Quick Answer: You can run comps without MLS access by using Zillow's recently sold filter, Redfin's sales history, county assessor records, or tools like DealBeast that pull and analyze comparable sales automatically in seconds.
I get asked this constantly by newer investors and even some experienced wholesalers who haven't gotten their license: "How do I pull comps if I don't have MLS access?" The good news is that the MLS is not the only game in town. The slightly less good news is that you need to know what you're doing, because not all comp sources are created equal and pulling bad comps is worse than pulling no comps at all.
Let me walk you through exactly how I approach this, what tools I use, and the most common mistakes I see investors make that blow up their deals.
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What MLS Actually Gives You (And What You Can Get Without It)
The MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, is a database that licensed agents use to share listing and sales data. It's accurate, fast, and updated in near real-time. When a home sells, the sale price, days on market, property details, and photos all get recorded there.
Here's what most people don't realize: that data doesn't stay locked inside the MLS. Much of it flows out to public-facing sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com within 24 to 72 hours. So you're not flying completely blind without an agent license.
What you do miss without MLS access:
- Granular details like seller concessions
- Private remarks that explain unusual sale prices
- Access to properties that were listed but never sold publicly
- Some off-market pocket listings
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How to Use Zillow to Pull Comps
Zillow is the most accessible starting point and it works surprisingly well if you use it the right way.
Here's the process I use:
- Go to Zillow and enter the subject property's zip code or neighborhood
- Click the "Sold" filter (not "For Sale" - more on this mistake later)
- Set the date range to the past 6 months. 12 months max in slower markets
- Filter by bed count within plus or minus one bedroom of your subject
- Filter square footage to within 20 to 25 percent of your subject property
- Eliminate anything that's clearly a different neighborhood, on a busy road, or has obvious condition differences
Once you have 4 to 6 sold comps that pass those filters, calculate the price per square foot for each one and average them out. Then apply that price per sqft to your subject property. That's your starting ARV estimate.
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Why Redfin Data is Often Better Than Zillow
I personally cross-reference Zillow with Redfin on every deal. Redfin pulls directly from MLS feeds and tends to be more accurate and more complete, especially for recent sales.
On Redfin, use the map view and toggle to "Sold" homes. You can filter by:
- Sold date (use the last 6 months as a starting point)
- Beds and baths
- Square footage range
- Home type (single family, condo, townhome)
One more thing: Redfin shows days on market, which Zillow sometimes buries or gets wrong. Slow-moving comps (90 plus days on market) are often distressed or overpriced. I usually discount those or exclude them from my ARV calculation.
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Public Records and Paid Data Tools
If you want to go deeper or verify what Zillow and Redfin are showing you, there are a few other options.
County Assessor and Recorder Sites (Free) Every county in the US records property sales. Most have a searchable public database. You can look up recent sales by address, neighborhood, or street and get the deed transfer amount. It's slower and less visual than Zillow, but the data is official and unfiltered.
PropStream ($99/month) PropStream pulls MLS comps, public records, and tax data into one platform. For active wholesalers, it's a solid investment. You can draw a radius around a subject property and pull all sold comps automatically.
ATTOM Data (Enterprise pricing) ATTOM is used more by institutions and tech companies than individual investors. It has exceptional depth but isn't really designed for one-off comp pulls.
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The Simple 3-Step Manual Comp Process
If you want a repeatable framework for pulling comps without MLS access, here it is:
Step 1: Gather Sold Data Use Zillow and Redfin. Stick to sales within the last 6 months. Extend to 12 months only if you can't find enough recent sales. Focus on a half-mile to one-mile radius in urban areas, and expand to two or three miles in rural or suburban markets.
Step 2: Filter by Characteristics Match bed count, bath count, home type, and square footage. Remove outliers (a sale that's 40 percent above the others usually has something going on). You're looking for 4 to 6 solid comps that represent what a renovated, move-in ready version of your subject would sell for.
Step 3: Calculate Price Per Sqft and Apply It Add up the price per sqft for each comp and divide by the number of comps to get your average. Multiply that by your subject property's square footage. That's your ARV estimate.
For a more detailed breakdown of what ARV means and how it fits into your deal analysis, check out what is ARV.
If you want to do this math faster, the ARV calculator on DealBeast handles it automatically once you feed in your comp data.
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How DealBeast Automates the Entire Process
Everything I just described takes 30 to 60 minutes when done manually. I've done it thousands of times. It's tedious but learnable.
The reason I built DealBeast was to compress that 45-minute process down to about 30 seconds.
Here's how it works: you paste an address, and DealBeast pulls comparable sales automatically, filters them through a 10-step algorithm that accounts for square footage, age, home type, location, and sale date, then spits out a weighted ARV estimate with the supporting comps shown right on the screen.
You can see which comps the system selected, why it weighted them the way it did, and what the deal grade looks like based on your offer price and estimated rehab costs.
For wholesalers running 20 to 30 leads a week, this is a game changer. Instead of spending 2 to 3 days manually comping every lead, you can screen an entire batch of addresses in under an hour and focus your energy on the deals that actually make sense.
If you want to see how the comping process works step by step, the run comps glossary page breaks it down clearly.
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Common Mistakes That Will Blow Your ARV
Using Active Listings Instead of Sales This is the most common mistake I see. Active listings are asking prices, not sold prices. A seller can list at any price they want. Only sold comps reflect what the market actually paid. Never build your ARV off listings.
Ignoring Square Footage Differences A 200 sqft difference between your subject and a comp is meaningful, especially in lower price ranges. Always calculate and compare price per square foot, not raw sale price.
Pulling Comps from the Wrong Area In some cities, crossing one major street can mean a $30,000 difference in value. Know your market at a neighborhood level. Google Street View is useful here. If a comp is in a visibly different area or condition tier, exclude it.
Using Comps That Are Too Old Markets move. A comp from 18 months ago in today's market could be significantly off in either direction. Stick to 6 months when possible. 12 months is the absolute outer limit, and only in markets with very few sales.
Treating Distressed Sales as Comps Foreclosures, estate sales, and probate sales often trade at 10 to 20 percent below market. If a comp sold at an unexplainably low price, check if it was a distressed sale and exclude it from your ARV calculation.
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FAQ
Can I run comps without a real estate license?
Yes. Pulling comps for your own investment analysis doesn't require a license. You're using publicly available sold data to estimate value, which is a standard investor activity. Just don't charge others for formal appraisal opinions, which is regulated. Analyzing deals for yourself is completely legal.
How accurate is Zillow comp data compared to MLS?
Zillow pulls from MLS feeds for most markets, so the underlying data is often the same. The difference is in how it's organized and filtered. Zillow sometimes lags by 24 to 72 hours on new sales, and its automated value estimates (Zestimates) are notoriously unreliable. Use Zillow for raw comp data, not its AI valuations.
How many comps do I need to calculate ARV?
I recommend a minimum of 3 and ideally 4 to 6 solid comps. More than 8 starts to dilute your analysis if you're including properties that aren't truly comparable. Quality over quantity.
What's the best free tool for pulling comps without MLS?
Redfin is my top free recommendation because it pulls directly from MLS feeds in most markets and shows you clean data on beds, baths, sqft, list price, and sale price in one view. Zillow is a close second. Using both together gives you a solid picture.
How do I handle comps in a market where prices changed rapidly?
Use a time adjustment. If comparable sales from 9 months ago are your best option, but the market has appreciated 5 percent since then, add a 5 percent time adjustment to those older comps before averaging them in. DealBeast does this automatically using time-weighted comp scoring.
Is DealBeast useful if I already have MLS access through an agent partner?
Yes, because MLS access doesn't do the analysis for you. DealBeast takes the raw comp data and runs it through a structured algorithm to score the deal, calculate ARV, estimate cash flow, flag red flags, and generate a shareable report. Having an agent partner is great for data verification. DealBeast is what you use to make a fast, confident decision on whether a deal is worth pursuing.