How can I tell which deed records represent market sales?

Deed records that represent sales, unfortunately, can be and often are represented by document types (document_type) that generally represent non-sales.

Our analysis has determined that the following are all possibilities:

• • Administrator’s Deed
  • Bargain and Sale Deed
  • Cash Sale Deed
  • Condominium Deed
  • Contract of Sale
  • Corporation Deed
  • Deed
  • Executor’s Deed
  • Grant Deed
  • Joint Tenancy Deed
  • Land Contract
  • Limited Warranty Deed
  • Individual Deed
  • Warranty Deed
  • Special Warranty Deed
  • Personal Representative's Deed
  • Re-recorded Document
  
  To better identify deed records as sales, we also check what method was used to determine the sale price (sale_price_description), as this tells us whether or not a price has been recorded, as well as how it was recorded. This helps differentiate deeds with typically non-sale document types that in fact don't represent market-value sales from those that do. Internally, we limit known sales to the following Sales Price Codes:
  • Full amount stated on document
  • Full amount computed from transfer tax or excise tax
  • Full amount from assessment file when available
  • Assessor qualified the sales price as a comparable for mass appraisal applications
  • From recorded affidavit of value or verified
  • Sales price or transfer tax rounded by county prior to computation
  • Sales price computed using current excise tax rate for the given property's city name appearing on the transfer record
  • Sales price computed from county transfer tax based on either full consideration or assessed value
  
  If you are attempting to identify sales for residential properties, you will need to match each deed record to the correct parcel record and filter for land use types that indicate residential properties. You can either use the standardized_land_use_category catch-all category `Residential` or filter more specifically standardized_land_use_type. If you choose the second route, you will most likely be interested in these values:
  • Single Residential
  • Single Family Residential
  • Townhouse
  • Cluster home
  • Condominium Unit
  • Cooperative Unit
  • Mobile or Manufactured Home
  • Row House
  • Rural or Agricultural Residence
  • Planned Unit Development
  • Residential Common Area
  • Timeshare
  • Vacation Residence
  • Bungalow
  • Zero Lot Line
  • Misc Residential Improvement
  • Modular or Pre-Fabricated Homes
  • Patio Home
  • Garden Home
  • Landominium
  • Barndominium
  • Tiny House
  • Multi-family Residential Income
  • Duplex
  • Triplex
  • Quadruplex
  • Apartment House with 5 or more units
  • Apartment House with 100 or more units
  • Garden or Court Apartment with 5 or more units
  • Highrise Apartments
  • Boarding House, Rooming House, Apt Hotel, Transient Lodgings, or Hostel
  • Mobile Home or Trailer Park
  • Multi-Family Dwellings
  • Fraternity or Sorority House
  • Apartments
  • Dormitory or Group Quarters
  • Residential Condominium Development
  • Condominium Building
  • Cooperative Building
  • Residential Parking Garage
  • Residential Storage Space