Pull comps without paying a vendor.
The same comps behind a paid service come straight from five public sources — the county appraisal district, the county recorder, the MLS public portals, Zillow as a range-check, and county sales databases beyond the appraisal district. Pick one, walk it line by line, and the comps worksheet does the rest.
Where to pull the comps.
Five sources, in the order you'll use them. The first row is the dataset the assessor already trained on; the last row is the one a source-grep won't find without a county-by-county search.
- FILE 03 · SOURCE 01
County appraisal district / online records
Open your county appraisal district, search by parcel ID or address, and filter by neighborhood code + sale date. This is the dataset the assessor trained on.
Watch · Spend an hour in the search UI before committing to a comp. If the search returns zero results, the source is a dead URL — and the county uses a different vendor.
- FILE 03 · SOURCE 02
County recorder / deed sales
Pull the deeds — every warranty deed in the last twelve months. The grantor / grantee field gives you the price; the legal description gives you the parcel.
Watch · Recorders run 30–90 days behind MLS — accept the lag, plan the timeline. If the deed pre-dates a massive improvement, the comp is not really a comp.
- FILE 03 · SOURCE 03
MLS public-facing portals (Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia)
Search by school zone or neighborhood code; filter to closed sales only. Public-facing means the listing-side details show without signing in.
Watch · These surfaces list as open the listings that pulled, then closed. If the date is sale-not-list, the comp is harder to defend. Always reconcile the date with the recorder.
- FILE 03 · SOURCE 04
Zillow / Zestimate as a range-check only
Pull Zestimate ranges as a sanity-check, not as a comp. The Zestimate is a model, not a sale. Use the range as a rough floor / ceiling to test the comp set.
Watch · Never cite Zillow as a comp. The defensible comp is a closed sale with a recorder-stamped deed. Zillow is the rammer, not the load-bearing wall.
- FILE 03 · SOURCE 05
County sales databases beyond the appraisal district
Some counties keep their own supplemental sales database, often on a GIS layer independent of the appraisal district. Search "[county] supplemental sales records" + county website.
Watch · The supplemental database is what the GIS team uses, not what the assessor is required to disclose. Cross-check at least one row against the appraisal district to confirm parity.
The three lines that decide winning vs losing.
- THE COMP THAT WINS
is the comp the ARB can read on page one. A five-line audited comp pulls more weight than an unaudited one with an extra column.
- PUBLIC DATA IS ENOUGH
for any county with an active appraisal district and an open records portal. If your county does not publish, the kit pauses — the data is the deliverable, not the wireframe.
- NOT LEGAL ADVICE
is the recommendation at the bottom of every page. Pull the source line, walk the comps, and file. For rentals, multi-property, or active-ligation cases, consult a property tax attorney.
Walk the source. Walk the comps. File.
Each source above is a free, public, audited pull. Pick one, walk each comp line-by-line against the recorder, and the comp tells you whether the value holds or you have a defended adjustment. The audit walks the record card; the sources list walks the comps the packet defends.
The sources list walks the comps a prepared homeowner would walk. Pull each comp, defend each row, then file. For rentals, multi-property, or active-litigation cases, consult a property tax attorney.