Where can I find data for real estate transaction in Austin? (Frost: insurance, brokers)

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

A VOW (Virtual Office Website) site is allowed to provide that info, just the same as you could share info with any client sitting in your office in front of you.

Virtual Office Website - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And, to be clear, there is no law in Texas saying sales price cannot be disclosed. There is a law saying it doesn't have to be disclosed, but those are two different things. TCAD mails out asking for sales price after a closing, and a consumer can provide it it they want. Sellers just cannot be compelled by the government to disclose sales price.

The entire reason for non-disclosure it that once disclosure is formally required, it will be used to tax real estate transactions, costing sellers, buyers and/or Realtors more to sell a home. As long as disclosure is not required, there is no reliable basis upon which to tax a real estate transaction.

People clamoring for disclosure don't really get what it means once it happens. And it will happen, just a matter of time, then people can gripe about why/how the government gets a slice of their pie when a home sells.

Steve

Your claim doesn't make any sense. The leg would have to pass a bill to tax real estate sales. That same bill would require disclosure, to the state if to nobody else. The only thing preventing the taxing of real estate transactions is the legislature itself.

[CoolerInTheShade]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Your claim doesn't make any sense. The leg would have to pass a bill to tax real estate sales. That same bill would require disclosure, to the state if to nobody else. The only thing preventing the taxing of real estate transactions is the legislature itself.

As I noted earlier in this thread, on the national level legislation has already been passed to tax the sale of a primary residence (as part of Obamacare).

Yes, the thresholds where the tax kicks in are quite high, but a precedent has been set to tax the gain on a primary residence. As governments seek more sources of revenue, who knows if these thresholds will be changed, or adjusted for inflation, or adopted at state or local levels.

For investment properties, gains on real estate sales are already taxed, both at the national level and in states that have capital gains taxes.

[sojourner77]

The good thing about free information is that people can compare houses, and can know what they are getting for their money in different areas,

These two houses are currently on the market. Identical houses by the same builder about 5 miles apart. Not only that, in comparison, the cheaper house has better finishes, an added balcony, and is closer to downtown.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by CoolerInTheShade

As I noted earlier in this thread, on the national level legislation has already been passed to tax the sale of a primary residence (as part of Obamacare).

Yes, the thresholds where the tax kicks in are quite high, but a precedent has been set to tax the gain on a primary residence. As governments seek more sources of revenue, who knows if these thresholds will be changed, or adjusted for inflation, or adopted at state or local levels.

For investment properties, gains on real estate sales are already taxed, both at the national level and in states that have capital gains taxes.

Capital Gains tax has always been in effect. The exclusions from paying it have changed over time. Before the current $250K single, $500K married exclusion (if you've owner occupied any 2 of the past 5 years), it was avoided by using the funds to purchase a new home within a certain amount of time after selling the first (I forget the time, might have been a year or two). Investors have a similar option with 1031 exchange to defer Cap Gains into another property.

A transaction tax is different though. It is assessed against the sale of the home regardless of any other factor. Usually a percentage of the sales price, thus the need for a verifiable sales price.

Steve

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

For the record, I loved the non-disclosure policy long before I even considered becoming an agent. As I said, here in Texas most of us value our privacy, and we don't think that any Joe Blow has a God-given right to our private information just because they want it or even if they think it would benefit them in some way.

It's not a scam, though I can see how someone who has the opposite attitude, that they have a God-given right to any information they want, might want to characterize it that way.

Hey, why don't you just publish your bank statements and medical records on the internet? I think I want to see them, and that it's MY God-given right to see them because, well, I want to!

If they are so private, then they shouldn't be available to ANYBODY, including Realtors.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by mm57553

If they are so private, then they shouldn't be available to ANYBODY, including Realtors.

And your banking records shouldn't be available to ANYBODY, including tellers, and your medical records shouldn't be available to ANYBODY, including the doctors, physician's assistants, nurses, and others who work with the doctor in giving you your health care.

See how ridiculous that is? Certain people in certain industries that generate the data and use it to perform the services that you hire them to do, who have gone through not only training but background checks, finger printing, etc., all to protect you and the privacy of your information under specific guidelines, have access to information that is otherwise private. You just want to know what people paid for their houses either for your own personal benefit or because you're nosy, is what it comes down to. Neither one of those should be catered to, in my opinion.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

A VOW (Virtual Office Website) site is allowed to provide that info, just the same as you could share info with any client sitting in your office in front of you.

Virtual Office Website - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And, to be clear, there is no law in Texas saying sales price cannot be disclosed. There is a law saying it doesn't have to be disclosed, but those are two different things. TCAD mails out asking for sales price after a closing, and a consumer can provide it it they want. Sellers just cannot be compelled by the government to disclose sales price.

The entire reason for non-disclosure it that once disclosure is formally required, it will be used to tax real estate transactions, costing sellers, buyers and/or Realtors more to sell a home. As long as disclosure is not required, there is no reliable basis upon which to tax a real estate transaction.

People clamoring for disclosure don't really get what it means once it happens. And it will happen, just a matter of time, then people can gripe about why/how the government gets a slice of their pie when a home sells.

Steve

How many real estate transactions are taxed in states where disclosure is required?

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by CoolerInTheShade

As I noted earlier in this thread, on the national level legislation has already been passed to tax the sale of a primary residence (as part of Obamacare).

Yes, the thresholds where the tax kicks in are quite high, but a precedent has been set to tax the gain on a primary residence. As governments seek more sources of revenue, who knows if these thresholds will be changed, or adjusted for inflation, or adopted at state or local levels.

For investment properties, gains on real estate sales are already taxed, both at the national level and in states that have capital gains taxes.

The Obamacare tax, if it is collected, is based on the gain realized during a sale. Since this amount is already used for capital gains calculations, which must be determined for the IRS, is not dependent an any new information.

[CoolerInTheShade]

@Steve, I stand corrected, yes there have been capital gains after the $250K / $500K exclusion, it is Obamacare that added 3.8% or something like that. I still can't help but think that nobody pays that except for multi-million dollar homes or poorly informed folks (after all, one can certainly find improvements that adjusted their cost basis upward significantly, I'm sure). BTW, I've used that 1031 exchange....nice little benefit.

@hoffdano, I understand. But if you bought a house in Texas in 1999 and sold it tomorrow, made a bunch of improvements over time.....how is the IRS to determine or verify your gain? They don't have access to your purchase or sale price from what I understand, and are you expected to keep all your "improvements" receipts for 15 years?

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by CoolerInTheShade

and are you expected to keep all your "improvements" receipts for 15 years?

If you want to claim them, it's your burden of proof if they decide to audit you.