We are leasing a home in Collin County that we wish to purchase in the next 3 -6 months. We now realize that the owners were in a spot, they had to lease/sell in order to qualify for their new home. The walk throughs we did were always very noisy/disruptive. While we love the house and it is basically in good shape we have found numerous issues that need attention. We know that the sellers bought the house from someone who inherited the house, the house was empty for awhile. Basically, I want to know how we can find out what the current owners paid for the house. The house is appraised on the tax records at $216,000 but the seller wants $259,900. We think that they are asking too much due to appraised value and what still needs to be done to the house. The house was built in 1978.

Is there a website that will give us this information? We understand the sellers wanting to get a fair price but we also want to pay a fair price.

Thanks

The appraised value is always lower than the actual value in most cases. It's not how much the seller bought the house that determines the value of the house; it's the market value of the house that determines how much it will go for. It doesn't sound like you are working with an agent. I'd suggest you go work with a real estate agent and ask them for a CMA (comparable market analysis). If you don't want to work with one, you can ask them to provide a CMA for you as if you are the owner of the house ;)

There are internet site (like zillow.com) that you could use to get a quick estimate and sales records of the house. Hope this helps.