About this information:
This data is taken from the New York
State FORM 5217 which is:
- filled out by the buyers attorney
- signed by the buyer at the closing
- accompanies the new deed to the County Clerks office,
for filing
- a copy goes to the City or Town Assessors Office
- a copy goes to Albany where the data is entered into a data base
- which we access every week to update our web site.
Keep in mind:
- data on the form is only as accurate as the person who entered it
- some forms are handwritten, sometimes
poorly
- the data entry process can also introduce errors
- the process (from sale closing to data
base) can take from 1 to 5 or more months, depending on the County. No
one is in any particular hurry.
- web site updates are usually ready by
each Wednesday; if you check every week, you should see newer and newer sales
- on some forms, the zip code is
missing, so the address is incomplete
- don't blame me if data is missing - I
just take what I get and pass it on.
- if the local assessor makes a change
to a sale record, a second record is created. The first record remains in the
data base, so now there are two records. That is why you will see
"duplicate" records. I remove most of the "duplicates" but
some are not exact duplicates. They may look the same to you and
me, but the two records are different in some way.
- the form has space for multiple
owners, but we only show the first two lines. Sometimes the second, third, etc
owners names do not appear. See the next bullet.
- if you see errors regarding your sale,
do not worry ... your deed is almost certainly accurate, despite any
errors on the form or the data base.
- regarding privacy: all this
information is publicly available, in the offices of the County Clerk, Town or
City Assessors or Tax Office, etc.
- if you must have absolutely 100%
accurate information, you should get it from the actual deed, and/or the copy
of the FORM 5217 on file at your Town or City Hall.
- We only show sales since 2005 , but
the computerized data goes back to the early 1990's. If you need older data, send me an
email (But remember - the Town assessor has all this data, so if you have a
question about a particular property, they can look it up for you.)
- Not every deed transfer is shown - we
leave out those below $100, since typically no property changes hands -
the record just documents a name change, or whatever.
Note that assessment and property class
show what was in effect as of/before the sale. Thus in the case of new
construction, the sale price might seem high for what seems to be vacant land.
Note also that the assessors records
may say "1 family residence", but that reality may be different. Or
the class may say "restaurant" even though the property has been
converted into something else.
I have added three
handy look-up tables that might be of use:
ZIP codes, School
Districts, and Municipalities (Cities, Towns and Villages)
CLICK
HERE
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