When you see a $1M house that sold for $100k, why do people do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Occasionally, I will see a house that was never on the market, yet sold for a ridiculously below-market price.
It happened in my neighborhood in SF, and I just saw a neighbor's house beach community where we had a home.
I assume the house is sold within a family. Is it to keep taxes low? Are there other benefits?

Divorce buyout or sale to a relative

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes someone selling below value to family or friends. Im sure there’s tax implications also.

Could also be a business transaction of some sort. Selling to your own company.

Is it legal? Can you really avoid paying taxes?
Because you can't get away with this when selling your car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are rules for selling to family members and such. What you’re describing is probably a mistake, like maybe something quirky happened financially and Redfin or Zillow recorded it as a sale.

If you post a link we can look up the property record.

The only “rules” about selling a house relate to the tax implications of the sale which apply to any scenario. You cannot try to avoid the taxes by grossly selling below value. There are no rules just for family sales.

Right but I think that rule means it gets marked as non-arms-length or whatever.