Hi - I'm pretty new to this business. I am wondering if there is any place that you can tell more information about a property than you can get on realtor.com. I found a home in Wichita Falls, TX --- and its priced significantly below their tax appraisal (which i can look up online) - its also below per sqft what other houses in the immediate vicinity are selling for. The house needs updating - that's for sure - but I'm trying to figure out why its so much lower than the appraisal. I know I can ask the realtor -- but I like to find out information for myself - just to make sure its unbiased. I wonder if someone had a contract on the house and found something major wrong. Or maybe the house has been on the market for eons. I don't know if i'm going about this all in the correct manner - that's why I'm seeking your advice!
any help?
Ask the realtor. They can tell you the length of time on the market. If you don't think you will get an honest answer from the seller's agent, contact an agent yourself to act as a buyer's agent. They will be able to give you the details about the listing. Best of luck to you!
Every single time so far in my career that I have asked the listing agent how long the property has been on the market (now keep in mind I only ask when I know its been on for awhile), the agent understates how long it has been. "Oh 90 days or so" when its actually 160 or "Oh, I think a couple months, maybe little longer" when it's been 9 months. They have never openly lied to me, but they have never been accurate either.
The actual MLS will have the exact days on market. You could access this information through a buyers agent as Triton stated.
Agents call about a "new listing" and when you check it out it's been for sale last year by another agent. Listing agents pull their listings off of MLS all of the time and relist. I don't think the days are cumulative for interrupted listings. It's a trick they use to freshen the listing like relisting a house on Craig's list. No one looks past the first page.