How to see what a house sold for?

Question

when doing comp work is there a way to see what recently sold houses went for?

Is there a way to see how long a property set on the market before it sold?

Sam Shueh · Answer

Suggest you work with a realtor. Zillow might give you some info. many are incorrect.

Marc Winter · Answer

@Wayne William don't try to assess a property value based on taxes or tax assessment.  It will drive you to distraction!  Plus, it's a total waste of time.

All transfers are recorded at the county level, and many counties around the country have on-line sites where you can review transfers.  One CAN figure out approximately how much a property sold for even if it's not listed in the records:  extrapolate the transfer taxes (state/county/city) and multiply out.

Just an aside:  I remember back in the day when the appraisals were coming in short in an appreciating market (something like we have today) we would ask the buyer to pay MORE money for the transfer taxes (no law about not paying more taxes) and it would help show a higher "sales" price and help 'push' up the comps--not recommending you do that now--much more data available for all eyes.

But I would recommend that you buddy up with a like-minded realtor, and work out a mutually beneficial arrangement so you can get the info you need, and they can get listings, sales, referrals, etc, that they need.

Better yet, get licensed yourself and get to know the business from the inside out!

Good luck.

Mike Cumbie · Answer

It will depend on location as much as anything. In my area, it is a pretty easy pull off of the MLS. If not I could get it at county websites because they disclose it. I believe some areas do not require it to be posted.

Good Luck

Brad Schultheiss · Answer

An agent could likely find it on the MLS but that information is blocked from none licensed people.

Wayne William · Answer

I tried the mls... at least through realtor.com and every post had price not available on it.  Is there a better site?

Here locally the tax value is way off from the sale price. Sale price can be as much as double what the tax office has listed. Or, am I going about that wrong?

Laura Alamery · Answer

@Wayne William

If you have access to the MLS or know an agent who does, that is easy information to obtain if it was listed.

If not, you might have to research via the Tax Assessor's site.