Accuracy of Collin County Appraiser Web Site

[loveplano]

Sorry for opening up this old thread but I have the same question. Friend who bought their house in Richwoods say the sale price was 510/- but the Collin CAD - Home shows 372,000. House is approximately 4000 sql foot. Is this website reliable?

If i just search richwoods and sort by street name and compare houses the data/value seems to be inconsisitent. For eg...two houses of comparable sq foot have huge variations in prices even taking into account the lesser one might have had fewer upgrades.

Please advice.

[nsumner]

The CAD is not considered an appraisal of the house, it is an assessment and you always want it to be lower than the home value because the taxes are based on it. Since TX is a non-disclosure state, sales prices are not made public, only the loan amount and the data is not accurate, most of the time is is lower and rarely is it higher. A lot of homeowners protest their assessment yearly if the CAD raises it.

They do have access to the MLS but rarely do they access it to see how much homes actually sold for.

With builders it's a bit different, they go by the building permit which usually reflect the base price of the home especially if the home is a spec. They will keep the lot value only until the home actually sells. They call the builders and ask if X home sold and how much it sold for but the builders many times just give them the base price only.

Naima

[GripeWater]

It's not about how much you paid for it, its about how much you can get for it. Richwood is building new homes so used ones aren't going to get what they were bought for. You know just like car loses value as soon as you leave dealership.

[stephwin]

Originally Posted by loveplano

Sorry for opening up this old thread but I have the same question. Friend who bought their house in Richwoods say the sale price was 510/- but the Collin CAD - Home shows 372,000. House is approximately 4000 sql foot. Is this website reliable?

If i just search richwoods and sort by street name and compare houses the data/value seems to be inconsisitent. For eg...two houses of comparable sq foot have huge variations in prices even taking into account the lesser one might have had fewer upgrades.

Please advice.

Also, if the house was under construction or just finished when the appraisal was done, the appraisal will not reflect the completed home value. For instance, if a house is halfway complete when the appraisal is done the value on the website will be dramatically lower than the next year when the house is complete. Our house wasn't started until later in 2005, but when the appraisals came out in mid-2005 it was only the value of the land. The next year it went up a lot.

[loveplano]

Originally Posted by stephwin

Also, if the house was under construction or just finished when the appraisal was done, the appraisal will not reflect the completed home value. For instance, if a house is halfway complete when the appraisal is done the value on the website will be dramatically lower than the next year when the house is complete. Our house wasn't started until later in 2005, but when the appraisals came out in mid-2005 it was only the value of the land. The next year it went up a lot.

This. Makes sense. Thanks stephwin.

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by stephwin

Also, if the house was under construction or just finished when the appraisal was done, the appraisal will not reflect the completed home value. For instance, if a house is halfway complete when the appraisal is done the value on the website will be dramatically lower than the next year when the house is complete. Our house wasn't started until later in 2005, but when the appraisals came out in mid-2005 it was only the value of the land. The next year it went up a lot.

That can certainly make a difference in the mortgage payment... next year.

[Pete53FR]

Collin County has had a reputation of being pretty much right on the money as far as sales go. Sometimes its next year that they catch up.

Enjoy your new home.