Best site for doing comparable Sales?

Question

I am wondering what site people use to find comparable sales to determine ARV for properties? I am happy to pay for a subscription if it is more efficient than using Zillow and the free sites. I am in Louisiana so it needs to cover that market. I appreciate you help!

Greg Jeanfreau · Answer

@Braden Smith and to piggy back, even full time agents such as ourselves (who know the city extremely well) sometimes have to tell clients "I think so, but I'm really going to have to drive by real quick." The nuances are staggering.

Kuba F. · Answer

@Stephen Keighery

I'm happy to make a recommendation.

Whatever tool you use, one of the more important things that you should consider is not only finding comps, but also being able to perform a sales comparison analysis on them to adjust them for the differences in features and their values.

Courtney Fricke · Answer

Hey @Stephen Keighery, I feel your struggles. I invest, wholesale and run the REIA on the Northshore. I've wanted to get the guys from Propelio to come out here. Working with a few brokers now to connect them to the guys there to see if they can bring their software here. It's a paid program that gives investors MLS access for comps and it has a few other features too. I've used parish Clerk of Court to run comps. Even then, it's tough. I pay a monthly subscription for that so I can run prelim title and do some comps.

Best of luck on your ventures and let us know if you find anything.

Stephen Keighery · Answer

Thanks @Courtney Fricke. I am part of your Facebook group and find it really interesting. I am in uptown but will venture your way for one of your meet ups soon.

Josue Vargas · Answer

@Stephen Keighery, I know MLS will provide you the true story of previous sales (of course you need to be a Realtor or work with someone with MLS access), but like @Greg Jeanfreau said, it may be still difficult.  The thing with Zillow of "recently sold" properties is that they do not update so frequently and if your market is slow, you will have trouble finding good comps.  For example, I sold my property and I was watching how that works.  It watched Zillow after closing, and property was updated around the 3 month mark.  The sales price was even incorrect.  So glad you are asking this question and hope you find a very good response.

Braden Smith · Answer

Hey @Stephen Keighery. I am both an investor and a licensed realtor in New Orleans. The real estate market here is very different than most cities, and it can be especially challenging. New Orleans is surrounded by water, sandwiched in between Lake Pontchartain and the Mississippi River. Because of this, land is scarce. And some land is more desirable than others due to it's elevation. Because New Orleans is basically a bowl that is below sea level, high ground commands a higher value. This is one of the many reasons that things can and do change drastically from block to block in most parts of the city. Once block could be million dollar houses and a couple blocks over could be sketchy. You can't comp properties here by zip code or by radius. You have to know where the defining lines are, and many times they are very arbitrary and don't really seem to follow any rhyme or reason. Auto valuations such as Zillow's Zestimate are pure garbage here. None of them work. They don't take into account things like the elevation, the cost of the flood insurance, etc. New Orleans is it's own beast when it comes to real estate and the only real way to learn the market here is out on the streets and in the trenches. Even with MLS access comping properties here is more difficult than in most cities.

John W. · Answer

Zillow works pretty well in areas where people mostly list their houses because the MLS data eventually goes to zillow and you also have people that listed their house on zillow that may have entered what they sell it for, or they can put false data in there. The zillow listings also retain the pictures unless the owner edits it out. But sale data can be slim in lower income areas where people tend to FSBO and it often has no way to get reported to zillow or takes a very long time.

Account Closed · Answer

Analyzing deals is a difficult task for me as well. I found a wonderful opportunity but I confuse myself because Zillow often shows residential information. Finding comps for apartment buildings is more of what I need. Do I still use Zillow, apartments.com, etc?  I understand the term price per door but I get lost along the way. Any suggestions?

Caleb Heimsoth · Answer

@Stephen Keighery. I like realestatecompstoday.com

Courtney Fricke · Answer

Say hey to me when you stop in for an event. Hope the group is helpful!

Best site for doing comparable Sales?

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