Home prices

[JmfromTx]

Is there a web site I can go to to find out what houses in my area recently sold for? I'm thinking of appealing my taxes and a house similar in size to mine sold right down the street last month.

 

[youbet]

Is there a web site I can go to to find out what houses in my area recently sold for? I'm thinking of appealing my taxes and a house similar in size to mine sold right down the street last month.

Try the web site of the entity that collects your real estate taxes. For us thats our township. By entering either an address or a parcel number, I can look up a picture of any house along with a history of improvements, their tax amount, selling history with prices and a few other things.

When I wanted to check on my real estate taxes to determine if they were worth fighting, I looked up the 7 houses in our development that are similar to mine. (Same basic model only varying in features.) They were paying the same as us, or in two cases, more. Those two had done improvements which were there in the public records.

It's a great system and I understand has enabled the accessor to reduce staff since people like me can find the information without calling or going into the office to inquire.

 

[FIREd]

You can get that information on Zillow.

 

[W2R]

I had quite a time finding that sort of thing out when I lived in Texas and never managed to do it. I think maybe they regard privacy a lot higher there, than here in Louisiana.

In New Orleans, home sales and prices are published in the paper every couple of weeks. Also, the initial tax assessment is based on the new sales price, and is easily available from the tax assessor's website here, though that approach didn't work for me in Texas.

 

[Dancer373]

Go online to your county's Property Appraiser's office, the information should be there.

 

[JmfromTx]

I tried the county appraiser, no luck there. I did find out what the asking price was on Zillow. I have a friend in the real estate business here in town. I'll call him tomorrow. I bet he can find out what it finally sold for. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Dancer373]

If you know the person's name:
Travis Central Appraisal District

If you have an address:
TaxNetUSA - TX : Travis : 2011 Certified : Search pick the county and put in address.

There should be something similar for the counties you're investigating

 

[REWahoo]

Another 'wonderful' thing about Texas is the difficulty of finding what you are looking for. The reason you can't find the recent sales price of the house is because Texas is one of what I believe are only three states in the US that do not require public disclosure of real estate sales information. You'll not find it online, published in the paper, at the county appraisers office (they can give you the tax appraisal value, but not the actual sales price - which can be significantly different) and it would probably require a court order to get access to the information at the county court house.

That said, your real estate agent can probably get you the information. Not sure how they get around the laws but they do have a way to do so.

 

[sinjin]

In my town we had to have our house appraised. It cost us $250 and lowered our taxes by >3k. Zillow is not an approved source of property values. Make sure you follow the time-line instituted by your municipality. We had to have the appraisal done within a specific time period for it to be valid.

 

[eridanus]

That said, your real estate agent can probably get you the information. Not sure how they get around the laws but they do have a way to do so.

It's often entered into MLS.

Even with that information, you may still find it hard to appeal an appraisal. Appraisal districts will ignore logic and facts and make up whatever they need to so that they can meet their budget. You might lose all of the trees on your property only to be told that large trees don't influence the fair market value. (But...last year you told me that they increased the value. )

 

[Ronstar]

Don't know about Texas, but real estate transfers in Illinois are subject to a real estate transfer tax of so much $ per $1000 of sale price, depending on the municipality in which the real estate exists. There are stamps on the deeds showing the tax amount. The sale price can be calculated from the tax stamp. Deeds are public record, generally in the county recorder (or registrar) of deeds office.

 

[ronocnikral]

things I don't miss about TX:

1) Heat
2) Property Taxes
3) Heat
4) Property Taxes

well, you get the idea.

a realtor can tell you what the home sold for if it was listed on MLS.

a little late to be protesting?

 

[rescueme]

I can't speak about other areas of the country, but Zillow shows the sale price and date sold, by hovering over the property and more detail is shown by clicking on the "house" icon.

It might be due to linking to our county's RE info, which is available online anyway to anybody who wants to look at the data (such as snoopy neighbors - like me )...

 

[RockyMtn]

Trulia.com....can search recently sold by zip code.

 

[JmfromTx]

things I don't miss about TX:

1) Heat
2) Property Taxes
3) Heat
4) Property Taxes

well, you get the idea.

a realtor can tell you what the home sold for if it was listed on MLS.

a little late to be protesting?

Too late this year but I can protest the appraised value for next year if I do it before May 31. I just have to decide if it could be worth the trouble.