Title Searching and Other Research

Please have a look at the map feature on GOOGLE. Once you enter an address or maximize your view to street level use the drop down menu labeled "More" between Map and Traffic. You will see "REAL ESTATE", A sidebar will pop up and all you have to do is click on what ever criteria you like and watch the map. I hope this new tool gives everyone a better view of their neighborhood.

Bill G.

How many of you are struggling to find private investors? Why struggle any longer, your courthouse has a huge database of people with money who are currently investing in real estate!!!

If you do courthouse research you will need to go to the land records department, which is commonly known as Recorder, Register of Deeds, or County Clerk. In this office, you can search for the security instrument which is what secures a loan to a property. Security instruments can be called Mortgage, Deed of Trust or Trust Deed.

I have a coworker who put in an offer on a house about 30 days ago. We are located in the Portland Oregon area. He told his realtor what he wanted to do and his realtor accepted and signed off on it. The realtor then submitted the offer to the home owner who excepted the offer within 30 min. They did what they needed to do and now 30 days later they still have not closed and he does not have any information on what, when or why it is being held up. He is afraid that they are holding it up again to avoid the 4.8% interest rate that he was told he would get.

Here is an interesting artical on forclosure filings in the las couple months.

Could the foreclosure plague be ending?

Foreclosure filings were down 3% in October, the third consecutive month-over-month dip, according to RealtyTrac, the online seller of foreclosed homes.

To be sure, foreclosure rates are still elevated from a year ago: They're up 18% compared with October 2008. But the month-over-month decrease followed a 4% drop in filings during September and a 1% fall in August.

Hey everyone,

I found a Duplex, and when i went on zillow to try and get a estimate for the value, its shows that they cant get it, or that there is no estimate available.
Does anyone now why its shows this?
what other site could I use to get an estimate. I've tries all the ones suggested in Deans book.

Hello,

I have been looking up properties on my county's Parcel Search tool. When I am looking up these properties I can see a Valuation History, Land Rocord Information, Sales Information, etc.

What exactly does it mean when I am looking into Valuation History, and it says:

2002:
GENERAL REVALUATION
Total Land - 34,400
NonRes Land - 0
Res Land - 34,400
Total Improv - 84,300
NonRes Improv - 300
Res Improv - 84,000
TOTAL VALUE - 118,700

2006:
ANNUAL TRENDING
Total Land - 38,200
NonRes Land - 0
Res Land - 38,200
Total Improv - 96,900

I live in a borough of New York City and I have been contacting several title insurance companies trying to get information about a few ugly houses I am interested in buying/assigning. The problem is, none of these companies are willing to give out information on houses that are not on the market. In my case, the owners of the houses I am interested in don't have their houses on the market, as the houses are not even for sale. I want to get information on the owner as well as history on the house. I don't want to contact the owners without doing my homework first, so I'm kind of stuck.

Receiving insurable title

When purchasing a property, always get title insurance. Title insurance protects you, the buyer. The title insurance company reviews all transactions on the property for several years. They check to be sure mortgages and liens were released and removed from the public record when they were paid. They also review that all previous owners signed the transfer documents when a sale was made. If there are future claims against the property then the title insurance company will be responsible for curing the problem at their expense.

All of the websites that I visited only provides estimates for single-family houses. Where can I find reliable estimates for multi-family units? I'm concentrating on properties in Jersey City and nearby areas.

I just got off the phone with a lady I thought owned a house I have been eyeballing for months. Just got the nerve to call at her work because I couldn't find personal #. Turns out I was the fourth person to call about the house, second person today! It's been vacant for atleast 8 or 9 months.

Found out (before I called her) she bought the house in 2005 for $88,710.00, taxes are 1558.00 annual. According to the county website it is not in foreclosure. Also checked foreclosurealert.com and realtytrac.