Gobears81
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Illinois
This isn't as much of an issue on the residential side, but in IL, the transfer declarations are the best way to confirm what a property actually sold for. It will show the total price paid and a deduction for personal property. Some buyers play games with the PP allocations, and you might see the real property price at half of the total price, due to the inclusion of a few tables and chairs. The revenue stamps on deeds will reflect the real property price and the assessor's website will also usually only show the real property price, though some counties will list both prices. Some counties are trying to make it more difficult to view the PTax forms, with privacy concerns of the buyer/seller being the rationale, but some types of appraising (understandably) requires that we view these forms. Costar will often list the real property price recorded on the deed as the total price paid, and I'll occasionally see another appraiser use a sale that they had clearly just gone to the assessor's website to confirm the sale, as it doesn't reflect the total price.
