Texas Homeowners: Should You Disclose Your Home Sale Price?

If you are a new homeowner in Texas, you may have received a survey from your county appraisal district asking you to voluntarily disclose your sale price. Appraisal districts also regularly announce on social media asking homeowners to disclose their sale price. e.g. here is an announcement from Fort Bend CAD,

Why Some Homeowners Hesitate to Disclose Their Sale Price

Texas is a non-disclosure state, meaning you are not required to disclose your sale price to anyone—not your friends, family, or even government agencies. Many homeowners resist sharing this information for two main reasons:

• Privacy concerns

• Fear that it will increase their property taxes

However, in reality, sold prices are already available on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). All listing agents are required to report the final sale price to the MLS, which means realtors, brokers, and even some appraisal districts with MLS access already have this data. Unfortunately, homeowners do not have direct access to MLS sale prices in their neighborhood.

So, while you might believe your sale price is private, it's often already available to appraisal districts through MLS or third-party data vendors. The difference? Homeowners don’t have access to this data when they need it to appeal their property taxes.

Why It’s a Good Idea to Disclose Your Sale Price

If all homeowners disclosed their sale prices, it would create a fairer property tax system where homeowners could easily access sales comps to challenge their appraised values. This benefits homeowners in several ways:

1. Avoid inflated appraisals – Appraisal districts are required to assess properties at full market value. When they lack sale price data, they may assign a higher estimated value to your home. If your actual sale price were on record, it might prevent an inflated valuation in the first place.

2. Strengthen your property tax protest – When you protest your appraised value, appraisal districts can use MLS data to justify their valuation, but you won’t have easy access to the same data. If everyone disclosed their sale price, homeowners would be better equipped to challenge unfair valuations.

3. Reduce taxpayer costs – Appraisal districts spend taxpayer money to purchase MLS data or third-party reports. By voluntarily sharing your sale price, you help reduce unnecessary spending—saving tax dollars.

4. Eliminate the need for a protest in the first year – If your sale price is documented, your initial appraised value may accurately reflect it, helping you avoid a tax protest in your first year of ownership.

Are home sales prices public record in Texas?

Nope, they are not! Texas is a non-disclosure state. Home sale prices are not public records. But, they are available on the MLS! Anyone with access to MLS can see the sale prices.

Are home appraisals public record in Texas?

In Texas, home appraisals conducted by private appraisers (e.g., for a real estate transaction, refinance, or other private purposes) are not public record. These appraisals are private documents and are typically shared only with the person or entity that ordered the appraisal (e.g., the homeowner, lender, or buyer).

However, county appraisal district records are public and accessible. These records include information related to property appraisals for property tax purposes, such as:

• Assessed property value (as determined by the county appraisal district for tax purposes).
• Property characteristics, such as square footage, land size, and improvements.
• Ownership information.
• Exemptions applied to the property (e.g., homestead exemption).

You can access these records through the county appraisal district's website or by visiting the district office. For example:

• Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) Property Search
• Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) Property Search
• Dallas CAD Property Search
• Bexar CAD Property search

You can search by the property address, owner's name or the CAD account number. If you're seeking a private appraisal, you will need the homeowner's permission to obtain it.

Will disclosing my sale price to the county increase my property taxes?

Not at all! That's a popular myth! Even if you don't disclose, appraisal districts will anyway procure the sale prices from vendors. As a taxpayer, you will end up paying for their purchase! Hence, voluntarily disclosing your sale price to the county works in your favor in the long term.

Why does Zillow not show sold prices?

Texas being a non-disclosure state, Zillow and other real estate portals cannot display sale prices.

How to find home sale prices in Texas?

Texas is a non-disclosure state. Home sale prices are not public records. But, they are available on the MLS! Anyone with access to MLS can see the sale prices. You will have to approach a realtor. They can pull up the sale price info for you. When protesting your annual appraised value, you will need sales comps along with equity comps, to effectively counter the appraisal district's value. You can get sale comps from a realtor. Most realtors will give it for free. Some may charge a fee. Keep your neighborhood realtors in good books!

The Bigger Picture: Why Sale Price Disclosure Matters

As noted in this Every Texan article, Sales price disclosure is a much needed reform.

As noted in that article:

Texas appraisal districts lack the most complete and accurate basis for determining property values. This is like making a store clerk guess the correct sales tax on an item while you cover up the bar code and hide the price.

The result is that difficult-to-assess commercial properties and high-end homes tend to be undervalued. Owners of these properties therefore pay less than what they should in taxes that support public services, which then shifts the financial burden onto lower-income homeowners. Requiring reporting of all real estate transactions will be essential in correcting this imbalance and recognizing the changed values of property.

By voluntarily disclosing your sale price, you contribute to a fairer property tax system—helping yourself and your fellow homeowners. The next time your appraisal district asks for your sale price, consider sharing it to promote transparency and accuracy in property assessments.