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Old 09-04-2012, 01:57 AM
 
Location: San Diego
774 posts, read 1,772,777 times
Reputation: 471

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Where do the sales records come from? Are they public by law? Are they reliable?

Consider this one:

7565 Charmant Dr APT 508, San Diego, CA 92122 - Zillow

A $250k condo sold for $20k?! Is this a typo, or were there hidden costs like overdue HOA fees and fines that the buyer was expected to assume?
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Old 09-04-2012, 06:13 AM
 
Location: Ocala, FL
6,418 posts, read 10,247,923 times
Reputation: 7814
In my state, unpaid HOA fees must be settled by the seller (bank or original owner) prior to close. In the case of a bank-owned property, legally they are only responsible for 1 year of HOA fees or 3% (if memory serves) of the prior mortgaged amount whichever is greater.

Don't rely too heavily on the amount displayed by Zillow, check the city/county tax appraiser's internet site instead for actual sale price. Sale records are public record (in Florida at least, I can't say for certainty in all states), but the fine details of the transaction (HOA fees in this example) are not.
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Old 09-04-2012, 08:25 AM
 
Location: Gilbert - Val Vista Lakes
6,069 posts, read 14,749,510 times
Reputation: 3876
Quote:
Originally Posted by max.b View Post
Where do the sales records come from? Are they public by law? Are they reliable?

Consider this one:

7565 Charmant Dr APT 508, San Diego, CA 92122 - Zillow

A $250k condo sold for $20k?! Is this a typo, or were there hidden costs like overdue HOA fees and fines that the buyer was expected to assume?
The condo may have sold for $20k, and that was probably the "current market value". It is the "zestimate" of $253k that you have to be leery of. They are notoriously wrong; and the sale happened in March 2010.
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Old 09-04-2012, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,537 posts, read 13,951,319 times
Reputation: 7919
The Zestimate is completely worthless and almost never has any relation to the actual market value of a property. If the condo sold for $20K then it's worth $20K. The pool of buyers are the ones who determine market value not Zillow, not real estate agents, not appraisers, and not lenders.
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Old 09-04-2012, 10:05 AM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,578,285 times
Reputation: 20674
To the best of my knowledge, California buyers of foreclosed property in an HOA are not responsible for prior unpaid HOA fees.

As it relates to this particular unit, either or both the zestimate and/or the sold price could be wrong.
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Old 09-04-2012, 03:18 PM
 
Location: San Diego
774 posts, read 1,772,777 times
Reputation: 471
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePRU View Post
If the condo sold for $20K then it's worth $20K.
Someone else made a suggestion that the sale prices can be much lower than the market prices, when it's not an arm's length transaction, e.g. one relative sold the house to another.
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Old 09-04-2012, 03:21 PM
 
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,259,349 times
Reputation: 6469
Unpaid HOA fees are supposed to be collected at closing and paid for by the seller unless the contract specifies differently.
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Old 09-04-2012, 07:43 PM
 
Location: El Dorado Hills, CA
3,720 posts, read 9,972,998 times
Reputation: 3927
Sometimes Zillow puts the sold price as what is late/owed on the mortage. And it might be on the 2nd mortgage only. So it gets back to looking at the tax records for the real selling price.
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