Let’s talk a little bit more about county websites and the tools they offer to help you perform due diligence on potential investments.
Although many small or rural counties don’t have websites, more and more counties are making property information available online. This makes researching much easier. It’s possible to skim through physical records and find what you are looking for, but we find using county web tools much easier.
Let’s briefly describe some main points about county property records.
The county assessor’s records contain information the assessor uses to determine the value of every property in the county. This same information can be used to help investors determine the value of properties that they are interested in buying.
Counties are not required to put the property record information online, but they are required to make it available to the public. Over the past 10 – 15 years, counties have increasingly become more tech-savvy. Many counties have websites where they post the assessor information and where you can view the records online. If county website is not available, the investor can go to the county building to view the public records or call the county official charge of property records for information.
Using county officials is a great resource for tax lien investors that often goes untapped. Make sure to use them when you have specific questions about their records or county information. The county official is our team’s hotline support. When we have a question, we call the county official.
COUNTY RECORD TOOLS
Parcel Search
This is the number one tool used by investors. They contain all of the real estate records that investors use to evaluate potential investments.
COUNTY RECORD INFORMATION
The tax records are also available to investors. Having access to that information can allow you to review all the past tax owners, payments, assessed values, and amounts owed. A very important feature that many counties will provide on their website is a land map, which shows the actual property and its boundaries. This is included with the information returned from the parcel search in most cases, but the mapping software is sometimes a separate search feature.
Although many small or rural counties don’t have websites, more and more counties are making property information available online. This makes researching much easier. It’s possible to skim through physical records and find what you are looking for, but we find using county web tools much easier.
Let’s briefly describe some main points about county property records.
The county assessor’s records contain information the assessor uses to determine the value of every property in the county. This same information can be used to help investors determine the value of properties that they are interested in buying.
Counties are not required to put the property record information online, but they are required to make it available to the public. Over the past 10 – 15 years, counties have increasingly become more tech-savvy. Many counties have websites where they post the assessor information and where you can view the records online. If county website is not available, the investor can go to the county building to view the public records or call the county official charge of property records for information.
Using county officials is a great resource for tax lien investors that often goes untapped. Make sure to use them when you have specific questions about their records or county information. The county official is our team’s hotline support. When we have a question, we call the county official.
COUNTY RECORD TOOLS
Parcel Search
This is the number one tool used by investors. They contain all of the real estate records that investors use to evaluate potential investments.
COUNTY RECORD INFORMATION
- Owner information – Legal owners on the deed.
- Legal Description – The description the assessor uses to describe the parcel. Unless you are a real estate guru, the legal description is rather difficult to read.
- Parcel number – Similar to a fingerprint for each property.
- Site Address – The physical location of parcel. Once you have the physical address you can do much more research, drive by etc.
- Tax Information – View past years assessed value.
- Assessed Value – What the county says the property is worth. The assessed value and the market value may be different.
- Improvement Info – Sq. ft. bedroom, bath, year built, lot size etc.
The tax records are also available to investors. Having access to that information can allow you to review all the past tax owners, payments, assessed values, and amounts owed. A very important feature that many counties will provide on their website is a land map, which shows the actual property and its boundaries. This is included with the information returned from the parcel search in most cases, but the mapping software is sometimes a separate search feature.
