Hi Jane,

Tax records would only indicate what it sold for but concessions and credits, the title company has it and won't reveal it because it's private. The agent to the deal has the information to that but you have to go through another real estate professional to ask them to call who that agent is and get information. I'm an appraiser and a realtor, I call agents who were in the deal all the time to find out if the seller had given any credits/concessions. These can be in the thousands or a percentage.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at my websitehttp:// www.equitypath.org.

Hung Pham
Realtor / Licensed Appraiser
www.equitypath.org

Wed Mar 26 2008, 00:53

The actual sold price IS a matter of public record. But, unless you're able to contact the county directly--something I've never attempted--your information is, most likely, going to come from a secondary source, like a local title company or a publication like the Sacramento Bee.
There is an inherent delay in consulting a secondary source, because they rely on the county record, themselves. So, however long it takes for the county to post the information, you'll have to factor in how long it takes the secondary source to get that info, then disseminate it themselves.
Every Realtor who belongs to the local Board of Realtors agrees to share all information from each of their transactions with the MLS database. Although final details, such as the sale price, are not posted on the MLS until the transaction has formally closed, this is your most immediate and reliable source for obtaining this information.
My recommendation to you is to find a Realtor you trust, provide him or her with a list of property addresses, and have that Realtor conduct some research for you. I am aware from your previous posts that you do have an agent with whom you're working. If that's not the case, I would be happy to relay those prices to you, as I'm sure, any other agent who posts on Trulia would.

Thu Mar 6 2008, 09:11

I find the final sales price in two different locations, both are through my Metrolist subscription.

The first is the solds sections of the MLS listings, The second is from a compiler of county tax recorder data: Realist.

I believe the Bee cites its sources on its recent sales page.

The county tax recorder data is public record. You can go to the county recorders office and look stuff up. Or subscribe to a service that compiles it for you.

Pros pay for and enjoy the convenience of having that information on line. Your agent could log on to confirm those prices from the Bee.

Mis-reporting the sale price to the county is against the law. Mis-reporting the sale price to Metrolist is against the Metrolist rules.

That means the answer to the second question is: yes, except for rare cases of dishonesty or error.

Two full list price offers will not necessarily be identical, even at the same price. Terms which can make one of the full price offers more or less attractive than another identically priced offer include (and are not limited to) 1. number of days to close escrow. 2. Quality of pre-approval letter. 3. Size of down payment (10% or 20% down as opposed to zero down.) 4. Size of initial deposit 5. Contingencies 6. Closing costs 7. Concessions.

No two contracts are really alike, Even if all else was the same, other factors such as the professionalism shown by the offering agent and perceived buyer enthusiasm might be considered by the seller and the sellers agent. For example: two identical contracts; Buyer "A" has not yet seen the house. Buyer "B' has been to the house with their agent 3 times... Which one does the seller feel more comfortable about accepting?
Example 2: One contract has a couple of pages not initialed, or wording with poor spelling or grammar, the other written clearly, all t's crossed and i's dotted. .. Which one does the seller feel more comfortable about accepting?

Thu Mar 6 2008, 08:32

Yes, the actual sold price is a public record. Sometimes the Sac Bee makes mistakes, though. You can go to the county courthouse and pull the record yourself or you can ask a real estate agent to look it up in MLS. An easier way is to call a title company and ask. Some agents, like me, have access to a title company's public records online as well, and can pull this information that way, too.

If you look at a copy of the grant deed in the public records, it will state the transfer sales tax, which is computed on 55 cents per $500 of consideration, and from that you can figure out the sales price. Sometimes, if a buyer has purchased "subject to" the existing mortgage, the transfer tax will be less. But that's rare these days.

But bear in mind that the reason your offer was rejected might not have had a lot to do with the actual asking price. There are other reasons why you may have lost out, and it's not necessarily because of a higher bidder. It could have been the listing agent was also the selling agent, the listing agent might have reduced the commission for the seller on certain offers, the listing agent or the seller might have wanted to sell to a buyer with a larger deposit, more down payment, shorter closing period, or maybe the listing agents are rubbed the wrong way by your agent. It's not always pricing. But after eight tries, I can imagine you are very frustrated.

There are certain communities in Sacramento that have not been adversely affected by the declining market. If you're trying to buy a home in one of those areas, you should probably be 1) using a neighborhood specialist who knows how to get your offers accepted 2) offering list or near list price.

Thu Mar 6 2008, 07:27

Yes, the sold price IS a public record. You can go to the Sac County County Recorder and have access to all public records for properties in that county - including the sold prices for property.

Thu Mar 6 2008, 07:06