I received a call last week from one of my friends about the value of a home that was sold in his neighborhood. I was helping him with some sold comps for an appraisal. The information wasn’t on the Wasatch Front Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Most Utah real estate that is sold through the MLS, has the list price, sales price, concessions, sales & list date, and other pertinent data. The Utah MLS is available to licensed real estate professionals in Utah and is a critical tool.
Unlike many other states where real estate sales data becomes public record, not all data on Utah real estate transactions is freely available to everyone. To obtain sales data, you need to be a licensed Utah real estate agent or Broker and have access the multiple listing service. (MLS) When Utah homeowners agree to sell their home using a licensed Utah real estate agent or Utah Realtor®, they agree to share pertinent data related to the transaction with the MLS. Utah real estate agents who are part of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors and who have access to the Wasatch Front Multiple Listing Service also agree to report the information.
If a real estate property owner doesn’t use an agent to sell or buy a property, parties involved in a transaction can choose to keep the sales price anonymous in Utah which is a non-disclosure state. The sales price of the transaction is not held as a public record in Utah. Some information is kept private and confidential. Because Utah is a non-disclosure state, people can also opt out of disclosing their sales price on the MLS with an agent, but there is a $500 fee.
There are a handful of other states (and certain counties in some states) that are also considered "non-disclosure states": 14 to be exact, they are:
- Alaska
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Texas
- Wyoming
We weren’t able to find the exact sales amount for my friend for his purposes. There may be several different tools that can give you an approximate value for a home using Zillow, county assessor, or another automated value, nothing will be accurate as a Comparative Market Analysis provided by a licensed real estate agent with complete access to the Utah MLS.
If you are looking for the most accurate value for your home, please contact us or click on this home valuation link here
