How to Research Property Ownership

How can you learn more about a property or properties in an area, including who the owner is? Ownership and other information about real property is available from local government entities such as the county assessor's or appraiser's office. In the past you had to visit a government building to do your research. Now these records are usually accessible online, whether provided by a local government office or by a fee-for-service aggregator of such data.

Things You'll Need

• Internet access
• Property details

Instructions

Zeroing in on the property

1. Note the name of the county in which the property of interest is located, then visit the Web site of a county property assessor or county recorder's office. You can often quickly locate this by typing the name of the county and the phrase "property records" in Google's search engine. Typing the state's name alone plus "property records" in a search engine may take you to a gateway page with narrower listings. For example, a search for "Colorado property records" calls up the "Colorado Land Records and Deeds Directory," which provides links to county Web sites.

2. If you have any difficulty finding the local recorder or assessor, call the county government and ask to be referred to the appropriate department or Web site. If the local government is a little behind the times, you may need to trek out to the county office after all.

3. If you are interested in properties in more than one area and willing to pay fees, consider signing up with a records aggregator service. The HomeInfoMax site, for example, notes that searches must be limited to a particular county, state or zip code since "it is not practical to offer an all-inclusive nationwide property search without any geographical restrictions." The basic report provided by property search sites includes information on the type and location of the property, its characteristics, recent sales, and current ownership. More detailed reports will cover taxes and mortgage records as well. Some fee-for-service sites are more specialized. For example, Pierce Eislen provides information about commercial apartment properties in the West and Pacific Northwest, California, Southeast, Southwest, and Mid-Atlantic.

4. Whether you are consulting a private or public Web site to search for property information, a little knowledge about the property you are interested in will help narrow down the search. Web sites may offer a range of search tools to assist you. The Orange County (Florida) Property Appraiser site, for example, provides a mapping facility that lets you zoom in on selected parcels. Search tools require input of parcel number, property name, address, section, coordinates, or intersection. Clicking on a "select parcel" tool enables you to retrieve such information about a particular property.

References

• HomeInfoMax.com: Property Records Information
• Orange County Property Appraiser Interactive Map
• Pierce Eislen Commercial Property Information

Resources

• Colorado Land Records and Deeds Directory