Just Bought A $26M Atherton Mansion? Here’s How to Keep Zillow From Finding Out

June 20, 2007

An interesting question came in yesterday through my Meebo chat box…is there any way to keep the public (and Zillow, for that matter) from finding out price for which a home sold? What about keeping the name of the new owner confidential?

I chatted with some of my friends in the escrow business and here’s what they told me…

Keeping the price confidential: Fill out a certain form with the escrow company specifying that you want the price to remain confidential. When they record the document at the county, they’ll arrange for the transfer duty stamp to be stamped on the back instead of the front of the relevant page. When that document subsequently gets scanned for the public record, only the front — not the back — is processed. Voila! The price doesn’t appear on the county’s web site records, and thus (presumably, at least) the prying eyes of Zillow and the general public won’t see it.

Apparently it may still be possible for a determined individual to find out, however, by going to the county and insisting on seeing the original document.

Keeping the new owner confidential: Arrange to consummate the purchase in the name of an LLC, Trust, or other entity, and put the address of said entity as a post office box.

atherton-mansion.jpgSo there you have it! The future owner of this little Atherton delight (listed by perennial Atherton mega-lister Mary Gullixson) can rest easy at night…snooping neighbors won’t know exactly what deal he got!

Disclaimer: I am neither an escrow expert, nor an attorney. The methods described above may or may not in fact be correct, and if they are correct in any one particular county, they are not necessarily correct in your county. Before embarking on your anonymous home-buying adventure, please consult with an escrow expert and an attorney.

‘Nuff said.

Photo from mlslistings.com

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Written by Kevin · Filed Under * Type of Content, Atherton, Consumer, Industry, Mary Gullixson, Real estate 

Comments

One Response to “Just Bought A $26M Atherton Mansion? Here’s How to Keep Zillow From Finding Out”

  1. Fort Lauderdale Real Estate on June 21st, 2007 5:31 pm

    Kevin;
    Great post. I knew about buying under a representative, but did not know about the transfer stamp being stamped on the backside.

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