How to find the actual house price (Austin, Taylor: mortgage, loan)

[bls5555]

Originally Posted by ROY DUBOSE

sales detail is not a public record to my knowledge -- if buying, why do you believe a buyer's agent would want to lie or mislead a client?

Not saying this would happen (though Im sure it does), it really doesn't matter if it is a buyer's agent or the seller's agent. The more it goes for the more each of them make.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by Joe0109

The thing is that the builder's "bottom line" pricing is higher then majority of the appriasals in the community. The houses are comparable in size to the new house if interest. So does it not mean that the "bottom line" price should be atelast lower then comparables apprasals in the area?

Wait, when you say "appraisals", are you talking about the tax appraisals? Again, not a good barometer. Are you against talking to a realtor? They can tell you if the builders "bottom line" price is realistic. Plus, if you're truly serious about purchasing the house, offer them less than their "bottom line". If they balk, then apparently it really was (or your offer was far enough away from it). If they counter (or accept), then apparently it wasn't so bottom line. No tax appraisal (and really, even comps) is going to tell you just how close to the "bottom line" their asking price is. Is it in a hot selling area (again, a realtor could give you this information)? Has the thing been sitting there completed for months with no buyer? All these things will affect just how much a builder is willing to negotiate on a price.

[trayanh]

No, they don't lie. they just manipulate the numbers. everything listed is true, but selected truth.

Originally Posted by ROY DUBOSE

sales detail is not a public record to my knowledge -- if buying, why do you believe a buyer's agent would want to lie or mislead a client?

[Joe0109]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

Wait, when you say "appraisals", are you talking about the tax appraisals? Again, not a good barometer. Are you against talking to a realtor? They can tell you if the builders "bottom line" price is realistic. Plus, if you're truly serious about purchasing the house, offer them less than their "bottom line". If they balk, then apparently it really was (or your offer was far enough away from it). If they counter (or accept), then apparently it wasn't so bottom line. No tax appraisal (and really, even comps) is going to tell you just how close to the "bottom line" their asking price is. Is it in a hot selling area (again, a realtor could give you this information)? Has the thing been sitting there completed for months with no buyer? All these things will affect just how much a builder is willing to negotiate on a price.

The area has two Taylor morrison home and three Dress home left. The thing is that this is a home buying season so they may be getting a lot of interest in this.

I understand that home appraisal isn otmost accurate but in my experience they are usually higer then the actual price.

[ROY DUBOSE]

Originally Posted by Joe0109

The thing is that the builder's "bottom line" pricing is higher then majority of the appriasals in the community. The houses are comparable in size to the new house if interest. So does it not mean that the "bottom line" price should be atelast lower then comparables apprasals in the area?

my strategy on negotiating wouldn't include what the builder thought the "bottom line" is/was -- a sales price is a numerical figure where an able buyer and a willing seller agree --

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by Joe0109

I understand that home appraisal isn otmost accurate but in my experience they are usually higer then the actual price.

Actually in my neighborhood the tax appraisals are chronically lower than what the typical selling prices are. At one point several years ago when we refinanced, the difference between the loan appraisal and tax appraisal was over 25% (tax appraisal was lower so we weren't complaining ). There is a cap on high much the county can raise your taxes in a given year, so if the homes in a neighborhood are appreciating faster than that rate, then you'll get an imbalance. My point being that it goes both ways and you can't necessarily assume that the tax appraisal is higher than the current market value.

[Joe0109]

This is an area in Steiner ranch near the golf course. I am not sure what is about the Home appraisal trend in tis area. I am not usreif the home apprasals in this area is lower then actual price. These houses are relatively new - 2009 built. Some of the home apprasals were substantially lower then the others but not that much difference in the size.

Since these homes are 2009 built, does the home owener have the opportunity to show the actual sale proce to keep the apprasal value down?

[ROY DUBOSE]

Originally Posted by Joe0109

This is an area in Steiner ranch near the golf course. I am not sure what is about the Home appraisal trend in tis area. I am not usreif the home apprasals in this area is lower then actual price. These houses are relatively new - 2009 built. Some of the home apprasals were substantially lower then the others but not that much difference in the size.

Since these homes are 2009 built, does the home owener have the opportunity to show the actual sale proce to keep the apprasal value down?

dunno but looks to me working with a realtor would be provide some value and perhaps prevent an able buyer from over paying -- since a buyer's agent has a fiduciary duty to a client you'd think they'd be worth the investment, especially since the builder isn't required to look out for anyone except themselves -- and, you aren't going to get the realtor's commission anyway

[Joe0109]

We have a realtor but I thought that it will be good to do some sanity check. Do you think that the Home prices may also have gone up from the last year housing slump?

Is there a gauge to find out if the Builders are having inventory issues? For example Taylor Morrison and Drees. The House of interest is going to be erady in July so the builder is still not under stress on this one - he has time to sell.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by jobert

Exactly. The appraisal just says how much the taxman thinks he can take from you. I have seen this happen with the 2010 appraisals...neighborhoods sell for $100/sf avg, but received an avg appraisal of $90/sf. I have seen the opposite happen: neighborhoods that sell for $85-90/sf, but appraise at $100-110/sf. This leads me to believe that TravisCAD doesn't look for sales information when assigning tax burden.

As said earlier, Texas is a non-disclosure state. That means, by law, you don't have to tell anyone, including the tax appraiser, how much you paid for your house. Unless the tax appraisal is significantly higher than you paid and showing them your HUD1 would get your taxes lowered, you don't want to do that. Doesn't mean they won't ask, hoping that people don't know the law, but you're not required to respond.

So it's not so much that they don't look for sales information as that they are not allowed, by Texas law (yes, we do like our privacy here), to have it without the buyer's permission.