Am I wasting my time doing this exercise?
I started a year ago and bought three rental homes and did my first wholesale in January. Since I am relatively new and still have a long way to go in learning, I want to get better at determining ARV. On my first wholesale, I was $3k above what the HML analyzed, and $3k below the actual appraisal. Not too bad, and that boosted my confidence.
So, I get several emails a week from local wholesalers and hard money lenders with deals, which I open up and avoid looking at their ARV. I then get all the necessary info and pull my own comps off the MLS (finally got access without a license!). I try to determine my own ARV, then finally go back and look at what they have done. I'm taking their numbers, especially the HML's, almost as gospel since they are the ones who lend money and better get their numbers correct. With that said, I have been pretty off since I started doing this exercise. I have been off from $5k to $20k in comparison to their ARV.
My question is, am I wasting my time testing my skills against these guys who are pros? Has anyone else done this with a benefit? I'm going to continue doing it until I get within a 5% spread from them, but I hope I'm not wasting my time.