Figuring out sale price for sold homes (Howe: sales, real estate)

[Madcheeku]

I have been using Redfin to see sale prices as well as photos of completed sales. However, Redfin recently stopped showing both sale prices and listing photos of sold properties.

Any idea if Redfin made a change that caused it or does it have something to do with my account. Any other way to figuring our the details for completed listings?

[Strannik33]

Forget the Redfin. Go to Realtor.com, select the area, select "recently sold." They'll show the listings of sold houses, from more recent to less recent. Study those. Easy!

[CarnivalGal]

Thanks to the hard work of the Association of Realtors, sold prices in Texas are not public information. Redfin used a loophole that allowed them to provide that information to people they had a relationship with (i.e. you needed to set up an account). Queue the Realtor lobby once again who managed to recently close this loophole, basically forcing you to reach out to a Realtor to get that information, and be subjected to their sales pitch and endless harassment for years to come.

[TX Rover]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

Thanks to the hard work of the Association of Realtors, sold prices in Texas are not public information. Redfin used a loophole that allowed them to provide that information to people they had a relationship with (i.e. you needed to set up an account). Queue the Realtor lobby once again who managed to recently close this loophole, basically forcing you to reach out to a Realtor to get that information, and be subjected to their sales pitch and endless harassment for years to come.

Yep. All in the name of keeping information private, well - except to the 700K+ realtors with access to the data.

[anjalisarinna]

I’ve noticed that as well. I used red fins info to just gauge the comps in my neighborhood as an interested observer. I don’t want to waste a realtors time or mine to prepare a CNA.

I’ve discovered an alternative though.

[TexasHorseLady]

Texas has always been a non-disclosure state. Has nothing to do with the Association of Realtors. We still value our privacy in this State, no matter who thinks they DESERVE access to our most private information, and we don't have to tell anybody, including the tax man, what we paid for our property. Yes, Realtors have access to that information in the course of accomplishing the job they are hired to perform - it's a necessity, and there are rules regarding disclosure (you can lose your license if you violate them).

Redfin was using a workaround to cheat the system, which says that real estate professionals can only provide that information to those with whom they have a client relationship. Some of that stuff you signed to get on there they claimed made you their client. Since most people don't actually read before clicking through, it worked.

The non-disclosure status is under attack by those moving here from other states where their privacy is not valued, and by the tax man, of course. But it still exists, for a reason.

[TX Rover]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Texas has always been a non-disclosure state. Has nothing to do with the Association of Realtors. We still value our privacy in this State, no matter who thinks they DESERVE access to our most private information, and we don't have to tell anybody, including the tax man, what we paid for our property. Yes, Realtors have access to that information in the course of accomplishing the job they are hired to perform - it's a necessity, and there are rules regarding disclosure (you can lose your license if you violate them).

Redfin was using a workaround to cheat the system, which says that real estate professionals can only provide that information to those with whom they have a client relationship. Some of that stuff you signed to get on there they claimed made you their client. Since most people don't actually read before clicking through, it worked.

The non-disclosure status is under attack by those moving here from other states where their privacy is not valued, and by the tax man, of course. But it still exists, for a reason.

You cannot have the first paragraph statement without the second. It is disingenuous to lie about who led the rules changes to close the “loopholes” online brokerages created. The searcher was the client, they just didn’t realize it was their data being sold. At least when it’s the annoying realtor you only have to block one email.

At the end, it’s a knowledge grab by a private industry and until the public deems it otherwise “against the rules” it is what it is. I’ll just call one of my 42 neighbors that are part time realtors to “have something to do” and get the details.

Because that’s “privacy”. It’s totally pointless - nobody cares what YOU paid for your home. They care what list/sales price trends are, or how to contest a TCAD valuation. It is plain and simple a prime example of knowledge is power. Power equals money. Always follow the money.

I prefer to have one email to block, so I have no problem with the system.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Texas has always been a non-disclosure state. Has nothing to do with the Association of Realtors. We still value our privacy in this State, no matter who thinks they DESERVE access to our most private information, and we don't have to tell anybody, including the tax man, what we paid for our property. Yes, Realtors have access to that information in the course of accomplishing the job they are hired to perform - it's a necessity, and there are rules regarding disclosure (you can lose your license if you violate them).

Redfin was using a workaround to cheat the system, which says that real estate professionals can only provide that information to those with whom they have a client relationship. Some of that stuff you signed to get on there they claimed made you their client. Since most people don't actually read before clicking through, it worked.

The non-disclosure status is under attack by those moving here from other states where their privacy is not valued, and by the tax man, of course. But it still exists, for a reason.

Funny how the Texas Association of Realtors has fought tooth and nail to keep Texas a non-disclosure state when they suppoedly has nothing to do with it.

Most states make this information public. Texas is only one of 12 that doesn't. So it works pretty well in most other places. It allows for fairer assessments for taxes and helps owners, buyers, and appraisers. The only people it doesn't help are Realtors.

And how is client relationship defined? The only Realtor we have ever used in a transaction is dead. So we technically have no client relationship with a realtor. If I want to protest my taxes, am I just screwed? Or at the very least, will I now have to take even more time off from work so that I an establish a "relationship" with a Realtor, even though I don't plan on selling or buying any property for decades? How convenient for me. If I do reach out to a Realtor, and they provide me comps, how is that a relationship with me? They don't have more of a relationship with me than Redfin does. I called them, they gave me comps. I go on Redfin, it gives me comps. What's the difference other than one is wildly inconvenient?

I personally think this is an issue that should go on a ballot. Let the people decide, not the folks who have a financial interest in the current system.

[TexasHorseLady]

I get it. You all desperately NEED to know what your neighbors paid for their houses (lots of people like that - the Gladys Kravitz's of the world), and either came from a state where privacy is non-existent and/or want to turn this state into one. (By the way, there were only 11 non-disclosure states until recently, now there are 12.) I'm retired now, meaning my license is inactive, meaning I don't have access to that information as a professional (sort of like lawyers and doctors have access to information that I don't because it's necessary for their profession to serve its clients), so I get that it's frustrating when you don't have it just because you want it.

And I get that you really really really need to blame someone for you not getting what you think you deserve, whether that is accurate or not. Doesn't make it right, but it's a normal human reaction.

But as a private citizen, not as a realtor or former realtor, I have ALWAYS appreciated the non-disclosure status of our state, long before I was in the business. Unless you want your personal finances (bank records) to be public information, to insist that you deserve to have this is hypocrisy, pure and simple, no matter who you try to blame.

[anjalisarinna]

I agree with TXRover. There is nothing inherently wrong in being able to evaluate market trends and have possession of this knowledge. I shouldn't have to go to a realtor and waste their time by asking for market analyses when I have no intention to sell. I also shouldn't have to deal with subsequent marketing because I'm seeking such a report regarding my own neighborhood. I don't care about the data other than to see the real estate trends within my own community and see the valuation range my home falls within. It is not fair that only tax assessors, appraisers, and realtors have that data.

But as I said, I've found a workaround. It is not as instantaneous as Redfin, but I do see the comps in my neighborhood.