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 it 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.
