How to Find Previous Sales Information on a House

Finding information on the previous sale of a home can provide valuable insight when making an offer to purchase. Information such as original listing price, final sales price and date of purchase can help determine what you should offer on the property in today's market. There are a few options you can access to get this information using the internet or by contacting real estate agents or appraisers and your local government offices.

• 1

  Use websites such as zillow.com to obtain information on previous home sales. Zillow's website offers listings, estimate of value and home sales in your area. If the home purchase was recent enough and the home was listed on Zillow, you may be able to find what the original listing price and sale price of the home was at that time. There are many competing sites that contain similar information.

• 2

  Contact a trusted real estate agent or residential appraiser. They have access to the multiple listing service (MLS) of your state. The MLS provides these professionals with information on homes that have been listed and sold in your area. Appraisers use this information when obtaining comparables for completing appraisal reports. Appraisers may not be willing to give this information or may charge you a fee. Real estate agents will try hard to get your business and work with you to obtain this information. Most will want you to sign an agreement that you will work with them in purchasing a home.

• 3

  Contact your county assessor's office, which is the property taxing authority in your area. The assessor keeps track of who the tax bill has been sent to over time. He or she will not be able to give you sale price information but will be able to answer questions on when the property changed hands. The assessor may charge a fee for this information.

• 4

  Contact the county recorder's office for more information. If the owner of the property has a mortgage, you can get access to this information. A mortgage is recorded with the county the property is in and must list a dollar amount of the mortgage and the date filed. This information may give you an idea of what the current owner paid for the home, if the date on the recorded mortgage matches with the assessor's records. However, this will only give you the dollar amount the current owner borrowed. If he or she made a down payment at time of purchase or refinanced the mortgage after purchase, the information is not worth much in your search. There may be a fee to access this information.