If I purchase a used house will rhe taxman screw me? (short sales, mortgages)

[suit-n-tie white guy]

mm. do you think those peopel knew they paid 30% more than the next most expensive house in the neighborhood though? i doubt it.

[TexasHorseLady]

I'm going to have to go check the Redfin figures against the actual sales figures.

After the farrier leaves.

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by suit-n-tie white guy

I cant find sales data for for new homebuilders on Redfin but I can find everyone elses. IF everyone used redfin they would find out how badly they were getting ripped off.

This shtick is getting tiresome. The market dictates the price, too high? It won't sell. High demand neighborhood? Houses go quickly and for more than areas with less demand.

Also, the "sale" price listed does not take into account seller concessions like closing costs paid by the seller, etc. There's more that goes into the transaction than what you seem to understand.

Example:

House A "sells" for 200k, buyer pays all applicable closing costs of, let's say 10k for the sake of round numbers.

House B sells for 212k, but the seller pays a 10k closing cost credit and a point to get the rate from 5% to 4%.

You wander along and scoff at the buyer of house B, telling them their realtor ripped them off, and use this to hype your theory that its all a scam.

In reality, the buyer of house B has a lower mortgage payment that pays down principle and builds equity faster than the buyer of house A, and your "point" is rendered moot.

[Aquitaine]

I just make it a policy to never sell a house I own to a Chinese Hispanic non-white white guy in a suit and tie.

[Trainwreck20]

The MLS is a private database maintained by the Texas Realtors Assoc. (or whatever the official name is). You must be licensed to use it, and agree to use it only for the purposes listed. Use by other individuals or for other purposes could easily result in a loss of license or a civil suit.

In any case, when you do buy a house, your realtor will examine all the sales prices in the area that are relevant. In addition, if you protest your taxes (which I have done on several occasions) you can bring in MLS results (provided by a realtor as an allowed service under the MLS ToS). I have done this and I can tell you, they have very little at TCAD in the way of actual sales data; however, they did take my data and enter it in the database, so any of the comps I used were now included. This is a bit of a slick trick, but not illegal - the data I am providing has been legally obtained and used for my protest, but it is also now in the public record.

[suit-n-tie white guy]

Your example is a subtle one. inm talking about neihborhoods where the houses sell for 140k-190k and half dozen of the largest 2400sf houses sells for around 170-190. then one person shows up and pays 240 for the same sized house by the same buidler built within the same 2 year period. i saw this happen in a particular neighborhood of new builds. one guy bought a 2400sf house for 178k then someone bought a 2600 sf house for 238k just 5 days later one block over! Do you really think that would happen if there was transparency. do you think the realtor had engaged in their due diligence to ensure that person didnt get ripped off?

[suit-n-tie white guy]

That 238 sale blew the next highest out of the water by over 40 thousand dollars. and out of nowhere.

[EzPeterson]

Again. Totally incomplete picture - particularly when you're talking new builds.

Upgrades?
Lot premiums?
Closing costs?

All of those can add to 40K in a heartbeat. Even more if one of the homes was a spec build that had been on the market for a while, and the other was a to be built. When you're talking new builds, the price swings can be astronomical, as some builders will pay points, all closing costs, prepaids and deco credits for one house, and drastically discount another for an all-cash deal.

My point is that there is far more behind the numbers you're looking at to formulate your theory that people are getting ripped off by corrupt realtors.

[suit-n-tie white guy]

would any realtor woth their salt tell a client to buy the msot expensve house in the neighbohood? not only that tell them to pay 20% mroe than the next most expensive?? reallly? i bet it was a califonrian that didnt know better and the realtor was alongt ofor the ride.

[Aquitaine]

We are in the process of closing on a new build and the appraisal lists the price ranges in the area (that it's aware of) to estimate a median price for the neighborhood. It is unfathomable to me that somebody would be buying a house at the very top end of a neighborhood and somehow not be aware that they are doing so. Even without direct MLS access you can do amateur 'comps' just by looking at listings.

I'm sure people have overpaid for houses in the past but one anecdote or even ten anecdotes doesn't mean 'people are getting ripped off.' You are not convincing anybody.