In order to access comps on sales from HAR or MLS, do you have to join your local Realtors Association and pay annual fees? Is there anywhere that you can access comps for free?

If you wanted to invest in rental property outside of Houston or Texas, do you go through the MLS to find that cities version of HAR?

Typically the local MLS (regardless of what city/area) is the only way to see 'sold' data.

If doing research outside of your area...yes, find a Realtor and ask for comps. Sometimes can get a general idea by looking on realtor.com, Zillow, etc but won't see sold data there.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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redfin has it

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Redfin is decently accurate, but not for every home. I'd say they're about 85%. Still a good bet to get a feel for the market.

If you great an account with Redfin and login, you get actual sales numbers. Without logging in you just get their estimate.

Aggie71013 said:

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If you great an account with Redfin and login, you get actual sales numbers. Without logging in you just get their estimate.

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I understand that, but from what I know (maybe its changed, feel free to correct me if so), all of their sales data requires their agents to input it. I ran a list of comps using Redfin once and found that the majority were accurate and a couple were lacking. The MLS is still the only source for 100% accurate sales information.

Do you have to have a brokerage shop give you a login or how can you gain membership access to MLS?

tmaggie50 said:

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Do you have to have a brokerage shop give you a login or how can you gain membership access to MLS?

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Only Realtors can see sales data. General consumers can see active listings.

Find a Realtor to send you comps for what you need. If you don't know one, there are likely plenty on this board would do it for a small fee, maybe even out of the kindness in their heart.

I was hoping you could answer another follow up question on MLS comps for me. Do I need to have my license held by a residential brokerage firm that has a membership to the MLS to be able to get access or can I gain access to comps and member exclusive information with just my real estate license alone?

If I can get access, where on earth do I go to actually sign up? Ha. I have searched high and low on the MLS and HAR website. I cannot find anything on MLS for signing up. I do have a membership for HAR, but it is only for searching and not activated as if I am a REA. How do I get access beyond an unlicensed member?

tmaggie50 said:

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I was hoping you could answer another follow up question on MLS comps for me. Do I need to have my license held by a residential brokerage firm that has a membership to the MLS to be able to get access or can I gain access to comps and member exclusive information with just my real estate license alone?

If I can get access, where on earth do I go to actually sign up? Ha. I have searched high and low on the MLS and HAR website. I cannot find anything on MLS for signing up. I do have a membership for HAR, but it is only for searching and not activated as if I am a REA. How do I get access beyond an unlicensed member?

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Yes, you will need a sponsor (broker) who is also a member for you to be able to join as a Realtor member. You have to join the Houston association. If you call their general hotline, they'll be able to answer any further questions about the process / cost.

If I was a broker I'd offer to help. In the meantime, what comps do you need? Email me and I'll see if I can help.

**Edit.. took my email down. Let me know if you need it again.**

It's not as easy as just being a realtor. In order to gain access, you have to pay an annual fee, etc. I think the fee is upwards of $1000.

When I joined the Amarillo MLS, I had to fly up for a mandatory class in addition to the membership fee.