Price Finder and other such resources; how do I get access at the most affordable way?

12 months ago I got a 3 month access period to Pricefinder by buying a year's subscription to Australian Property Investor. They don't seem to have that same deal again and I would like to gain access to Pricefinder without having to pay the monthly fee. Does anyone know of any other such deals or discounts or methods to get access?

 

API still have Price finder 3mnths deal..see link below


http://www.apimagazine.com.au/subscribe/subscribe-to-api

 

We got our access through our broker when we refinanced

 

When you receive your magazine, they'll ask you if you wish to resub for another year and then you get another 3 months.

 

Ive been subscribed through mattnz's group for a few years now, has paid itself back in an order of magnitude over that period

 

Didn't he change his pricing?

 

Yes, I am with Matt's PF group as well and the price has gone up. Still better to be in the group than not.

 

Hi guys

Have you used the feature "what's this property worth" on price finder? Is it an accurate estimation of property prices?

 

Do you guys find this tool useful ??

 

The deal exists to show you the software. At some point you are going to pay if you want access. How many good deals would you need to have it pay for itself?

It is like all the other paid data services very useful but not accurate on its own, you need to know the area so you can regard/disregard any more or less relevant sales in the CMA. This is why valuers still have a job and still visit houses.

See above yes I do but I am in the market each and every week.

 

How many folks are part of MattNZ's group or would want to commit to 12 month group if you are new? I think it may be ending and want to know if someone should take it over.

 

I am in Matt's current group.

 

I'd be keen and my last conversation with APM is they want 20 users in the group and something like $600 ex per person p.a.

 

Yes @mini2 its 20 min and prices are more than they used to be but still cheapest ongoing access I can find anywhere. For anyone finding this thread the recent evolution of the previous Pricefinder group is also discussed over here and the short story is that I am now managing the group. The original 20 spots are now full but I have asked PF for more logins and they just agreed (yesterday). PM me if you want further details.

 

basically, no, and in a lot of places it is hard to make it work, in fact, you need to know the pricing roughly already which defeats the purpose, for what it is worth, you better off using onethehouse for this, seems to show closer to the mark IMO.

 

This is a very interesting point. At times it can seem one program is better than another but across markets and regions I think (working theory not bold truth statement) this is not the case. Of course if the algorithms were applied better/poorly I think one could be better than another...

...but In my experience there are no single algorithm based price predictors that get it right in all circumstances. Pricefinder and all the others require a degree of fine tuning to make them most useful. The algorithms behind each one take comparable sales and apply them to the current listing, but the weighting is hidden, ie proximity, time, land size, number of beds, baths, garages, are all applied to the formula but they can't all be perfect because locations and markets are different. The more you use them you start to get a feel for how each one applies itself. In some markets it is more important to stay very close geographically but go further back in time, in others recency is everything. Knowing this allows you to bring comparable sales in/out as required to get closer to "true" value. Then you apply structural and cosmetic condition of site and home to compare to the remaining stock on your comparable list.

This is why despite the age of computers and data we still have property valuers, it is what they do all day long. Software data is an aid to help you make informed choices, and start from a position of being close to the mark, not a replacement for experience or your brain.

 

Yes. I also fund price finder doesn't get its data quickly after sales concluded.

 

Interesting @larrylarry I might ask them how often their data comes in next time I speak with them.

 

Thanks. That's what I found when I was discussing a certain property with another person...a property was sold 3 months prior but wasn't recorded in price finder.

 

hmm I see lots of data much quicker than that perhaps an anomaly - I emailed them as I was curious. We will see what they say.