I just thought I’d highlight a particularly nice feature of both Zillow and Trulia: finding comps or “comparable” homes that have sold in your area. What is a Comp you may ask? According to Trulia:
A similar home is a close match to the home you’re looking at based on property type, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, property age, and of course how close it is. Comparing similar homes (either for sale or sold) with the home you’re looking at can help you establish a context for the listing price. Simply put, it’s price comparison for houses!
So, obviously this information can be really useful in a variety of real estate scenarios — and best of all, it’s really easy to get on the internet. On Trulia all you have to do is enter in the home you’re interested in getting comps for, then scroll down to the bottom of the page where it lists “Comparable Properties for…”.
This is a nice quick comparison — but if you click the “View all comparables” button at the bottom of this box, you’ll be directed to a much more robust interface for the comps and all their data in a spreadsheet-like view.
