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Old 03-21-2012, 10:35 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,617,370 times
Reputation: 24746

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Quote:
Originally Posted by verybadgnome View Post
You don't need access to MLS or be a realtor since there is a website that has somehow found a technicality and publishes sold prices online once you register with them. I looked up the house I sold and the house I bought in 2009 and the numbers were correct.
I'd be interested to know which website this is (and I'll bet so would the MLS and the Texas Real Estate Commission). I'd also be interested in exactly what you're agreeing to when you register with them, if that's the technicality.
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Old 03-21-2012, 11:01 PM
 
Location: SW Austin
206 posts, read 371,383 times
Reputation: 69
Lasso that sumbich and drag em through town. Hyawww!
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Old 03-21-2012, 11:16 PM
 
Location: Holly Neighborhood, Austin, Texas
3,981 posts, read 6,775,525 times
Reputation: 2882
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
I'd be interested to know which website this is (and I'll bet so would the MLS and the Texas Real Estate Commission). I'd also be interested in exactly what you're agreeing to when you register with them, if that's the technicality.
Let's see we have in front of us: R_DF_N

Can I buy and "E" and an "I?"

Actually I bet this is the unnamed source that TCAD used against me in my protest last year. They seemed very sure about what I paid for my house, though I pushed them to prove it was the correct amount and they gave a little ground. Ended up a draw.
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Old 03-22-2012, 06:10 AM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,609,227 times
Reputation: 10762
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rakin View Post
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, welcome to the adult world where you not only pay for the services you use but for many people who don't want to work. You get to cover their share also.
Or, as the case is in the cities of Austin and Round Rock, at least, you pay part of the cost of the services you use, subsidized by the businesses and commercial real estate.

In Austin the cost of city services rendered, most notably public safety, but also garbage collection, street maintenance, electric utility, etc. is higher than the taxes collected in residential areas, but lower than tax revenues in commercial areas, particularly downtown, where "tax density" is high. It's one of the things many residents don't really understand about how city finances work, and why the city works to promote commercial development.

In Round Rock, the fact that Dell headquarters is located within the city means the city collects a portion of all the sales taxes collected from Dell sales anywhere in the state. And in addition the large shopping areas kick in a lot as well. So RR has had the benefit of an unusually high cash flow for many years, allowing it to invest in infrastructure like schools and police department and all far beyond what they could do if they were only a residential suburb of Austin. They've also been smart enough to plan ahead, and bank a lot of cash in contingency funds to cushion possible future downturns in the revenue stream.

Anyway, as Rakin pointed out, it's just a fact of life that streets and lights and schools and police and fire and EMS protection, etc. all cost money, and in this area they're primarily paid for by property taxes, so WELCOME ABOARD!

As to thinking you'll get screwed on taxes because you buy a used house, that's kind of a strange notion to me. If your assessment is off, you just go get it revised, that's all. It's happening a lot these days, since so many house prices declined after the bubble popped.
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Old 03-22-2012, 06:57 AM
 
Location: SW Austin
206 posts, read 371,383 times
Reputation: 69
lol gnome. BINGO!!!! I feel really bad for some people. In every neighborhood youll find that one person who paid 30% more than everyone else for the same sized house. 178k- 170k - 180k- 175k- 250k!!! Im sure their realtor was looking out for them werent they!
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Old 03-22-2012, 06:59 AM
 
Location: SW Austin
206 posts, read 371,383 times
Reputation: 69
I cant find sales data for for new homebuilders on Redfin but I can find everyone elses. IF everyone used redfin they would find out how badly they were getting ripped off.
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Old 03-22-2012, 07:00 AM
 
8,028 posts, read 10,533,713 times
Reputation: 15144
I just checked the aforementioned website and it had almost no info about my home. It said it could not give me an estimate of what my home was worth because it didn't have enough info. It also had my house as having "-" bedrooms (we have 4) and 2.5 baths (we have 3.5). The square footage and year built were correct.

However, it DID have the correct sales price of our neighbor's house, which sold in October.
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Old 03-22-2012, 07:02 AM
 
8,028 posts, read 10,533,713 times
Reputation: 15144
Quote:
Originally Posted by suit-n-tie white guy View Post
lol gnome. BINGO!!!! I feel really bad for some people. In every neighborhood youll find that one person who paid 30% more than everyone else for the same sized house. 178k- 170k - 180k- 175k- 250k!!! Im sure their realtor was looking out for them werent they!
Unless you were actually IN the house, then you can't say whether they overpaid or not. Maybe there was $75K of remodeling done to it.

In the end, a house (or anything, really) is only worth a much as someone is willing to pay for it. So if someone paid $250K, then that's what it was worth.
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Old 03-22-2012, 07:12 AM
 
Location: SW Austin
206 posts, read 371,383 times
Reputation: 69
some houses are listed twice so you can see when they were flipped and for how much. redfin also gives transparency between asking and sales price. The average asking price in vawo is like 300k but the avg sales price is like 250k. The higher priced houses sit for a looonnnng time in these neighborhoods. Transplants tend to compare prices in certain neighborhoods with prices where they came from. If they compared prices WITHIN austin to each other they would find out whether they were getting ripped off. 500k is normal in a place like boston. 500k is NOT normal in Austin. all tranplants should use redfin and stop relying on realtors to funnel them into certain neighborhoods.
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Old 03-22-2012, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
499 posts, read 1,312,002 times
Reputation: 361
Quote:
Originally Posted by verybadgnome View Post
Actually I bet this is the unnamed source that TCAD used against me in my protest last year. They seemed very sure about what I paid for my house, though I pushed them to prove it was the correct amount and they gave a little ground. Ended up a draw.
How long ago did you buy your house? If just recently, what was your argument for an appraisal less than your purchase price?

I assume it was something more effective than...
Nelda Wells Spears: "We're appraising you at $XXXX because that's what you paid for your house."
verybadgnome: "Maybe I did maybe I didn't"
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