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Does anyone know of a way to find out what a house sold for in Ontario? I'm having trouble locating this information.
So, there is no way in Canada to find out the selling price of a home? No one has any ideas?
My Dad is trying to buy a house in Ontario and I am trying to help him find "comps", which is not hard to find in the U.S. In Canada it seems to be impossible.
So, there is no way in Canada to find out the selling price of a home? No one has any ideas?
My Dad is trying to buy a house in Ontario and I am trying to help him find "comps", which is not hard to find in the U.S. In Canada it seems to be impossible.
Any Canadian realtors out there reading this?
There are a few ways.
Ask the local registry office/land titles office (Ontario is switching from a deed registry system to a title system, but the process is far from complete). Pull the deed/title of a property, and it will state the selling price. You might need a lawyer to help you with this, though the registry/titles office in question may be willing to deal with you directly. There will likely be a fee.
Ask the local property tax assessment office, or check the tax rolls at the city hall. They will have assessed values, of course, but they will also have the most recent selling price somewhere. I am unsure if there would be a fee.
Ask a realtor who is familiar in the area where you father wants to buy. They're usually pleased to trumpet that "We sold 123 Fake Street for $500,000!" though they may not be up-to-date on the deals concluded by other realtors/brokers. Still, a realtor might be your best bet, as realtors know which properties recently sold, and (in general terms) what range of prices can be commanded in the neighbourhood.
Also, because I'm wondering--what are "comps" in this context? I'm thinking it is short for some sort of "comparative selling price," but I've never heard the word used in this context before. (Sure, you can get "comps" in Las Vegas, but this doesn't seem to be the same thing. )
Ask the local registry office/land titles office (Ontario is switching from a deed registry system to a title system, but the process is far from complete). Pull the deed/title of a property, and it will state the selling price. You might need a lawyer to help you with this, though the registry/titles office in question may be willing to deal with you directly. There will likely be a fee.
Ask the local property tax assessment office, or check the tax rolls at the city hall. They will have assessed values, of course, but they will also have the most recent selling price somewhere. I am unsure if there would be a fee.
Ask a realtor who is familiar in the area where you father wants to buy. They're usually pleased to trumpet that "We sold 123 Fake Street for $500,000!" though they may not be up-to-date on the deals concluded by other realtors/brokers. Still, a realtor might be your best bet, as realtors know which properties recently sold, and (in general terms) what range of prices can be commanded in the neighbourhood.
Also, because I'm wondering--what are "comps" in this context? I'm thinking it is short for some sort of "comparative selling price," but I've never heard the word used in this context before. (Sure, you can get "comps" in Las Vegas, but this doesn't seem to be the same thing. )
thank you! I'll check some of those avenues.
Comps, for comparables. Homes that have sold recently that are comparable to the one you want to buy, so you can see if the asking price is fair. My Dad has worked with a realtor but he doesn't seem to supply him with that information.
Comps, for comparables. Homes that have sold recently that are comparable to the one you want to buy, so you can see if the asking price is fair. My Dad has worked with a realtor but he doesn't seem to supply him with that information.
You're quite welcome, and I hope that you can find what you're looking for.
Also, thanks for the info on "comps" in that context. Much appreciated!
I am also very curious. In the US you can find the historical selling price of houses as public information on various websites. In Canada, is there such sources?
Comps, for comparables. Homes that have sold recently that are comparable to the one you want to buy, so you can see if the asking price is fair. My Dad has worked with a realtor but he doesn't seem to supply him with that information.
In that case he needs to dump that realtor and get one who desires to SERVE him for ALL his RE needs.
Every realtor I have ever had give me a list of all the homes that have been sold in the area and their selling price. I just can not understand what is wrong with your dad's agent. Lazy or just incompetent?
I am also very curious. In the US you can find the historical selling price of houses as public information on various websites. In Canada, is there such sources?
Yes, in the U.S. you can go to various websites and get a list of all recent home sales in a given area or neighborhood.
You can also go to a website and find out exactly what your neighbors paid for their house, no matter when they bought it.
Unfortunately, in Ontario that information is not publicly made available online. Thus there is no tax assessor website where you can pull up recent sales, nor is there a Canadian version of Zillow. I believe you can go to the local land registry office, find your local one at Land Registry Office Locations - Ontario.ca and inquire in person. You can also pay a steep fee to MPAC at Welcome to MPAC for access to their assessment database, and I am not sure if this is only available to real estate agents or not. Real estate agents will have access in the MLS to all the recent sale prices by other brokers, but that information will not include private sales. This is one way real estate agents try to keep their monopoly. It's hard to know how much to pay in a private sale transaction if you can't easily pull up comparables without working with a "REALTOR."
I agree with not making the ownership information for a property publicly available on the Internet... in some U.S. counties you can type in a last name and find out what properties that person owns complete with address, tax assessment, recent sales, etc. It makes it easy for a stalker to track someone down. However, I see no reason not to make assessment and recent sale information publicly accessible online. Perhaps we should be contacting our MPPs to demand this be done.
The real estate industry seems to be 15 years behind the US, in terms of maturity of the market.
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