"Buying a Home in Kansas: What Is the Sales Validation Questionnaire, and Who Sees the Price I Paid?"

Somewhere in the stack of papers for your Kansas closing is a short state form that asks what you paid for the home, whether it was ever offered on the open market, and whether you and the seller are related. It never asks for your interest rate, because Kansas law does not allow it to. When your deed goes to the county, this form travels with it, gets copied to the county appraiser, and then never appears in the public land records at all.

In Kansas, the register of deeds will not record the deed to the home you are buying unless a completed Real Estate Sales Validation Questionnaire comes with it. You, the seller, or an agent for either of you can fill it out. It reports the price and terms of your sale to the county appraiser, and the questionnaire itself is never filed in the public record.

I'm Jeff Moran, a mortgage broker in Bluffton, South Carolina, originating since 1996, licensed in fifteen states, including Kansas, NMLS #483943, through C2 Financial Corporation. The questionnaire belongs to the deed rather than to your loan, but your mortgage is recorded against the same home at the same counter, so it is a form I want you to see coming.

What is the Kansas Real Estate Sales Validation Questionnaire?

It is the state's record of your sale. Kansas's sales validation statute, K.S.A. 79-1437c, says a deed or other instrument transferring title to Kansas real estate cannot be recorded unless a completed sales validation questionnaire accompanies it. The same requirement covers an affidavit of equitable interest in real estate.

The form itself is devised by the Director of Property Valuation at the Kansas Department of Revenue. The Department publishes a downloadable copy of the questionnaire with its instructions.

The form gives the state real sale prices to measure county values against. The Department's Division of Property Valuation publishes a yearly ratio study, and its ratio study report explains that each ratio divides the county appraiser's value of a property by its total selling price. A perfect ratio is 100. The sales reported on these questionnaires are how Kansas measures whether each county's values are close to what homes actually sell for, and your sale becomes one of those measurements.

Who fills out the sales validation questionnaire in Kansas?

K.S.A. 79-1437c lets the grantor, which is the seller, the grantee, which is you, or an agent of either one complete it. The law does not assign it to one side, so on your purchase it is worth settling ahead of time who will do it.

Kansas does not require an attorney at an ordinary home closing, and Kansas law lets a title agent handle closings and record closing documents. The Kansas mortgage page covers how that works here. If your title company is recording the deed, you can ask the closer whether they are preparing the questionnaire as an agent for you and the seller, and what information they need from you. If you are buying directly from a seller with nobody acting as your agent, the questionnaire is yours and the seller's to complete. You will want to agree in writing on which of you is doing it before anyone heads to the register of deeds.

The questions on the form, and the one it is not allowed to ask

K.S.A. 79-1437d tells the Director what the questionnaire collects. It covers where the property is and how to identify it, the purchaser's name and address, the sale price, the date of sale and the property's classification. It also covers how the purchase was financed, including whether you took over any existing mortgage or lien. The same statute draws a firm line. No question on the form may require you to disclose the interest rate you are paying or the specific term of any mortgage.

So the form can ask whether you financed the purchase and how, and it cannot ask what your loan costs. Your rate and your loan term stay between you and your lender.

The Department's published questionnaire turns those categories into specific items. Its instructions ask for:

• The total sale price, and the date of sale, which the instructions define as the date the deed or contract was signed rather than the date it was recorded.
• Any personal property included in the price, such as appliances or furniture that came with the home, described briefly with an estimate of its value inside the total.
• Whether the property was offered on the open market, meaning listed with an agent, advertised, given a sign, or offered by word of mouth, as opposed to a private sale that was never made available to the public.
• Whether you and the seller are related, as immediate family or as related businesses, and what the relationship is.
• Whether you already own or control property next to the one you are buying.
• The method of financing, with a box for seller financing and a "not applicable" choice when no money changed hands.

Every one of those answers helps the appraiser decide whether your sale is a fair measure of market value. A sale between family members, or a price that includes a riding mower and a dining set, tells the county something different from a sale between strangers on the open market, with nothing included but the home.

Who can see the price on a Kansas sales validation questionnaire?

The questionnaire never becomes a public land record. Your deed is recorded where anyone can look it up, but K.S.A. 79-1437c says the register of deeds does not file the questionnaire of record. The office keeps it for five years, and then it is destroyed.

The Department's rules for the form, in K.A.R. 93-4-2, describe the path it takes instead. Within three business days of receiving it, the register of deeds writes the recording information and the county's validation number on each copy. The register keeps the original and sends the appraiser's copy and the state's copy on to the county appraiser.

After that, K.S.A. 79-1437f limits who can see what is on the form. The people it allows include the county appraiser, and the hearing officers, panels and Board of Tax Appeals that decide valuation appeals. A property owner, or someone representing them, can see questionnaires while appealing the value of their own property or deciding whether to appeal. That access is limited to questionnaires for property in the same constitutional subclass as theirs. The Kansas Constitution sorts real property into subclasses, and property used for residential purposes is one of them, so an owner appealing a home's value sees sales of other residential property.

That last clause connects to your own tax bill. If you ever question the county's value on your Kansas home, the sales reported on these forms are part of the evidence you can ask to see. How to check the county's value after you buy in Kansas walks through the appeal routes and their deadlines.

Getting your Kansas deed recorded on the first try

A deed that comes back unrecorded has to be corrected and presented again, so the goal is one trip to the register of deeds. Directive 19-041 from the Division of Property Valuation tells registers of deeds what a completed questionnaire looks like. One missing answer, a blank sale price, or missing signatures or phone numbers for the seller and buyer means the questionnaire is not complete, and the deed goes back unrecorded.

1. You will want to find out early who is preparing it. On a title company closing, you can ask the closer a few days ahead. On a private sale, you and the seller can settle it in writing.
2. You will want your full legal name, mailing address and daytime phone number ready, exactly as they will appear on the deed.
3. You can make a list of any personal property included in your price, with a brief description and an estimate of its value, so it goes on the form the first time.
4. You will want every question to have an answer, including the ones that seem not to apply. Marking "not applicable" counts as an answer, and a question left blank gets the form sent back.
5. You will want the total sale price written in dollars. The directive says the register returns a questionnaire that lists "other valuable consideration" as the price.
6. You will want to read it over before anyone signs it, because the person completing it signs to say the instructions were read and the information is true and accurate.

Your mortgage carries its own paper. On a loan of $75,000 or less against a single family home you will live in, the mortgage cap affidavit that limits the Kansas recording fee is filed with the mortgage, while the questionnaire is filed with the deed.

Kansas sales validation questionnaire exemptions

K.S.A. 79-1437e lists transfers that are exempt from the questionnaire. A transfer by gift, donation or contribution stated in the deed is one example. Directive 19-041 adds that a deed showing only a nominal amount, such as $1 or $10, is treated as a gift and accepted without one. It also says a transfer on death deed needs no questionnaire, because nothing transfers when that deed is filed.

The statute has more exemptions than those, and whether one fits a particular transfer is a question for the title company or an attorney. When an exemption does apply, K.S.A. 79-1437e requires that it be clearly stated on the document being filed. Directive 19-041 says the register of deeds cannot add it at the counter, so it has to be on the deed when it arrives.

Mistakes that send a Kansas deed back

Leaving a question blank, or a signature or phone number missing. Directive 19-041 treats any of those as an incomplete questionnaire, so a form that only one side finished is not ready, and the deed goes back with it.

Writing a phrase instead of a price. "Other valuable consideration" is returned. The form wants the total sale price in dollars.

Assuming an exemption will be added later. If a transfer is exempt, the exemption has to be stated on the document itself before it reaches the register of deeds.

A Kansas ratio study example on one sale

Numbers below are made up to show the mechanism. The price, the value and the dates are invented, and nothing here is a Kansas average.

A client signs a deed on May 28 for a home in Wichita, and the title company records it on June 2. The price includes a washer, a dryer and a patio set the seller left behind. The questionnaire shows May 28 as the date of sale, because that is the signing date, and it lists the three items with an estimated value inside the total.

Later, the Department's ratio study compares the county's appraised value with the price on the questionnaire:

County appraised value                 $270,000
Total sale price on the questionnaire  $285,000
                                        -------
Ratio (value / price x 100)                94.7

A ratio under 100 means the county's value came in below the sale price. The ratio study measures how a county is doing across many sales, and the Department's 2023 ratio study report notes that it may not be relied on to review any one appraisal.

Next steps for your Kansas purchase

The loan side is where I come in. When you would like to see your numbers, Rate & Best Fit on the homepage shows pricing for your own Kansas scenario without a credit pull or an account. Once you see the options, you can choose a rate option that works best for you, and that selection can change as the file comes together.

If you want a letter a seller will take seriously, a Kansas pre-approval is where your income, debts and credit get reviewed. In Kansas counties of 10,000 or more people, title agents file their closing and escrow charges with the state, and how Kansas title company closing fees are filed explains how you can compare them.

If you would rather talk it through first, you are welcome to call me, and we can go over the timing of your closing and the papers that come with it.

Nothing here is a loan approval, a denial, a commitment to lend, or tax or legal advice. The questionnaire belongs to the Kansas Department of Revenue's Division of Property Valuation, and the register of deeds in your county decides whether a document is ready to record. No letter from anyone is a loan commitment; final approval depends on the property, the appraisal and full underwriting.

Common questions

Is a sales validation questionnaire required to record a deed in Kansas?

Yes, for most sales. K.S.A. 79-1437c says a deed or other instrument transferring title to Kansas real estate cannot be recorded unless a completed sales validation questionnaire accompanies it. Transfers listed as exempt in K.S.A. 79-1437e, such as a gift stated in the deed, do not need one, and the exemption has to be clearly stated on the document being filed.

Who fills out the Kansas sales validation questionnaire, the buyer or the seller?

Either one can. The statute lets the seller, the buyer, or an agent of either complete it. On a purchase handled by a title company, the closer may prepare it as an agent for both sides, so you can ask the closer what they need from you. On a private sale, the buyer and seller decide between themselves who completes it.

Is the sale price on a Kansas sales validation questionnaire public?

The questionnaire is not part of the public record. K.S.A. 79-1437c says the register of deeds does not file it of record, keeps it for five years and then destroys it. K.S.A. 79-1437f limits who can see its contents to parties such as the county appraiser, the bodies that hear valuation appeals, and a property owner who is appealing a value or considering an appeal.

Does the Kansas sales validation questionnaire ask for my mortgage interest rate?

No. K.S.A. 79-1437d says the questionnaire cannot request information that would require you to disclose the interest rate you are paying or the specific term of any mortgage. It can ask how the purchase was financed, including whether you took over an existing mortgage or lien, but your rate and loan term stay off the form.

What happens if the Kansas sales validation questionnaire is incomplete?

The register of deeds returns the deed unrecorded. Directive 19-041 from the Division of Property Valuation says a questionnaire with any unanswered question, a missing sale price, or missing signatures or phone numbers for the seller and buyer is not complete. Once it is completed correctly, the deed and questionnaire can be presented again for recording.