Does this sound like it is a good idea to do?

Question

Would you say this step by step approach and finding the most renovated comp as ARV? ->  I am going to make a web tool to keep track of all the comparables for subject properties, and I am going to use Zillow to keep track of all the comparables each month, year including days on market, added extra bedroom/bath, $/sqft prices, last sold dates, taxes, renovations, repairs, everything that Zillow shows for that comparable. Is it possible to find an ARV by just using Zillow and these steps -> Zillow step by step:

1 Search window:  Fill in where you're searching (71607)

Pulldowns:

2 - Sold

3 - Price Range:  180k to 220k

4 - Beds = 3; baths = Any

5 - Property Type = Houses (ONLY)

6 - Filters (only 1):  Sq ft (1300 - 1750)

Now Sort (upper right corner): Newest

Keep expanding the Price Range 170k to $230k and Sq ft (100 - 1850) until all comparables have shown in Zillow results.

Now zoom into any 2mile by 2 mile area. The comparables will show (I plan to track all comparables in my web tool), and choose the most renovated house will be the ARV even if it has a lower price than a semi-renovated comprable with the highest price.

Will this work? Or is Zillow inaccurate and should I get MLS access instead?

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

To your question: IS Zillow good enough or do you need the MLS? I say NO....I find Zillow and the other platforms to be very adequate...in some cases even better as far as search ability, parameters, etc...

Arthur Hernandez · Answer

So the steps I provided will be okay to use?

Arthur Hernandez · Answer

And you have been doing rei and wholesales with no MLS?

Also if I can get the ARV Range similar to what a cash buyer has. If his ARV Range is $220k-$240k and I got $220k-$250k and I can provide apple to apple comps, all 3 being very close to fully renovated, and if I can find fully renovated comps that be better. Will a cash buyer accept this ARV I found by choosing the most renovated comp from the 3 and the best renovated comp for that subject property was $227,305 so I would say the ARV is $230k.

These are the steps I would do for two methods:

1. If I just get the $/sqft that Zillow or Homes.com has and when I get the 3 comps do this (ppsf1 + ppsf2 + ppsf3) /3 * subject property sqft = ARV. Will this approach work?

2. Or another way I can do this is the same on Homes.com and instead of doing what was said above to get the ARV, I have already done this twice and have gotten Como subject properties one with (1,413 sqft) the other with (1,050 sqft) the first subject property I got the ARV Range from a cash buyer for both sqftgs. The 1,413 ARV Range was $220k-$240k. And I got 3 comps the best fully renovated comp was at $227,305 I rounded that out to $230k. The 1,050 sqft ARV Range was $210k-$240k. For the 1,050 sqft subject property, 1 comp was different but the best fully renovated comp was at $227,305 same comp for the other subject property. So my question is would a cash buyer accept this? The ARV Range I got from expanding the Price Ranges for both subject properties after seeing gaps expanding up $250k was the high end and then a big gap went to $280k. The low end was $219k and ended there. So the ARV Ranges for both subject properties were $250k-$220k if the $219k is rounded out. I want to get an MLS license but need to land a contract first to get it. So will both of these steps work? And which sounds more accurate, and will cash buyers accept this ARV?

Andrew Glisson · Answer

Going to be tough.. if you're scraping, you might not see most recent Zillow links. Web tools generally pull a cached listing which could have been pre-reno. LLMs are getting better but not there yet.

I'd pull assessor parcel data as a base, build transaction layer (sold soon after acquisition for $150k over pp), then scrape mls feed for descriptions. Going to be a lot of data.. You'll need a BaaS like Supabase.

Arthur Hernandez · Answer

What I meant is that could I use these steps even if I just get the $/sqft that Zillow or Homes.com has and when I get the 3 comps do this (ppsf1 + ppsf2 + ppsf3) /3 * subject property sqft = ARV. Will this approach work?

Or another way I can do this is the same on Homes.com and instead of doing what was said above to get the ARV, I have already done this twice and have gotten Como subject properties one with (1,413 sqft) the other with (1,050 sqft) the first subject property I got the ARV Range from a cash buyer for both sqftgs. The 1,413 ARV Range was $220k-$240k. And I got 3 comps the best fully renovated comp was at $227,305 I rounded that out to $230k. The 1,050 sqft ARV Range was $210k-$240k. For the 1,050 sqft subject property, 1 comp was different but the best fully renovated comp was at $227,305 same comp for the other subject property. So my question is would a cash buyer accept this? The ARV Range I got from expanding the Price Ranges for both subject properties after seeing gaps expanding up $250k was the high end and then a big gap went to $280k. The low end was $219k and ended there. So the ARV Ranges for both subject properties were $250k-$220k if the $219k is rounded out. I want to get an MLS license but need to land a contract first to get it. So will both of these steps work? And which sounds more accurate, and will cash buyers accept this ARV?