How to value a property without MLS access?

[Roland S.]

I know we can look at tax records / county appraisal districts, get BPO's / ask realtors, go to the property, but how can we see recent sales comps if we are not a realtor? What have you done? Thank You!

Additionally, if you are not a realtor, how have you gained access to the MLS before? Thank You!

[Andrew Syrios]

You could ask a real estate agent to do a comparative market analysis for you (maybe pay them a bit for it). Or you can use one of the many free sites like Zillow or Trulia. They tend to have most recent sales data in there you just got to do more leg work to analyze the comparables as it's not really designed to give you a list or nearby, recent sales that you can sort through and make adjustments to. But you can use the map feature to find nearby sales, make sure they're comparable and plug the information into a spreadsheet.