How to get real estate data without access to MLS?

[Scott Zockoll]

Hello everyone,

I am a very new to real estate. I am currently reading through J Scott's book on Flipping Houses. I am wanting to gather some data for some of the following areas:

• Price rations between distress and retail houses
• The real estate supply in the area (How many months it would take to clear the market)
• How to find out if houses are actually being sold (I am want to make sure 60% of them are being

Is it possible to gather this data myself without having access to MLS? I do not have a real estate license. I am willing to get one, but I am still very early on in the learning real estate. Is this even possible?

Thank you for your time,

- Scott

[Mark Updegraff]

You won't have much success finding a professional to do your due diligence for you, so I disagree with the above advice.  Yes, a team is essential, but don't expect expert advice to do admin work for you.  As a professional REALTOR I would tell you that I would stay away from you if you used this approach.  If you want this level of detail to run analysis before purchasing, you should get your license.  Do you need to?  No.  The only thing you need to do is run a simple pro forma on every possible option in your target markets to get a feel for what you can expect.  The longer you do this, the more basis you have for comparison.  Asking someone that works in the field to provide you with data to support what is already known is annoying at best.  I would focus on charming a great real estate professional so they're kind enough to help you on your journey.  If they're ethical, and sincerely like you, they will steer you on the right path.  I think you're over complicating the process.  Keep it simple.