Can homeowner do anything fishy with the last sale price?

[Joe A.]

Curious if a homeowner could be doing anything fishy with the last sale price?  For example, could they transfer the home from their name to an llc just to record a higher sales price for comps?  Wondering if anyone has seen something like this happen, particularly in appreciating markets.  Thanks.

[Chris Martin]

That 'fishy' transfer you suggest would not be an 'arms-length' transaction and would not be used in most 'comp' sales analyses. However... I have on one occasion done an unlisted deal where I paid outside of closing (but documented) multiple items that were not part of the transferred property. It's funny because a year or so later, a broker told me all about how I could lower my sale price because I 'got a good deal by buying at $X,000'. I told her my cost was actually about $2,500 higher. She got tiffy and insisted I was wrong. Then came a long lecture about 'realtor' and knowledge and such. I laughed and asked her if she saw the HUD-1. I had it at the property in a three ring binder. I pointed to it and said 'I know what we paid.' Never saw her again.