How to find out the status of a piece of real estate

If you notice a home that seems to be abandoned for a while and no one has bought it, there are ways you can find out who owns the property and whether it is up for auction.

With the address of the property in question in hand you would proceed to the local county courthouse and seek out the following:

Tax Assessors office
Recorder of Deeds office
County Clerks office
Mapping and Platting possibly

The following is a typical scenario although it may differ from location to location. First thin you do is go to the tax assessors office and ask someone on staff to help you find taxes on the property address. For good measure just get the last 4 years of taxes on the property. Most likely they will have tax bills separated by what is called a pin number or parcel number. Be sure to write down this number and also make sure you write down the home owners name.

Next time we will discuss where to go with this number and to also find out the property's real estate foreclosure status.