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What date do you use as the sale date?

What date do you use as the sale date?

  • The date the contract was signed?

    Votes: 16 14.0%
  • The date the sale closed?

    Votes: 67 58.8%
  • The date the sale was recorded?

    Votes: 29 25.4%
  • Whichever of the above works best for the situation?

    Votes: 2 1.8%

  • Total voters
    114
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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.
 
Locally here in Australia we are very lucky as the contract date and transfer date(date of settlement) are all recorded at City records..........so we can note the CONTRACT DATE as the accurate date a price was agreed between parties........ locally all other dates can be noted for interest but take place behind the CONTRACT DATE.........As I said we are lucky and it must be very hard for some of my colleages in the US with some of the ackward Govt records you seem to have to use.
 
I always use the actual noted closed date in MLS when avaiable and when it's verifiable. If it's not verifiable, then I use the earlier of the dates posted between Public Records and/or MLS. My time adjustments, when applicable, are based on the noted contracted (pending) date, when available.
 
I never use the recording date. In Detroit that can be six months out.

Had always used settlement date, until I started making time adjustments in this heavily declining market. There could be 60-90 days between contract and closing. And yes, I would do my home work and inquire as to any changes in terms between contract and settlement. We all call and confirm data with brokers any why, right??

For the sake of arguement..... Why do we need a closing (settlement) to take place at all to extract a value based on the negotiation in an arms length transaction where there was a meeting of the minds, and through extraordinary circumstances, never got to the closing table??

We would have all the elements present that would set a value. A contract setting a purchase price, maybe financing approval, due diligence performed by the buyer.. Maybe there's a death preventing a closing. Any number of things can prevent a closing.
 
Date of sale.

Most of the work I am now completing is in Cook County, Il. The county has an on-line recorder's site. I find that most MLS dates do not reflect the actual closing date. Especially with REO sales. Some times the realtors do not get around to reporting the closing for weeks after the actual closing. Therefore, I present what was recorded and not reported on the MLS listing sheets. When reporting the closing date reported on the recorder's site, I will present the document number as well as the MLS listing number and make a comment.

However, when making time adjustments, I will make them to reflect the contract date because that is when the transaction started. Some times it can take 2-4 months to close a property.
 
I have found sales recorded five months after the close of escrow. If you are making adjustments for market condition, this needs to be considered.
 
For the vast majority of my work these days I use the date of death or the the date of purchase(along with the date of inspection).
 
What date do you use as the sale date?



The Sale Date
 
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