House values? Where can I view them accurately?

Question

So I know cars have Kelley blue book to look up values, what about houses? Where can I get accurate values or something close? I'm tired of zillow and their zestimates off 50-60K on house values. Where do the pros and flippers go to look up house values? Thanks.

Bienes Raices · Answer

^ In addition to Zillow there are CyberHomes and Property Shark (both free the last time I checked). Real Quest and Sitex Data are the two pay services I'm aware of--they are not cheap and not something I would want to use long term but I have found Sitex useful as a beginner, I believe it is more accurate than Zillow.

Danny Day · Answer

Find an agent who is willing to work with you, and they should be able to get everything you're looking for.

Taking them out to lunch works well..

Do not base your values off Trulia, Zillow, etc. There are many factors that come into pricing a property that Zillow will not consider.

Here is how I run my comparables for myself and other investors:

- Active / Pending / Sold in last 90 days
- +/- 200 sq ft of subject home
- +/- 2 years of subject home
- Same bedroom as subject home
- Same bathroom as subject home
- Same neighborhood as subject home

So when comparing deals for an investor, here is what my email looks like. Its very simple:

Katy home
List price: $36,000
1,028 sq ft
3 bed, 2 bath
Built 1982
ARV: $76,000 - 1 sold comparable in past 90 days (average DOM 72, LP/SP% 100, 3 months of inventory in the neighborhood.

ARV is after repair value - the retail value you can expect to sell the house for.

DOM is days on market, essentially how long it will take to sell.

Good luck

Danny

Bienes Raices · Answer

Have you tried looking at the county property appraisers website?

Mubasher Riaz · Answer

thank you all for the quick replies I appreciate it. Other question I have is, properties being sold around my area, where can I look up to date info? Does zillow provide up to date info? Or there are other techniques? Thank you

Adam Smith · Answer

"Comps" are Comparable sales. In other words, if you are looking at buying a 3bd 2ba home with a one car garage and is 1300 square feet, you would look at other houses nearby with "comparable" attributes. So looking at a 5bd 3ba 2700 square foot home wouldn't help as much as one that looked just like the one you want to buy. Make sure you look at SOLD prices, not the FOR SALE price, which means nothing.

Mubasher Riaz · Answer

Comps? What are they and how can I view them?

Adam Smith · Answer

My Realtor has me set up on a system that emails me new listings according to specific criteria I choose. When I click on the address of any of these, I see it on a google map and can choose what other houses to view, ie recently sold, which is what you are looking for. In this way I can do my own comps. It's easy to see what condition the property was in because the photos of the sold property when they were for sale are still available.

See if there is a Realtor in your area who can do this for you. Mine is with Re/Max.

Jon Holdman · Answer

There is no easy and simple way to view home values.  It just does not exist.  Zillow really is trying to make this work, and I do think they will eventually get to be pretty accurate.  The trouble is that condition plays a huge factor and without looking a property over carefully, you have no idea of the true condition.

To find values, you need recent sold comps in the area that are truly comparable.  Then you need to apply the adjustments an appraiser would make.  The best way to get to know values is to pick an area, look at 100 houses in the area inside and out and then follow the listings and sales in the area.  There's just no quick and easy shortcut.

Ali Shah · Answer

look at comps..sold and what is listed and how many days.  TAX  records are a good source(for solds) or you can ask an agent to send you CMA's. Many different factors go in to work coming up with a real value of a property. Since it is NOT income producing you can compare it to the most recent sales in that area.

House values? Where can I view them accurately?

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