How to Find Real Estate Comps (5 Methods That Actually Work)

Good comps are the foundation of an accurate ARV. Here are five reliable methods for pulling comparable sales — from free tools anyone can use to professional-grade data sources.

Why Good Comps Matter

Comparable sales (comps) are the foundation of ARV estimation. Use strong comps and your deal analysis is defensible. Use weak comps and you'll either overpay for a deal or pass on a good one.

The goal is to find recently sold, fully renovated properties that are as similar as possible to what your subject property will look like after renovation.

Method 1: MLS Access Through a Real Estate Agent

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the gold standard for comp data. It includes sold price, days on market, property details, and agent notes — more information than any public platform.

Work with a buyer's agent: Ask an agent to run a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Most will do this for free in exchange for your business.
Get your own license: Many active investors get a real estate license specifically for MLS access.
Use an agent referral network: Build relationships with 2–3 local agents in your target markets who can pull comps quickly.

Method 2: Redfin

Redfin is the best free public tool for pulling comps. Its sold data is more complete and accurate than Zillow's.

Go to redfin.com and search your target area
Click "Sold" to filter to recently sold properties
Set your date range (last 3–6 months)
Filter by square footage range (±20% of your subject)
Filter by bedroom/bath count to match your subject
Review each comp: look at photos to confirm condition, check price per sqft

Method 3: Zillow Recently Sold

Zillow's recently sold data covers markets where Redfin may have thinner data. Use it to cross-check comps you found on Redfin and find additional sales in markets with limited Redfin coverage.

Avoid using Zestimate as ARV. Zestimate is an automated valuation — not a comp-based ARV. It's useful for a rough sense of value range but not accurate enough for underwriting.

Method 4: Property Data Platforms (PropStream, BatchLeads)

Platforms like PropStream and BatchLeads provide sold comp data with more filtering options than consumer portals — including equity filters, absentee owner flags, and bulk data export.

These platforms cost $99–$199/month and are worth it for investors doing 5+ deals per year.

Method 5: AI-Powered Comp Tools

AI-powered platforms like DealAnalyzerAI automate the comp-pulling process — analyzing comparable sales, adjusting for property differences, and generating an ARV range in seconds. Enter an address and get an instant ARV range, review the comp set the AI selected, then use the estimate to decide whether a deal is worth deeper manual analysis.

What Makes a Good Comp vs. a Bad Comp

Good comps are:

Within 0.5–1 mile of the subject
Sold within the last 3–6 months
Within 20% of subject square footage
Same bedroom/bath count (or 1 off, with adjustment)
In similar or better condition (renovated or updated)

Bad comps are:

Active listings (asking prices, not confirmed sales)
Distressed sales (short sales, foreclosures) when estimating retail ARV
Properties sold more than 6 months ago in fast-moving markets
Properties in meaningfully different neighborhoods