How to make purchase price confidential on public tax records?

[JerseyG]

Originally Posted by luckyshoes

Are there any online sources of this info?

NJ Tax Records Search

Or you could do a search on the county the property is in, go to the county website and search the county clerk land/property records or tax assessor records.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by tahiti

DUDE! I thought that was our little dirty secret!!

You know, I thought that as I was typing. We will have to come up with another dirty little secret.

[MaverickDD]

Originally Posted by sweetpotato

some houses don't show the purchase price on the tax records online. does anyone know how to make this info confidential?

Prior answers seem to all be on point. Yes, reasons why a reasonable price doesn't appear could include sale to a relative for $1, foreclosure, transfer incident to divorce, and/or lack of timely data.

However, what if you really want to keep a sales price confidential? Is there a way? Yes!

If you really don't want a price to appear in the public record, the Seller can transfer the property to a trust. Then instead of buying the house, the Buyer buys the beneficial interest in the trust (which is a transfer of personal property with no public record). Once the Buyer is the beneficiary, the trust can be dissolved and title to the property transferred into the name of the Buyer.

No sales price because the house wasn't "sold," the beneficial interest in the trust was sold instead. (Realty wasn't sold. Personal property was sold.)

It's a lot of paperwork -- and for what benefit?

More so, this can make a real mess come income tax time, especially for the Seller/Grantor who could see a tax-free sale of a primary residence turn into a fully taxable sale of personal property (the trust interest). Ouch!

[mumra]

there are other benifits for transfering property to a living trust. i will eventually do this so my kids can avoid probate i am trying to build more net worth to make it worth while.

[LVguy]

so I guess you can't request to hide your transaction of real estate (just purchased a house) like in the county record how much you purchased it, when did you buy it, size of your house etc I guess this is also true in Nevada and every states?

how about your address, phone number, email etc in the white pages? can you request to not show that record in the white pages? how do you do it to make it not listed?

[cw30000]

For the phone number, you have to request your telephone company not to post it. I think it only apply to land line.

[manderly6]

Originally Posted by LVguy

so I guess you can't request to hide your transaction of real estate (just purchased a house) like in the county record how much you purchased it, when did you buy it, size of your house etc I guess this is also true in Nevada and every states?

This is not true in every state. I know that in Texas it is not public information.

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by LVguy

so I guess you can't request to hide your transaction of real estate (just purchased a house) like in the county record how much you purchased it, when did you buy it, size of your house etc I guess this is also true in Nevada and every states?

how about your address, phone number, email etc in the white pages? can you request to not show that record in the white pages? how do you do it to make it not listed?

New Jersey is what is known as a disclosure state. The amount you paid and any mortgage you take out is publicly recorded and available for anyone to look at.

This is actually a good thing, as it makes the market more efficient. Certain states are non-disclosure, and that makes things more difficult for pricing and value estimation.