Redfin vs Other MLS Services' Accuracy

[Cody Evans]

Hi BP,

I thought I had the wholesale math down until I actually had to do it under pressure! I hear Redfin gets "sold" properties, which are useful for comps, directly from the MLS whereas other sites are less accurate because they do not get the same privilege and must use public records which are not as accurate.

This is because Redfin partially won a lawsuit against the MLS for a monopoly. Now they get information on sold properties. Is there truth to this info?

[Bob Okenwa]

Public record is about as accurate as it gets. You can do a cross-comparison of Zillow and Redfin and the county record for sold properties and you'd more often than not get the same numbers as what was sold via MLS, since sold info is submitted to the county clerk/recorder for recording and public record, which is where the non-MLS sites get their info from.

[Russell Brazil]

Originally posted by @Cody Evans:

This is because Redfin partially won a lawsuit against the MLS for a monopoly. Now they get information on sold properties. Is there truth to this info?

Well that part of it is not true. Redfin uses an IDX feed from the MLS like any other brokerage website does. Redfin merely has a nicer interface, but the information will be as accurate as any other brokerage site with an IDX feed. Anytime you are transferring data from 1 system to another there will be errors, so it is never 100% accurate...and for that matter since the MLS relies on humans inputting the data, that isnt 100% accurate either.