Deeds often read, "One Dollar & Other Good & Valuable Consideration". It depends on locale.

Check the securitization document (if there is one). It won't give you the sales price but it will give you some idea based on the loan amount.

/tricia

I have never heard of a securitization document.

I did find out that the elderly couple have three children and numerous grandchildren though.

Yes, I bet it now belongs to a child of the couple. It didn't really sell on the open market for $1.
If you find out differently, let me know I'll be there soon. :)

HA! If it were a dollar I would have bought it! It is a beautiful house!!

Why would someone put their house on the market and then end up selling it like that though? Maybe one of the children is going to update the interior and try to sell it again?

-renee

I sold one half of my house for $10 (I guess I overpriced it compared to the house in this thread) to my partner. Of course the house was worth more but this is typical practice, if you want to transfer ownership to a close person that you aren't married to.

often the $1 price will be the part they are willing to release; they structure the documents so that the only part of the sale price they *have* to reveal (to the MLS, the government, etc.) is the $1. But there are other things (often even money) changing hands.

Truly selling something very valuable for so little might bring you problems w/ tax laws that govern gifts.

Property taxes in many areas are tied to the sales price of a home. If you are transferring the property to a family member and don't want them to pay high property taxes, that's the way to get around it.

Ours are somewhat tied to the sale price. Our houses are assessed every year though. The sale price (if higher) will become the new assessment but not if it is lower.

I just read in the paper that the man whom owned the house passed away in December. He is survived by his wife though. the house was sold before his death, so I think his family must of purchased it OR maybe they had to transfer ownership to his wife somehow.

It is sad that we were really never able to meet or talk to them.

I was hoping that the house would sell quickly so we would have a new neighbor. It still appears empty though and it was supposed to have sold in November, according to the county website.

I live in Missouri and the last house I bought was reported to have sold for "$1 and other valuable considerations." We were not related to the seller. Trust me, the price we paid was MUCH more than $1. I don't know why it was reported this way.

Renee,

I think you have the answer to your question if the ownership was transfered to a relative. They often record a deed amount of $1 in that case as a (legal) way of not having to pay the transefer and recording taxes that are collected in NYS. Husbands and wives and children and divorcing spouses often do these kinds of transfers.

And even in cases when the sale amount is not listed, in NY you can discover the actual sale price by looking at the transfer tax paid notation on the deed. In my area it is $4 per thousand of the sale price. You have to fill out a form when you sell property that states the price for capital gains tax purposes, so the county clerk does have an idea what the amount of the transfer is. Also in NY it is illegal to change (upward, usually) the assessment based solely on the sold price. This would be called a "welcome Stranger' (in a sarcastic way) policy. Sale prices can include lots of things that are not normally part of a real property assessment.

Molly

When my dad made his will, everything was put into a trust, including the houses & business. Each one read $1 to the Last name family trust.

my stepdad bought his mom's house for $1.00 several years before she died as a way to get around any probate. she had it put inthe contract that she could rent the house until her death for the sum of $1.00 a year.

maybe this couple decided the house was not selling, they did not HAVE to have the money, and a close relative wanted it so they sold it to him for $1.00 to make it legal.

around here the taxes are reassessed at each sale, but they go by what they feel it should be worth. in the case of my stepdad they valued it the same as other comps inthe area for tax purposes. they will value it higher if the sale price is high, but when it is lower than other similar structures they value it higher than sale price.

I have heard of this before. In my area, people record the price as $1 if they don't want the sale price to be made public. This is seen more often in wealthier communities around here.

I have 2 neighbors that sold their houses to their adult children for $1.00. I believe this transaction was recorded by my county. I just happened to stumble upon this info while on Zillow & Zillow, at that time, listed what houses sold for in my neighborhood. I was able to find this info under "county website" (highlighted in blue) on the Zillow page of a house.

BTW, this info is no longer posted on the Zillow link...maybe someone complained. BUT it is public info to find this info out...the county/town cannot deny one this info. It requires no forms & one can just call & the info can be given over the phone.

in TX one IS NOT required to give out the sales price (not even to the county!) Most likely could have been sold to anyone, including family members.

@new-beginning There are 9 non-disclosure states in the US where sales prices of property transfers are NOT public record. They are: Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri (some counties), Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

A non-disclosure state is different from the original post of why only a nominal amount was stated in the transfer. Hopefully the OP has new neighbors by now!