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Comparable Sales in the
Public Record
The most accessible
source of information on comparable sales is the public record. When
someone buys a home the property is deeded from the seller to the
buyer. In most circumstances, this deed is recorded at the local
county recorder’s office. They combine sales data with information
already known about the property so they can assess property taxes
correctly.
Provided there
have been no additions to the property, the information available
from the public record is usually correct regarding sales price,
square footage, and numbers of rooms. This makes it easy to use the
public record as a source of data for comparable sale information.
Accessing the
data is another matter, at least for the general public. Realtors can
generally look up this information through title insurance companies.
The title companies either compile the data directly from the county
recorder’s office or purchase if from other companies.
One problem with
the public record is that it tends to run at least six to
eight weeks behind. Add another four to six weeks for the typical
escrow period and you can see the data is not current. The most
current information is the most valuable.
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