Home Values Help

Home Values FAQ's

Q: What is assessed value?

A: The assessed value is what your taxing authority (your county, city or town) uses to determine how much tax is due. In some cases, the assessed value might be the same as market value, but typically it is a percentage, called the assessment ratio.

Q: Why can't I find the house I'm looking for?

A: While there are 30 million records in our frequently updated database, you may not be able to find certain records. The most frequent causes for this are:

• Old sale. The sale occurred prior to the time frame covered in the database. In most areas, we go back 5 to 7 years, though in some areas we have some records going back as far as 1987.
• New sale. Recent sale prices of homes take a while to receive, usually 6 weeks after the transaction has been completed. However, some counties are slower than others in providing their property sales data to us.
• Incomplete Coverage. Your home may be located in an area that is not covered. There are two possible reasons for this:
  1. Your home is situated in one of the non-disclosure states (Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming), which do not offer sales price information as public records.
  2. Your home is located in an area for which a data provider has not yet been identified who can supply the historical depth and timely delivery of information required. New coverage areas will be added as they become available. If you think the home you're looking for is unique in its absence from the coverage provided, contact customer service.
• Incomplete deed record. Deed records that are incomplete; for example, missing a street number or price, cannot be posted.
• New construction. Our service includes data for both brand-new and existing home sales. With new construction, however, often only the land sale is recorded, since the building of the house is not a real estate transaction. Our service does not cover land-only transactions. Since these are considered private contracts--not real estate sales--they are not subject to the same public disclosure laws.

Q: What can I do if my state is a non-disclosure state?

A: If your state is non-disclosure, the best way to get home sale data is to speak to your local real estate agent. Data that was once available only in town offices is making its way onto the Internet, and laws that govern disclosure are changing rapidly.

Q: What about property descriptions--number of bedrooms, baths, etc.?

A: This information is made available to you when you register. The number of rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and the assessed value is now available in selected areas of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Washington.

Q: Where does Home Price Check data come from?

A: The real estate data comes from government records gathered by various regional and national providers who specialize in the collection and dissemination of data to real estate professionals, and also from individual states.

Q: How often is Domania's Home Price Check database updated? How far back does it go?

A: Domania's Home Price Check database is updated frequently. Most transaction data is provided to us approximately 6 weeks after the close of sale, and is in the database shortly thereafter. Most covered areas have at least 5 years of data.

Q: I am looking for home sales data in Washington State and I can't find it; why?

A: Searching in Washington State is different from other states, due to street layouts. Street directions in parts of Washington may refer to different streets, depending on whether the direction is located before or after the street name. For example, if you've tried "East 81st Street" in the address field and it didn't find what you were looking for, you might want to try "81st Street East."

Q: Some of your home sale prices seem awfully low; why?

A: Don't assume that an unusually low price is inaccurate. Often these prices are low because they are a family transaction--a non-market transfer from parent to child or as part of a divorce settlement, for example. Another is a land-only sale or sale of an easement. We try to filter these out of the data, but can't always identify them. Other reasons for low prices can include the sale of a distressed property or a bank foreclosure.

Q: Would you delete the sales price of my home?

A: The selling prices of homes are public record and are collected by various regional and national data companies. We understand that occasional mistakes exist in these records. If you are interested in removing your home sales information from our database, contact customer service.

Q: Can you post the names of the buyer and seller?

A: Although buyer and seller names are often public record, this information was deemed inappropriate for this Web site. You can access this information at your local county deed registry.

Q: Do you post original mortgage amounts that are part of the deed record?

A: No; the focus of the service is on providing you with the sales history, the most important public information associated with the properties.