Land Comps in Non-Disclosure States and How to Price Land Without Public Sale Prices

When land changes hands, the deed is recorded with the county. In a disclosure state, the sale price is either written on the deed, reported on a transfer declaration that the public can read, or can be calculated from a transfer tax paid at recording. Anyone can pull those records and build a list of comparable sales.

In a non-disclosure state, the deed is still recorded, so you can see who sold to whom and when, but the price is not part of the public record. Sometimes the buyer or seller files a price with a state or county office, but that filing is confidential or used only for tax assessment.

For a land investor this matters more than for a house buyer. Houses in most metro areas sell through an MLS, and agents can see sold prices even when deeds do not show them. Vacant land often sells off market, between neighbors, at auction or through investor channels, so a large share of land sales never shows a price anywhere.

The result is fewer verified comps, wider value ranges and more risk of overpaying.

There is no single official federal list, and sources differ at the edges. The states most commonly listed as non-disclosure states for real estate sale prices are:

• Alaska
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Montana
• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Utah
• Wyoming
• Missouri, partly, where disclosure depends on the county

Missouri is the classic mixed case. Industry summaries commonly note that St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Jackson County and St. Charles County disclose sale prices, while most other counties do not. South Dakota appears on some lists and not on others. It requires a certificate of real estate value to be filed with the county when property transfers, but how much of that reaches the public varies, so treat it as limited disclosure.

Rules can change and practice varies by county, so confirm the current situation with the county recorder or assessor before you rely on public records in any state on this list.

Even in disclosure states, land comps are thinner than house comps. Fewer parcels sell, each parcel is different in access, shape, slope, utilities and flood exposure, and price per acre falls as parcel size rises. Add non-disclosure on top and you may find only a handful of sales with known prices within a reasonable distance.

That is why a single number is misleading in these states. A useful valuation shows the value range, the number of comps, how far away they are, and how confident it is. If the method behind a number is not named, assume it is a guess.

None of the methods below require anything other than public data, licensed data or your own records. Use several together and see where they agree.

Ask a local agent for MLS sold data

Agents who are members of the local MLS can see sold prices for listings that closed through the MLS, including land. In some states, rules limit what agents may share, so ask what is allowed. Land agents who work the county are often the best source of recent sales, including off market deals they heard about.

Check county appraisal and assessment data

In some non-disclosure states, county appraisal districts or assessors collect sale information for their own work. They may not publish individual prices, but published market values, land schedules and ratio studies tell you how the county values land per acre by area and use. Ask the county appraisal district or assessor what it publishes for land, and compare its values for parcels you know well.

Use assessment ratios

Where a county assesses property at a known fraction of market value, an assessed land value divided by that ratio gives an implied market value. This is only as good as the county's assessments, which often lag rising markets, but it is a consistent anchor across many parcels. Check the official assessment ratio for the state or county rather than assuming one.

Look at USDA land value statistics

USDA NASS publishes state level land values every year. Its Land Values 2026 Summary (July 2026) put the US cropland average at 6,020 USD per acre and pasture at 2,000 USD per acre, with state figures for each. NASS also runs a county level Cash Rents Survey each year in every state except Alaska, published in August, which gives county rents for cropland and pasture. Rents and state land values do not price a 5 acre lot near town, but they are a solid floor for rural agricultural acreage.

Borrow comps from neighboring disclosure counties

If your county is next to a state or county that discloses prices, sales across the line are real, verified comps. Adjust them for the difference in land values between the two areas, for example using the ratio of USDA state or county level figures, and treat the result as a range, not a point.

Contrast with transfer tax states

In many disclosure states you can even back into a price from transfer tax. Florida's documentary stamp tax on deeds, for example, is 70 cents per 100 USD of consideration in most counties according to the Florida Department of Revenue, so a recorded stamp amount implies the price. Non-disclosure states generally have no such tax trail, which is exactly why other methods are needed.

Use your own closed deals

Every parcel you buy or sell is a verified comp you control. Keep a clean record of each deal: APN, date, acreage, access, utilities, flood share and price. After a year of activity in one county, your own data can be the best comp set you have.

No single method is reliable on its own in a non-disclosure state. The approach that holds up is a chain from strongest to weakest evidence:

• Verified sales with known prices nearby (MLS sold data, your own deals, disclosed sales in neighboring counties) carry the most weight.
• Adjusted comps from neighboring disclosure counties fill gaps when local sales are thin.
• An assessment implied value checks whether the comp based number is in a sensible range.
• USDA cropland or pasture value per acre acts as a rural floor, so a large agricultural parcel is never valued below what farmers pay on average.

Then widen the range rather than narrowing it. Thin data means more uncertainty, and your offer should reflect that.

LandPricer detects when a parcel sits in a non-disclosure state or county and switches to a fallback chain instead of pretending the data is complete. Land comps come first from any verified sales available nearby, then from neighboring disclosure counties adjusted by the ratio of USDA county land data, then from an assessment implied value, with USDA cropland or pasture value per acre as a rural floor.

Three rules apply to every valuation in these areas:

• Confidence is capped at Medium, even when several comps are available, because sale prices cannot be checked against public records.
• The value range is wider, so the low end of the range reflects the real uncertainty.
• The report names the method used, so you can see whether a value comes from local sales, neighboring counties or the assessment.

You can read the full valuation method, including radius, time window, acreage band and adjustments, on how it works. For a broad view of price levels before you drill into a parcel, see land value by county.

When confidence is Medium or Low, price your offer from the low end of the value range, not the midpoint. If the range is 40,000 to 60,000 USD and you price a cash flip from 40,000 instead of 50,000, you will win fewer deals, but each deal will have room for a resale price at the bottom of the range. The max offer formula post shows the arithmetic for each strategy.

It also pays to raise your due diligence bar. Visit or have someone visit the land, check access and utilities yourself, and talk to a local land agent about recent sales before you close.

Yes, through legal channels: MLS data shared by a member agent within MLS rules, data the seller or buyer gives you, published county data, licensed data sets and your own transactions. What you cannot do is demand confidential filings that the law keeps private.

Is Texas a non-disclosure state

Texas is one of the states most commonly listed as non-disclosure. Deeds are recorded, but sale prices are not part of the public deed record.

Does an appraisal solve the problem

A licensed appraiser has access to more sales data, including MLS and their own files, and their report is what lenders and courts rely on. A valuation from LandPricer is not an appraisal. It is a fast estimate for screening and offers.