends on the types of properties you are looking for and what is in it for them. I think the public is pretty misinformed how much work a realtor actually does for free. How many times they get backdoored by clients, how small a slice of commission they actually get. So on the one hand I think it is nice for a realtor to get paid for comps but on the other, it is simply part of the job.
I agree with the other suggestions on the referenced thread. Getting a license is a good idea but depending on your state and/or county may be a little more time consuming then you have time for. Once you have a license you need to be under a broker and then you can go to the local realtor association to join an MLS. It is not free. Depending on where you live you will most likely have an annual fee, quarterly fees, and you will need to join NAR, national association or realtors. You will also have to join your local association, and again depending on the state you are in, your state association. For instance in California you have to join your local association, then CAR (California Association of Realtors) and NAR. Then you have your quarterly fees as well.
In the end it may indeed be worth paying someone or finding a 3rd party service.
Go to your local REIA. Find an investor there that is a real estate agent as well. Build a relationship and begin asking them to run comps for you. Being an investor themselves, they will have a much better understanding of what it is you're trying to do.
Thanks for the thread Eduardo! Thanks to everyone else for your help. I'm still working a JOB until I get enough business going that I can do this full time, so I'm not sure how much help I would be as an assistant. How about a hybrid position... In exchange for a realtor letting me be and unlicensed assistant to get mls data I refer leads that I can't use to them. This way they aren't bothered all the time and they still get new leads.
Not a true assistant, its a status called "unlicensed assistant", and most MLS systems will let an agent setup an unlicensed assistant login so it dosnt interfere with the realtors MLS.
Sometimes its as simple as asking an agent.
I couldnt even imagine trying to do any REI without direct MLS access. Its the best info, and if you are locked out, you are severely limited.