Understanding Comparable Sales In The MLS
Monday, February 6th, 2012
When you are preparing to make an offer on a home, you may want to look at what is known as comparable sales. These are the selling prices of other homes in the same neighborhood as the house you wish to buy. You can ask your agent for this information or access it through the multiple listing service, or as it is commonly called, the MLS.
This is r private resource where realtors list the available properties for sale. The public has only recently been able to begun accessing some of that information on various real estate sites. While you won’t be able to view all the information, you may glean enough information to help you make a decision on your own. If you want to view more or you want a break-down of what you see, you may wish to enlist the help of a real estate agent.
Once a property is sold and all transaction made final, the selling price is posted to the MLS. Over time, this database has become a wealth of information for many people. It’s where they can obtain specifics on past sales, and includes many more details than what is made public. This is why these details are only made available to realtors.
A real estate agent must be a member of the MLS in order to access all of its content. Once you find such an agent, hr or she will be able to provide you with this data. It will be of significant importance when you begin the process of determining your offer price on a property.
Past sales are important. The specific prices will tell you how much the properties around the one you want have sold for in the past. This includes not only the most recent sale of each, but also details on past sales as well. These details can speak volumes about the local neighborhood, especially when the property you want is considered to be in great shape. If this is the case and other properties are selling for less than similar ones in other neighborhoods, other factors may be at play. These can include the neighborhood crime rate and specific features that may or may not exist in the area.
Before making your offer, be sure you clearly understand the information listed in the MLS. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask your agent for assistance. There are many details and some of them may require clarification.
Read through the information carefully. It is an important part of making an offer and should not be taken lightly. Buying a home is a huge investment and the local neighborhood is an important aspect. While you will choose that neighborhood partly on your personal choice of surroundings, the state it is in should most definitely not be ignored.
