What date do you use as the sale date?

[Mike Garrett RAA]

The date of sale is the date of sale...which usually isn't the date of recordation, at least IN MY MARKET.

 

[Lawrence R.]

Closing date.

Is the date the sale is closed. Up until then, anything can happen, terms can change, etc... so for me, the official "date" to use is the date all the parties sat down and the new owner took title.

 

[Carnivore]

NC does not require recordation to be legal, but it does recognize the first recorded as the first in line in the case of a dispute.

You just said they dont recognize an unrecorded deed!

So you agree with me! woo hoo

 

[Brad Ellis]

Greg,

The sale is not consummated until the deed is recorded.Every contract , chit chat or bargaining before the recording of the deed is nothing but fluff.Sales contracts mean diddly until you run to the county and pay for constructive notice.

When I said that a state law stating that would be rare I was dead serious.

Recordation is an act of providing public notice that a transfer has taken place. While I do not know every state law, the laws I HAVE seen virtually never have any absolute requirement for recordation.

Further I doubt seriously that any of us know all those laws either but I will tell you that it is not required in either IL or CA as I have enforced deeds in both states that were never formally recorded.

Carney notes a requirement in NC but then Rex tells us that it is not required but does set the prioroity of the liens- and yes I have seen that before.

If one is going to make categoric statements about this then one at least ought to know the law in the states in which you operate- dontcha think?

So, Greg, if you are correct about this then I guess you can post the specific exerpt from your state's law. If it does not require recordation for a transfer to have taken place then your statement above would not be correct.

Brad

 

[Mike Boyd]

One of the first lessons I learned in studying for my real estate license back in 1964 was the phrase............."Must it be recorded to be legal?.....No. Should it be recorded?.......Yes.

Then the lesson went on to describe the perils of not recording.

My reason for relying on the recoding date is that it is the most common method of notifying the world that a transfer of the property has occurred. And, it is the only viable method of confirming the sale in an appraisal report.

 

[Lawrence R.]

About recording deeds.

SC is a "race notice" state...which means you can sell your property 5000 times a day, but whoever gets to the courthouse with their documents first is the owner.

The only recourse the other 4999 people would have is against the seller; the new owner of the property is protected.

The order they signed the contract would mean nothing here. So long as you were the first to record the deed, you would have undisputed ownership. Even if you were buyer number 3489.

 

[Mike Boyd]

I've been using Close Date, because that's what my supervisor told me to use; besides, its hard enough finding recent comps without adding 30 to 90 days to the age of all the sales. But I'm thinking of using Contract Date as the basis for any time adjustments to sales prices since Contract Date most closely represents the time when the meeting of the minds on the value of the property occurred.

You're right, the contract date would be the most accurate in determining date of sale adjustments. BUT......how do you confirm that date? Do you demand a copy of the fully executed contract on all your comps? Or, are you relying on MLS data input by the listing agent? I have found that data to be inaccurate most of the time.

Why would you have to add "30 to 90 days to the age of all sales?"

By the way, In my experience, CLOSING is an escrow function. It means that all requirements of the escrow have been completed and the funds have been dispersed.

In my part of the world, funds are not dispersed until the deeds have been recorded. That means the agents will not get paid, the old liens will not be paid, the seller will not receive the proceeds, etc. etc. etc. Can you imagine the flak directed at an escrow officer that would occur if there was more than one business day between the signing of loan documents and recording? It might happen, but it is rare and too infrequent for it to be significant in an appraisal report.

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

The real issue is not legality but rather reporting the date the property closed. Where it might be misleading is when the closing occurs on, say, May 30th and then not recorded until June 4th. Is that a May sale or a June sale?

 

[CURT VAN HOOSER]

If on November 15, 2007 I contracted to have a house built and it was finally completed on May 2, 2008...was closed on May 28, 2008 and recorded on June 16, 2008, what is the date of sale for purposes of market condition adjustments?

 

[Mike Boyd]

SC is a "race notice" state...which means you can sell your property 5000 times a day, but whoever gets to the courthouse with their documents first is the owner.

The only recourse the other 4999 people would have is against the seller; the new owner of the property is protected.

The order they signed the contract would mean nothing here. So long as you were the first to record the deed, you would have undisputed ownership. Even if you were buyer number 3489.

Same in CA. BUT........how would you know what number you were without a DOCUMENT NUMBER. LOL