If you’re looking to buy or rent a house, you probably want to learn more information about the property and its owner. Fortunately, property records can provide you with a full picture of a house’s history including its ownership.

This post will guide you through how to search property records and what information you can uncover.

1. Ask your realtor

If you are already working with a real estate agent, simply inquire about their knowledge of the property owner. Agents can typically provide you with additional information about both the homeowner and the property.

2. Check tax records

Property tax records can also reveal the name of a house owner. Some counties make this information available online, but others may require you to visit in person.

To access the tax history for a property, you can refer to public records from the county’s tax recorder or assessor’s office. You can find your local tax recorder or assessor by visiting the Nationwide Environmental Title Research website, and choosing your county. Alternatively, a quick Google search of your county name along with “property tax records” should lead you to the relevant information for the offices.

3. Use a third-party tool

Another option to look up a homeowner is with a people search engine like BeenVerified or PeopleFinders.

People search engines source public records and provide easy access to them. You can search for someone’s address by name, phone number or email, or vice versa.

Just enter the address of the property and hit Search Now. This can possibly bring up the following information about a property: possible owners, residents, property details e.g. lot size, type, bedrooms, bathrooms, property tax, estimated value, deeds, liens, nearby homes, and surrounding area.

4. Conduct a title search

If you’re in the final stages of your house hunting process, conducting a title search is necessary to ensure that the seller you’re dealing with is the real owner of the house in question. Apart from providing legal ownership, this search will also unveil any liens or claims on the property that could affect your purchase.

You can ask a title company or a real estate attorney to handle the title search, or you can run the title search on your own. If you prefer doing this by yourself, you can usually obtain the records you need at places such as the county courthouse, recorder’s office and county assessor’s office.

5. Check ownership history

You can use census records to see who used to live at a certain property.

Census records provide historical data about individuals and households, including their names, ages, relationships, and addresses. This allows you to gain insight into the past occupants of a property.

Final words

There are many methods to gather information about a house owner, whether you’d like to bypass the real estate agency and talk to the owner directly, or you simply want to learn about the property’s ownership.

Hopefully, these tips will provide you with some helpful clues. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions.