HOW DO I KNOW THE TRUE AGE OF A HOME?

Very rarely should you rely on tax records or the date of the deed for the year-built date of a home. Because the agents and MLS have done such a good job of this cover-up, the information provided in this section can be very confusing, but please read on...

• First, ALL of the dates on a tax record may be incorrect because the information provided to the county or city records office may have been completely falsified from the beginning. In this instance, the house has actually been sitting empty for years and just now recently sold, but the correct and factual build date is not given to the records office. Instead, the real estate agent states that the "year-built" date is the year the home was sold instead of the year it was actually built, which is completely false and illegal.

• Another reason not to rely on a tax record for the year-build date is because many banks and builders will sell and close a home during the last few months of a year, then allow the agent to wait until the turn of the next year in January to have them actually recorded. So, the records office will incorrectly input the current year as the "year-built" date on the tax record, instead of going by the actual closing date or the deed. A better field on the tax record to look at is the "closing date" and "date of the deed," rather than the "year-built" date (that is, if that data has not already been falsified, as mentioned in the above paragraph).

• And lastly, the dates on tax records are manually inputted by an individual(s), and by the time the data is entered, it is usually already lagging behind the market and age of the home by a year or two. And of course, there is also an element of human error with any data entry.

• In addition, the deed to a home or property is simply a bill of sale. So the deed or the date on the deed should never be used as the date in which the home was built. When the home was sold (deed) or when it became occupied (certificate of occupancy) have absolutely no bearing on when the home was actually built and its systems began to age.

There are several examples on this Web site of homes whose dates have been changed and can be verified with deed, Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and advertising history, housing permits, and physical inspections.

So how do you determine the real and accurate age of a home?

Always remember that the true and accurate year-built date of a home is when the roof is on, and the internal systems have been inspected and enclosed with drywall--NOT when the carpet and appliances are installed or the paint is completed, and NOT when the home becomes occupied or sold!

Once a home's major systems have been inspected by local municipal inspectors, the walls have been dry-walled, and the roof is on, then the "clock" begins, and the year-built date for that home is set permanently.

To determine the accurate age and date of a home, you can:

1. Look in several places throughout the house for dates and labels on the original water heater, HVAC system and duct work, toilets (inside the tank), roofing, OSB flooring, and pull-down attic doors. These items are all stamped with a date. In most cases these dates are the year the home was roofed and built.

2. Look at records of the housing permits and inspection dates (not the tax record) that are filed with your local city or county records office. The permit and inspection dates of a home must match the year-built date because the walls cannot be dry-walled and sealed until the internal systems have been inspected. This likely the most accurate way to determine age.

Many cities within the Birmingham-Metro (AL) area have only allowed 10-30 building permits each year over the last five to six years (since the market crash of 2008). If hundreds of homes are listed as built within a certain year, then where are all the building permits for these homes? They simply don't exist because the dates have been illegally robo-dated and rolled over from previous years!

3. In addition to the building permits and inspections, you should have a good, reputable inspector or honest real estate agent pull the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data and home history of the home and to provide a thorough review of all the housing data and records to more accurately provide you with the true age of a home. Double check with the city inspector for the most accurate electrical and plumbing inspection. This is done prior to sheetrock, but roof and all the systems are in tact and inspected. This is the date or year built, not when it has last light fixture installed or Certificate of Occupancy.

4. Talk to the neighbors and ask them how long the house has been sitting and when it was built. Many times, neighbors can tell you exactly how old the house is because they watched it being built and then possibly sit empty for a year or two, or more.

**BE AWARE of any new home!** Be aware and double-check all inside systems, all county and MLS records, deed, and home history concerning any home, but especially newer homes built 2005-2025.  Hundreds of homes built in 2024 that are still sitting and have not sold, are being robo-dated and advertised as 2025 homes today. Anyone can walk into these homes and verify there is not one thing dated 2025. The walls, the roof, the HVAC, all electrical, plumbing, and all systems are from earlier years and cannot be sold to the public as brand new built in 2025, when they are aged. In one case, an agent changed the date to 2012, sold the home, and then changed the date back to 2009 to cover-up possible fraud in the MLS. We have seen dozens of these on record and in files dating back to 2005.

It is important to remember that the year-built dates of homes are when the homes are actually BUILT, not when they become occupied or sold! Therefore, the year-built date of a home should NEVER change, or conveniently roll over to the current year to make it more appealing to potential buyers and unfairly compete with other sellers on the market. And certainly not to cover-up possible Chinese drywall installation!