Is there any way to find out when house was built

[Ibanez]

The reason I ask is that I'm about to put my house on the market and when the realtor was doing a CMA the date of build for the house came up as 1965. When I bought the house the people I bought it from told me it was built in 1975, they bought it in 1977 from the original owner.

The problem is that nothing shows an actual build date. I called the assessor's office yesterday and they insist the 1965 date is correct. Last night I spoke with my neighbor who has lived in the neighborhood since 1972 and asked him if he knew when my house was built. He told me that his house was the first one built in the neighborhood and that it was built in the Spring thru Early fall of 1972 and that they moved in after the house was finished just in time for the kickoff of the college football season. He remembers that because at the time he was an official for the Big 8 and was worried about trying to move during the season if the house wasn't finished before the season was built. He said my house was built 2 or 3 years after his by an architect who built it for himself. He suggested I call the County Treasurer's office.

I just got off the phone with the them and they are telling me the 1965 date as well. When I asked where they got that date they said it was "in the system" so I asked where the system got it from. The answer was the assessor's office.

So it seems like a vicious circle.

How do I go about truly finding out? I went through my abstract last night and the only thing I can find even relating to the building of a house is in 1972 when the Ark Valley Construction Company purchased the land from the Sand Springs Home.

[sgrizzle]

If the land wasn't purchased until 1972 then I think you have a good case that it wasn't built in 1965.

If there are any original appliances, that would help too. You might try tracking down the original owner or check county records downtown.

Other than that you may have to just cut it open and count the rings.

[DM]

On every house if you look under the foundation you will find the born on dating. Where do you think Budweiser got the idea?? [B)]

[Ibanez]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

If the land wasn't purchased until 1972 then I think you have a good case that it wasn't built in 1965.

If there are any original appliances, that would help too. You might try tracking down the original owner or check county records downtown.

Other than that you may have to just cut it open and count the rings.

The original owner killed himself in 1977. There's an entry in the abstract from Feb of that year where the property was deeded over to his wife and one of his sons. Which is who then sold it to the people I bought it from.

No original appliances. I've lived there since 2001 and completely remodeled the house.

[Ibanez]

quote:Originally posted by DM

On every house if you look under the foundation you will find the born on dating. Where do you think Budweiser got the idea?? [B)]

Want to come over tonight and help me lift the slab?

[midtownnewbie]

Type your address into zillow.com and you'll see a date, which will probably be the same one as the assessor...  However, you will also be able to look at your neighbors' homes and see when they were built.  If they were supposedly built before yours but your home has an earlier build date, you can assume that your 1965 date is wrong.  However, I have no idea how you can prove it...  Actually, I'm not even sure why it matters if it is 1965 or 1975......

[Ibanez]

quote:Originally posted by midtownnewbie

Type your address into zillow.com and you'll see a date, which will probably be the same one as the assessor...  However, you will also be able to look at your neighbors' homes and see when they were built.  If they were supposedly built before yours but your home has an earlier build date, you can assume that your 1965 date is wrong.  However, I have no idea how you can prove it...  Actually, I'm not even sure why it matters if it is 1965 or 1975......

The realtor was making a big deal about it since I had told him it was built in 1975.

[DM]

quote:Originally posted by wavoka

quote:Originally posted by DM

On every house if you look under the foundation you will find the born on dating. Where do you think Budweiser got the idea?? [B)]

Want to come over tonight and help me lift the slab?

How much beer you got? lol! Because we may need to drink quite a bit in order to try.

[NellieBly]

Get the abstract -- goes way back to even before there was a house on the property, most likely.

[Ibanez]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

Get the abstract -- goes way back to even before there was a house on the property, most likely.

Yeah mine goes back to 1833 when it was given to the Creek Nation. The sucker is huge. The thickness is a little more than two Tulsa phone books. There was a whoooooole lot of the land going back and forth between various tribal members so that makes for probably 90% of the entries. Which is kinda cool and surprising since I didn't know they would keep records of the land going back and forth among tribal members.

I can't remember the date that Charles Page purchased it, but from there on the entries are pretty slim. Next set of entries is when the land was deeded to the Sand Springs Home. Then the neighborhood was platted in 1960, but there is nothing about anyone buying it from the home or any construction. In 1970 my lot and several others were purchased by someone with the last name of Breisch. Then it appears he and his wife got a divorce in 1971, she was awarded the land and sold it back to the Sand Springs Home who then sold it to Ark Valley Construction on Feb 18, 1972. The entry for that also mentions about 3  dozen other lots, from the looks of which are every lot on my street and the next street over.

[pmcalk]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

Get the abstract -- goes way back to even before there was a house on the property, most likely.

The problem with that is that the abstract doesn't indicate when the house was built, just when property changed hands.  However, if you look for a mortgage date (which is included in the abstract), you'll have a pretty good idea of build date.  Most people take out a mortgage to build a house, and mortgage companies usually require that the house be built within a certain amount of time.  If you know there was no house in 1965, look from that date forward until you see a mortgage--that would be around when the house was built.  Also, you can look at past tax records.  An abrupt increase in assessed value would also indicate the house had been built.

I have also heard that if you have the original toilet in your house, there is a date stamped on the lid of the toilet tank, which would reflect the date the house was built.

What the assessor is relying on is probably the date that the property was platted, not the date the house was constructed.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by pmcalk

I have also heard that if you have the original toilet in your house, there is a date stamped on the lid of the toilet tank, which would reflect the date the house was built.

I was going to suggest this too, but you beat me to it.  Stamped into the china on the underside of the tank lids in both my hall bath and master bath is the date Oct 20 1954.  The first owners of my house took title on Feb 09 1955, so I can be reasonably sure my house was constructed in late 1954.

Wavoka said the house had been remodeled so she may not have the original toilets, but it is interesting to know about this if you are doing research on your house.  Do toilet manufacturers today still date stamp their new product?  I was wondering when my garage had been converted to living space with a 1/2 bath added.  The toilet in that bath is stamped May 1966, so I can be pretty sure the garage conversion was done in 1966 or 1967.  That one is stamped on the back wall of the holding tank, not on the lid.

[YoungTulsan]

There is an 02 stamped on the 2002 toilet in my house.

Stupid thing, you gotta flush it 2 or 3 times just to get the job done.  Damn hippies didn't think that one through did they?

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by YoungTulsan

Stupid thing, you gotta flush it 2 or 3 times just to get the job done.  Damn hippies didn't think that one through did they?

I agree, the low-flow toilet requirements implemented in the past few years are absolutely absurd.  Obviously the result of lobbying by the manufacturers to sell new toilets, under the disguise of "water conservation."  Thank goodness the 1954 johns in my house are all still operating strongly as intended.  As long as replacement tank "guts" are still available, I will never replace them.

[Ibanez]

If you have to replace your toilet buy Kohler. I bought 2 new ones last year with their "infinium" or something like that flushing system. They work great. Never had a problem and my wife, God bless her, can drop off some loads that would choke a horse.

Did I just say that?