03/17/2012

PROPERTY RECORDS SEARCH HERE
Property records can typically be found at your local county recorder’s office.
This can be done at the recorder’s office or online. You can
also pull a preliminary title report through your local title company (who
accesses the same data from the county recorder’s office). Title companies
typically charge two to five hundred dollars for preliminary title reports (if
the purchase is not in escrow with them) and can take up to a week for
documents. This is unless you know someone in that department that may pull some
strings for you. But even in this case, there is a limit to favors and usually, a
time frame involved for delivery. There are several good websites one can
visit to access property records. These sites usually have a proprietary database
to access the County Recorder’s office in most states. Of course, some records
can be accessed through the county recorder website. Most mortgage and lien
records can be accessed via county recorder by means of monthly subscriptions or
member access. The alternative is to physically go down to your county recorders
office and browse through files and microfilm for public property records.

If you are in the market for buying property, a buyer
can benefit greatly by accessing online property records search
prior to writing an offer and putting the deal into escrow. This can be done
relatively easily by accessing county recorder records to view any liens,
encumbrances, judgments and existing mortgages against the home. It is also
imperative to know what is against a property if a buyer is entertaining
creative financings such as an owner carry or a contract scenario where the
seller is going to carrying the financing for a term. Maybe
the property is in default and already in the process of foreclosure. Maybe the
property owner is upside down and owes more than the current market value.
Knowing the seller’s equity position as well as any liens against the property
can prevent unnecessary efforts and out of pocket expenses when entertaining a
purchase. What if there is a notice of
default filed and the home is going into the foreclosure stage. Maybe the
property is “free and clear” and has plenty of room for negotiation.

Having access to property records information is imperative when buying property with
conventional or creative financing. This can make the difference between needless
time and energy spent or a smooth transaction and closing.

Property records and property records search.