MPA · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 11 votes
Hi,
So I'm looking for a house to rehab in the San Antonio area. I'm relocating there soon so I don't know the place very well yet.
I'm working with a realtor there and he set me up a login to look at MLS homes found by the auto feed he set up for me.
Question is this: since I have this, is it possible for me to pull comps and use the system to research areas around town/learn trends, etc.? Do I have access since I have an agent? I'm obviously not going to ask him to mine lots of unrelated data for me, but wondering if I could so it myself?
Thanks!
Unless the agent has given you their personal login or set you up as an "assistant," which requires broker approval, you will not have full access to search the MLS. Texas is a non-disclosure state, which means the law does not require sales price to be reported publicly. This means only licensed agents have access to recorded sales prices via the MLS. This is something the local Board (SABOR) takes very seriously and people have been sued for disclosing sales prices without seller permission. Providing full access to MLS for a non-licensed person may be grounds for license revocation and certainly warrants a Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) complaint. That being said, I have heard of several Realtors doing it. I even heard of investors paying agents to become their "assistants."
The SABOR MLS does have a pretty comprehensive search function for non-agents. This allows you to search listed for sale and for lease properties by conducting manual queries or by simply drawing a polygon on a map. This feature will allow you to search "actives" beyond the properties your agent has pulled via the auto feed.
If you have a buyer's agency agreement with your Realtor, likely they will be happy to run comps for you (within reason). There are also some proprietary software products out there that use IDX to run comps. Again, due to the fact Texas is a non-disclosure state some Boards have elected not so share all of the data. This is why running comps on Redfin, Zillow, or Trulia is basically worthless in San Antonio.
I don't know how to answer your question, but the term "auto-feed" made me wonder - is he filtering what you can see? As in, only his broker's properties? Or properties he's the listing agent on? LOL I hope not.
In line with Wayne's comment the account you have will display listings which fit the search criteria your agent setup for you. Won't pull up sales comps or so on. Most tools for prospects (which is what you are for the agent) are intentionally focused by MLS rules for listings to buy - not sold properties to compare.
No they're not properties he is the listing agent on. And no he didn't give me his login, he just set up the standard sabor client portal. I asked him to automate a feed for me and gave him specific criteria.
I was just wondering how much MLS access I have via my client portal, and I just looked again... Apparently none but what houses pop up. Starting to think getting my license strictly for MLS perks may not be the world's worst idea.
@Sarah T., I'm assuming by "auto-feed" you mean he set you up with a search from which you get alerts for properties that fit your criteria? I'm assuming so since he's not permitted to give you his MLS login or anything of that nature. In any event, I don't think you'll be able to pull comps, per se, from anything with which he's set you up, but luckily San Antonio is covered by Redfin. Redfin pulls from the MLS and is therefore limited to what is and has been on the MLS, but it's pretty handy. There is also a way to "pull comps" which, while not the same as the way a realtor or appraiser would do it, will give you a decent ballpark. Shoot me a PM if you'd like to go over it and I can explain how. Best of luck, and never be afraid to reach out here on the site, lots of good folks here. Let us know if we can help.
Unless the agent has given you their personal login or set you up as an "assistant," which requires broker approval, you will not have full access to search the MLS. Texas is a non-disclosure state, which means the law does not require sales price to be reported publicly. This means only licensed agents have access to recorded sales prices via the MLS. This is something the local Board (SABOR) takes very seriously and people have been sued for disclosing sales prices without seller permission. Providing full access to MLS for a non-licensed person may be grounds for license revocation and certainly warrants a Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) complaint. That being said, I have heard of several Realtors doing it. I even heard of investors paying agents to become their "assistants."
The SABOR MLS does have a pretty comprehensive search function for non-agents. This allows you to search listed for sale and for lease properties by conducting manual queries or by simply drawing a polygon on a map. This feature will allow you to search "actives" beyond the properties your agent has pulled via the auto feed.
If you have a buyer's agency agreement with your Realtor, likely they will be happy to run comps for you (within reason). There are also some proprietary software products out there that use IDX to run comps. Again, due to the fact Texas is a non-disclosure state some Boards have elected not so share all of the data. This is why running comps on Redfin, Zillow, or Trulia is basically worthless in San Antonio.
Argh @Seth Teel, you cut me to the bone with your Redfin comment! :-P Lol jk, I use Redfin as a preliminary, then I have a realtor who actually knows what he's doing check me. Usually it's within less than $5k or so, but you have to choose your comps wisely with Redfin and not just use the quick "pop up comps" as I call them. Not as good as a knowledgeable realtor, obviously, but still useful for a quick analysis. Then again, you've been doing this for a tad longer than I have ;-) Would you mind sharing a link or path to the non-agent function you mentioned? I'd like to check it out if you would. Thanks, and good info on the MLS access.
@Sarah T. I agree with the other folks on here that you have limited access. As a real estate broker here in Orlando, we use client portals as well. It is a way for clients to see active properties on the MLS, while giving agents the ability to track your activity when searching. We can typically see what properties you favorite, listings viewed, when you login, and based on your patterns get a feel for what kind of properties may be of interest to you. I've been looking into trying to set up an investor friendly site for my clients here in Orlando, that allows them to differentiate between active, sold and pending listings for this very reason.
The major problems I am seeing with IDX-ed info on sites are:
1) Lag time: Often the data is not instant as it would be on the MLS (sometimes it's months behind).
2) Not complete data. SABOR does not allow for all of the data to be provided to the 3rd party vendors.
Here is an example why this is major issue when trying to determine ARV. There has been a recent trend artificially inflated sold prices. Certain types of loans allow for the seller to contribute X percentage towards the buyer's closing costs (for FHA it's up to 6%). In a market like San Antonio homes selling under $150K are most likely going to be purchased with an FHA loan. In almost all cases buyers are requesting the full 6% concession. One way sellers are adapting to mitigate the financial loss associated with this is by agreeing with the buyer to pay the concession, but adjust the price up so as to even out their net. This creates an artificial inflation in the recorded sold price, and if you don't have access to all of the data (i.e. Recorded Seller's Concessions), you may overestimate the ARV. This can be troublesome on the back-end sale of a flip if your the appraiser adjusts the home value for this inflation. If they are a good appraiser they will definitely ratchet back the value based on concessions of sold comps. This is something FHA is checking on appraisal reports. This could potential cost you the sale, cause you to hold the property longer, and minimize your profits.
I will be the first to tell you, I am not a fan of the traditional real estate agent/ client dynamic, but I do think it's important for any investor (especially a new one) to have a professional double check their numbers. I've wholesaled hundreds of homes, flipped several, and own a couple multi-families and I still ask colleagues to check my numbers from time to time. When it comes to investing and making money, I just can't rely on a random algorithm to help determine my ARV. I'd rather get a few fully subjective opinions from people that know the area and the market.