Whether you’re a realtor or just a regular person trying to know about a specific property, there might be several reasons behind finding out who owns a property. It could be an apartment, a commercial space, a bungalow, or anything else.
You might want to research a property’s history due to how old it is, or you might want to move into a place because you fell in love with how it looked. Besides this, you might just be a real estate agent who wants to get better at their job, know everything about a property, and make money by selling it. Well, whatever your reason may be, you always need to know the owner for doing any of the above activities.
If you’re wondering how one goes about finding out the owner of a place, you’ve arrived at the right place. Consider this article a guide to the best ways to find out who owns a property. Without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Finding the Residential Details
To begin with, you must find the exact address of the property. Only if you have this piece of information can you leverage any of the below methods to find the info you need. There are numerous ways to go about doing this. If you know the property’s name, you can simply type it on Google or Apple Maps and get the address, including the zip code.
If the property doesn’t have a name, but you pass it often, you can simply go there and pull out your maps to see the details. You can also try parcel maps which enable you to know the residential details of unnamed homes as well. Although these types of maps differ depending on the state, they come in handy and are easy to understand.
With these methods, you can get the precise location of a property. Now, all you need to do is use one or more of the below methods to find the property’s owner.
Talk to the Neighbors
This is the easiest way to find many details about a property, including its owner. You can simply drop by if you live nearby or are just passing by the neighborhood. Talk to the neighbors, find out about the person who owns the property, and get their information. However, nobody likes strangers knocking at their door for such specific details, so you should have a compelling reason for them to disclose such data. In fact, if you want to go one step ahead, you can simply stop at the property and drop a note highlighting who you are, what you want to know, and why. Share your number in the note and the owner might hit you back with a text or a call.
Contact Realtors or Estate Companies
If you are uncomfortable with the thought of a direct meeting similar to a cold call, you can get in touch with real estate agents and companies who know the neighborhood and its properties. Although they might charge a small consultation fee, they may be able to tell you who owns the place and more information about them. Furthermore, if necessary, you can also get yourself an appointment with the person through the realtor.
Head to the Town Hall, County Office, or Tax Assessor
Usually, town halls, county offices, and tax assessors have details about several lands, houses, and properties, whether residential or commercial. You can either physically go to these places or access their official websites to get public records about the property. You might also get to know about the place, the owner, the value, and its history of transactions. However, you should know that this might cost you a nominal fee.
Furthermore, since these are government offices, the process might be slow, and you might have to go through many formalities and documents to get what you need. So, if you have the time and energy, you can use this method, as the details you get will be quite reliable. But, you must also understand that when it comes to maintaining such databases, not all counties and states are adept at it. You might sometimes get outdated information or have many different databases to look from. Overall, this can be quite a tedious process.
Online Platforms
If you’re looking for a relatively simple method to get what you need, aggregator platforms are a good place to go. These can also be known as white pages websites which collate data from several public sources. You need to head to one of these sites, type in the address you found, and check the results. Usually, you get details such as the property’s owner, the square footage, the history, the value, the last transaction, the people who live there, and perhaps even more.
However, many white pages websites available online are fake and merely scam people by asking them to pay a certain amount of money for their service. So check out reviews and user sentiment around the website before you pay any money or give any details to them. Another important thing to remember is that since white pages are an old concept, the website might be authentic, but will be old and have outdated information. So it is advisable to do thorough research before using any of these tools for your needs.
Get in Touch with Real Estate Attorneys
You can go to a real estate attorney if agents and companies are not your jam. These people will either have the information you need, or be able to find the information with their efficient methods. Furthermore, if you’re looking at a commercial property or if any legalities are involved, then it’s best to reach out to these attorneys, as they will not only provide the necessary info, but also help you with further steps depending on what you want to do with the details you possess.
Conduct a Simple Google Search
Sometimes all you need is to run a search engine query to get everything you need. This holds true in this case as well. If the property is relatively popular or has a specific name, you can simply type it on the search bar and check the results. To streamline your search, you can add suffixes and prefixes such as ‘owner,’ ‘who owns <name of the property>,’ and more. These types of queries may help you determine the ownership of many places without any hassle.
Conclusion
Overall, there are numerous ways to find out the ownership data of any place. Understand how important it is for you to get such info, and try to gauge the importance in terms of time, energy, and money. Based on that, you can choose one or more of the above methods to get what you need.
FAQs
Is finding the owner of a property easy?
Depending on where the property is located, how popular it is, and how significant it has in the county, it can be quite easy or tedious for you to find the owner.
Are public records reliable for finding ownership data?
Usually, public records are highly reliable because the government or other public workers maintain them. However, certain remote counties might not be well-equipped to collate such data, so you might have to find other ways to know about a place’s ownership.
What are the different ways to find a house’s owner?
You can either use white pages platforms, speak with the neighbors, get in touch with real estate officials and companies, or check the public records.