How easy is it to search into the background real property? Whether it's a home, office building, empty lot or a piece of land! Buyers for a variety of purposes seek to obtain more than the average basic information, looking for more details and history of the property they're looking to acquire. The following tips describe several methods regarding more in depth real property information.
Obtain a property profile from a title company. This report will give you an overview of the property's financial status, ownership data, liens, loans and more. You can begin by calling a title company.
Check the local tax assessor or tax collector for a property description and the property ID or APN (Assessor Parcel Number). Depending on the location, this information can be found online by using the collector's or assessor's site database.
Uncover owner history of the property. The registry of deeds can provide recorded property information which would including past owners. Once the owners names are uncovered, a search using their names, and others or businesses related to the name can be performed and yield additional information.
Visit the municipal planning department or agency. The planning department issues building permits, which are public records and retrievable by anyone. Depending on the location, mostly in larger cities, the public can search online for building records, check permit status and get information about zoning, approved building plans and more.
Check the seller's disclosure report. View any documents required to be disclosed by the property owner/seller, including of defects, condition, deaths occurring at the property (the disclosure of deaths are required in certain sates), or any important and relevant information.
Get a C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange). This report will reveal claims, losses, amount paid for losses and denied claims. For this to exist, these must have been a claim made by homeowners in the past 7 years or the home was covered by an insurance company which participates in CLUE. This report is requested from the seller as its access is only to the home owner/seller.