Where can I find price history of houses (Austin, Howe: how much, selling a house)

[tcualum]

My realtor is spending a lot of money and time on marketing my home that she wouldn't spend on a cheaper home.

[jdallas]

Originally Posted by some1livesinamerica

Personally, i feel like by restricting MLS access to only realtors, it gives them an edge when it comes to buying/selling real estate.

Texas Real Estate industry spends millions in lobbying efforts to keep it that way.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by jdallas

Texas Real Estate industry spends millions in lobbying efforts to keep it that way.

What else do you sell or buy that is public information? Your car? Your investments?

Why should houses be any different?

[kyam11]

Originally Posted by Rakin

What else do you sell or buy that is public information? Your car? Your investments?

Why should houses be any different?

You can certainly choose to post any of those things as public information. It is my asset that I am selling or buying. I should be able to choose to make that public. Furthermore the RE agent and agency works for the client. They should be able to dictate those terms. Finally the government of the people, paid by the people should be able to decide what is or is not published, not some lobbyist group.

And actually yes my investments are public. I own shares of Vanguard total stock market shares. You can see the price of a share any time you want.

[txstate]

Maybe Dallas County appraisal district

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by kyam11

You can certainly choose to post any of those things as public information. It is my asset that I am selling or buying. I should be able to choose to make that public. Furthermore the RE agent and agency works for the client. They should be able to dictate those terms. Finally the government of the people, paid by the people should be able to decide what is or is not published, not some lobbyist group.

And actually yes my investments are public. I own shares of Vanguard total stock market shares. You can see the price of a share any time you want.

The state disagrees with you and voted to keep this information private. Feel free to post the sales price anywhere you desire. The MLS system we Realtors pay for and support is a private system. We elect to not publish this information per state law.

If you don't like the way it's done you can easily start a website where people can publish their sales prices if they desire.

Feel free to send your sales information to the Tax District so they can publish the value and set your taxes.

[kyam11]

Originally Posted by Rakin

The state disagrees with you and voted to keep this information private. Feel free to post the sales price anywhere you desire. The MLS system we Realtors pay for and support is a private system. We elect to not publish this information per state law.

If you don't like the way it's done you can easily start a website where people can publish their sales prices if they desire.

Feel free to send your sales information to the Tax District so they can publish the value and set your taxes.

And as someone pointed out this is because of the horrible Realtors lobbyists.

[some1livesinamerica]

Originally Posted by kyam11

And as someone pointed out this is because of the horrible Realtors lobbyists.

I 100% agree with you on this issue kyam11! the reason that purchase price of real estate in Tx is private information is b/c the realtors want to be this way! By making it private information, it artificially creates a need for realtors. just like car dealerships. By law, car manufacturers are not allowed to sell directly to consumers.
When we decide to buy/sell houses, and we try to find a realtor to work with, they always tell us im here to help you to sell/buy your house blah blah, but in reality, they just want to make money, plain and simple.

[some1livesinamerica]

Just like what tesla did, to eliminate dealerships and sell cars directly to consumers. some day, people will figure out ways to buy/sell without realtors.
opendoor, fsbo, even redfin, there are options out there. OR depends on the price of the house that you want to buy/sell, and how many you are planning to buy/sell in the foreseeable future, it might worth the effort to your own license. When i sell my house some day, i feel like i know the house that i lived in the past x # of years the best than some realtors that i have to a 6% commission to sell my house for.

[some1livesinamerica]

the government is funded by tax payers, every single dollar that i make, i have to pay tax on it, and we cannot decide what we want the government do for us. Instead, how government comes up with regulations or policies has to be influenced by special interest group and lobbyists.... :-(