In other states, how much a home sold for is considered public information and is available through tax records. This is not the case in Texas. Texas is a non-disclosure state which means the price the home sold for is not recorded. The Deed of Trust is the recorded document but it only contains the borrowed amount and not the sales amount.
Since Texas is a non-disclosure state, Zillow.com is NOT a reliable source for sold information. Zillow.com relies on public county records as their primary data source for their Zestimates which creates challenges when sales data is not in the public county records.
So how do Spring Texas home buyers know how much to offer for a home?
The best way is to contact a Realtor. A Spring Texas Realtor can provide you with a home price evaluation. The home price evaluation will compare what similar homes sold for in the most recent past.
A Realtor will be able to pull SOLD data from the local MLS (multiple listing service). Any real estate property that was listed For Sale in the MLS will have the price that the home sold for. This information will help you to prepare a fair offer for the home.
Who benefits from a non-disclosure state? The Taxpayers. Since the county is not automatically given the home’s sale price, they can not use that data / value to tax assess the property. For instance, if you just purchased a home in Spring Texas for $200,000, the assessed value of the home could be much less. If the county assesses your property for higher than the $200,000, you can dispute the assessed value and provide them with a copy of your closing statement.
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