My long search for a broker continues to go on, but I some how managed to get access to the MLS! A friend of mine who is an agent recently got up and running on the gsmls (my friend previously only had access to the njmls) and offered to let me use until I got my own access. Even though I’ll only need it for a week, it’ll be great to finally be able to see behind the curtain.
I jumped on it last night to see what was there and quickly realized there is going to be a learning curve involved. I started messing around with the advanced search, trying to find recent solds in the last 3 to 6 months in my town. I then found the Terms field that lists how a property was purchased and the excitement level in me grew exponentially! That was quickly squashed as the system went down for maintenance…Damn it! isn’t that always the way??? Just like that Christmas present you find in the corner of your parents closet on December 23rd, you’ll have to wait to play with it.
So does anyone have any good suggestions on how I should leverage the mls to get the most out of it? For those that have access how do you use it to research your area? How far do you go back? ahhh….sooo….many….questions…..hahaha
NewJesreyProbate.org
This is just a quick little update on my 30 Day Challenge site. My traffic continues to grow, as I’ve reached about 140 visitors now and I get about 1 visitor every two days to click through to my squeeze page. Once I hit 200 visitors I will write up a nice update and then really analyze what is going on.
More Probate
One of my fellow investor friends and I split the cost of Ron Mead’s probate course ($60 bucks total) and I’m going through it now. I think I’m going to follow his steps right here on my blog as it really does help me keep at it. Does anyone want to follow along with me? I will post instructions on what to do for a given day and we can accomplish them together. Anyone up for the challenge?? It will start next Monday, the 26th.
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Congrats on getting access, Scott!
I remember the first time I got on MLS- I was like a kid in a candy store.
There are a ton of different ways to utilize the info. I use it mostly to see what prices are being paid for the cheap stuff in the neighborhoods I am working. I also like to look at the recent cash REO sales, just to see what kind of discounts people are getting.
There's somewhat of a learning curve involved, but you're obviously good with the tech-y stuff, so it should be a breeze for ya.
Anywho, congrats again, and keep up the good work.
Hey Scott, this is great news bud
When I got MLS access, I followed Steph's lead to find out who the cash buyers were AND what areas they were buying in. That was my first order of business. For rehabbing purposes (our own rehabs or one of our buyers), I also like to see which areas the most retail sales are taking place for good moderate prices.
Thanks Shae, I looked for all the cash sales in the past year and there were…3, ugh. what does that tell ya?
Thanks Steph. Right now I'm just throwing a whole bunch of searches at it to see what happens. I definitely want to find out how different types of houses are selling(3 or 4 beds, 1.5/2/3 baths). I like how they break it down nicely for you in the statistics section.
3 in a year? Where you looking at a certain zipcode? Search your entire county and see where they are….if that yields 3, I'd check the next closest county too.
That’s just in my town which is two zip codes. I’m gonna have to expand out a bit I think.
Hey, man! Congrats on MLS access – what a milestone!
Ron Mead's course is very good — especially for the price. Much better than most that are priced much higher. Ron's a stand up guy too. Very down to earth. You'll enjoy his stuff.
Hey, it's really hard to believe you have that few cash sales. I'd dare to say you're missing something in your filtering.
Dude where in NJ are you? I live in Linden! I love investing!
Hi Jonathan, I live near Morristown, so not to far from Linden. Do you ever invest up by me?
Thanks JP! It's getting me closer to closing my first deal.
My filter is very straight forward. I did it by zip code (07981) and by Sale Terms (Cash) and for the past year (10/1/2008 to 9/30/2009) and it came back with 3 matches. So unless the agents didn't update the listing with the correct payment terms, that is all there is. Like Shae suggested though, I'm going to expand my search to the county level and then filter out from there to see where the investors are investing.
Thanks again JP and good luck in the Battle of the Blogs!
Scott check this out and come if you are not to far http://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Deal-Makers-N…
Jon,
I should be able to make that meeting no problem. Did you ever speak about short sales at the GSREIA meetings a year or two ago? You look familiar.
Jon,
I should be able to make that meeting no problem. Did you ever speak about short sales at the GSREIA meetings a year or two ago? You look familiar.