Determining whether a sold comp was a 'cash sale' or not

[William Klawitter]

Hi all,

Often when trying to come up with ARV (retail value) on a property, I come across sold comps that look suspiciously low- & I'd like a way to determine whether or not they were cash sales. Is there a more practical way to do this than using a realtor? I've scoured BP & can't find a good answer to this other than findcompsnow.com- not sure how reliable that site is though. Thanks in advance!

[Wayne Brooks]

If there is no mortgage/trust deed recorded in connection with/right after the deed, it was a cash purchase.