The Million Dollar Secret is out - and I'm on it

Sharing Your Home Sales Price - Do or Don't?

Texas homebuyers quickly find their new mailboxes filled with solicitations and requests after their purchase. They are also overrun with appeals and demands for information regarding the purchase of their property.

In addition to the sham mortgage insurance offers and tax filing service scams are enticements to disclose the sales price of their property. Most of these communications look very official and it can be hard to decipher what is legitimate and what is not. Almost none of it is.

Texas is a non-disclosure state

In Texas, a buyer or seller is not required to disclose the sales price of a property to anyone or any entity whatsoever. Real estate sale prices are not public record.

In most states, you can look up any address through the county property tax appraiser to see the most recent sales price. The public has access to sales prices in 38 states. In some states, the public disclosure of real estate sale prices may be printed in local media or appear on the publicly recorded deed. In other ‘disclosure’ states, only governmental entities have access to the sales price.

Our state considers a property sale to be a private transaction and you have a right to keep the details away from curious folks as well as government agencies.

With whom should you share your sales price?

There is no law that says the state, county, city or appraisal districts can require you to provide your sales price. Nosy neighbors and relatives may also ask or speculate about what you paid for a property. It is nobody’s business.

You do not need to disclose the purchase price to the County Tax Office, your HOA, an appraiser, prying neighbors or anyone else. Your tax accountant is the only person with whom you should share the purchase price of a property.

Why does the County want to know?

Many Texas appraisal districts want full disclosure of real estate sales prices to help establish the taxable value. Texas has no state income tax. Our high property taxes help make up for that. Texas property taxes are assessed and paid by counties, cities, schools, appraisal districts, etc. The total property taxes average about 3% of the assessed value of the property each year. If your tax assessor has your actual sales price, they will usually base your taxes on that price.

Zestimates & Other guessers

Web sites like Zillow attempt to place a “home value” on a property based on different formulas. The estimated sales price and value posted on most web sites are inaccurate. These automated valuation models include limited information gathered from publicly recorded mortgage liens, tax assessments and geographic maps.

Their estimates do not include actual sales prices or take into account data such as negotiated concessions, repairs, closing costs, etc. that one of the parties may have paid. They do not take into account lot sizes, condition of the property, etc. Only licensed Realtors and Appraisers have access to all of this information.

Who really knows the sales price?

The buyer, seller, agents, title company and mortgage lender all know the sales price of a property. If a property is for sale in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), then the listing broker must report the sale and sales price to the MLS. The MLS collects and maintains this proprietary information.

Property owner information, not sales price, is public information. Marketing and sales companies scour county records every day and collect information on deed transfers and filing of mortgage liens. That is where they find the addresses of new homeowners to solicit. A lot of the junk mail will also come from folks who find you when you turn on your utilities. That is also public information unless you request that that the utility provider make it private.

How to reduce requests

What should you do when faced with an official request asking for the details of the sale? Ignore it. There is enough information out there about all of us already. In my opinion, no one should offer up this additional financial and personal information voluntarily.

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When someone can’t make it to the title company on closing day to sign the necessary papers, a popular solution is to use a mobile notary. Mobile Notary services have been around a long time and are more sought-after than ever now. 

Notary services are crucial in real estate transactions. Several documents are required to be notarized in order for a property to change hands. Validating signatures and identities of signers keeps the process authentic and reduces the chance of fraud. 

Unlike signing in a traditional title office setting, a mobile notary travels to the client’s location to meet them in person.

Benefits

Mobile notaries offer a convenient service.

“I can travel to your home, office, or any location you need. Those could include a business, hospital, hotel, coffee shop, or parking lot,” says Henry Eford, a Certified Loan Signing Agent. “I go to a lot of locations that your title company may not be able or willing to accommodate.”

These bonded professionals can be scheduled just about any hour of the day and many specialize in flexible, after-hours closings. The convenience and efficiency of signing documents at your preferred time and location can save the signer the hassles of traveling to a title office. A mobile notary can be there when and where you need them. The service can be provided in any state in the U.S.

Notary/Signing Agents

There is a difference between a mobile notary and a signing agent. The typical notary’s job is to witness the signature. They do not act as an escrow officer or attorney. They cannot explain the closing documents or details of a specific transaction. If a person wants some explanation of documents they are signing, they should request a signing agent.

“Loan signing agents are notaries trained in mortgage and title documents,” says Eford. “As a certified loan signing agent, I ensure that all needed signatures and initials are obtained and I travel to the signer’s location to do so. Often my services include additional duties like printing the loan document packages, and delivering the completed loan documents to the title company or lender.”

Signing agents are screened and certified to meet compliance requirements for a remote closing.

Time and Cost

A remote closing with a mobile notary must be scheduled and approved in advance by the title company. When closing documents are signed outside of the title company office, the originals must be returned to the title company for processing, funding, and finalizing the transaction. This often requires paperwork to be signed a day in advance.

In arranging and approving for someone to sign documents with a mobile notary, the title company may consider factors like security, turnaround time, efficiency, and accuracy.

Typical mobile notary/signing agent cost ranges from $85 to $400 depending on location, the experience of the notary, and additional services like printing, scanning, and delivering originals. Maximum notary fee charges are set by each state. In Texas, notaries may charge $6 for the first signature and $1 for each additional signature. They may also charge for copies, a separate travel fee, and mileage for traveling to the customer’s location.

International notaries are an entirely different challenge. These can be complicated and require a lot of time and coordination. Often the parties are better off delaying closing until the signer is back in the country.

While the fees for mobile notary services add to the transaction costs, they are often a good value when the signer considers the convenience, expenses of travel time, and deadlines.

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