Another RE question (about selling price)
 

Just wondering if anyone knows a resource out there to find out what the ACTUAL selling price of properties in a particular area is. Not "listing" price - the actual agreed-upon, contractually bound SELLING price.

Realtors (obviously) won't ever admit that anything EVER sells for below asking price (since they want the whole world to believe that prices are going to see double-digit appreciation for all time, there's no bubble and $500,000 is perfectly reasonable for a fixer-upper in Compton). They're paid a percentage - I fully understand their motivation.

OTOH, buyers might or might not honestly state the agreed price. If they say "yes, I got a good deal and paid 15% below listing price", they get some bragging rights, but now EVERYONE expects to pay that and it potentially drives the property values down. The best situation for a buyer is to get a killer deal and then have everyone else around them assuming that $100,000 or more is acceptable - this drives property value up. Overstating agreed-upon purchase price could lead one to believe, "geez, this guy is a sucker" though - so most people just clam up about it and don't discuss what they agreed to pay.

Dunno about Ca but Maryland has the Dept. of Assessments & Taxation website where you can look at this info.

Also, check the real estate section of the Sunday newspaper. Many cities publish a zip code by zip code listing of recent sales. Some even include (although with obvious errors) the square footage and selling price per square foot as well as the year built. If not, the municipality will have that information.

I thought tax assessments were based on appraisal value, not selling price. . .

Appraisals (although they're supposed to be objective and more-or-less consistent) are all over the map too. What I'm finding is that certain individuals want to deal with certain appraisers. A seller probably has an incentive to deal with an individual who appraises a bit high, since he can then justify jacking up his asking price. Similarly, the seller would prefer a "low" appraisal both for tax purposes and for negotiating purposes.

So, in absence of anything better I'd say it's not a bad idea, although I still bet there's a pretty big spread between negotiated selling price and appraised price in a lot of cases. . .

Any municipality worth its salt will check selling price against appraisal (or assessed value). Selling price markedly higher = reassessment. Selling price markedly lower = challenge by new owner.

Relatively few assesments are made by actual physical visits, but are based on "formula" taking into consideration other sales in the same neighborhood. It is in the best interest of the property owner to keep track of these changes.

Off track, but I take exception of additional property taxes imposed on a property that has been upgraded where the upgrades do not in any way require additional expense to the municipality.

Many also list last sales price (don't know about your area)...If the house has not sold for a while, the assessment is often quite different and tracks appreciation.

Do not confuse appraisal with assessment.

Interestingly enough, some municipalities (like Albuquerque) are not allowed to know the sales price. The only way they ever find out is if you pay less than it is assessed for and petition to have your taxes reduced based on purchase price.

You are correct. I used the wrong word. I will edit to avoid confusion.

Thanks guys - this is good advice. I'm going to go do some research at the city.

You should be able to get past sales prices online. Try this for LA county: http://maps.assessor.lacounty.gov/mapping/viewer.asp

It is public information, and will be listed somewhere. In Miami, the Property Appraiser Database online has it (they have both the SOLD price and the assessed price). You can get it, but ask around to find out how to do it where you live.

www.zillow.com used to list the purchase history for any address

A realtor with access to the realtor-only MLS is able to give you sales prices.

My County has sales info on-line. Dates and prices going back to 1997. They used to go back quite a bit further, but when they went to a new software system, it started listing only sales from 1997 on.

Check with your county assessor's office. It's always been public information, and now the internet makes it so you don't have to go to the county and ask the receptionist to see what you want.

The phone book should have the location of the local registry of deeds, county clerk/recorder, or assessors office-whatever it's called. There you can find info on a particular property.

For some reason, there seems to be a LOT of private pay databases that seem to have complete access to all that public information, but a quick google search didn't get much.

These might help: http://usasearch.gov http://www.dre.ca.gov/consumers_sub.htm
The fastest way to find some comps is www.realtor.com, but your realtor will have acess to a better search engine.

morgages are public records and recorded at most county court houses
so the amount the bank loaned is a big clue

btw I once horrorfied public tax collectors by saying
why don't you guys walk down the hall and look at the real morgage amount when setting tax values for comercial propertys
like shoping centers that were way under valued by tradision in miami [so home owners paid more as the fat cats got big breaks on multi million dollar propertys]
btw2 their answers was we would be fired instantly
for setting real values on comercial propertys

Chiming in w/ Todd, try zillow.com

Gives sales price history, as well as assessed value.