Tips To Research Real Estate Property Records And Ownership

We’ve all had that creepy feeling that our lives just aren’t very private any more with the advent of the Internet. Although there is a ton of data on all of us that can be easily obtained online, one of the easiest to obtain are the property ownership records in each county.

The first step to researching property records is to look up the website address of the Appraisal District for the county you wish to search in. Here in Fort Bend County, Texas, a quick Google search should give you this website address Fort Bend County Appraisal District. This one is particularly easy to use since you only have to type in a name, an address, or if you’re really geeky, a property identifier such as the tax account ID. It will begin to automatically match properties for you as you start to type in information.

You can use this information for all sort of useful things. One in particular I like to use it for is to protest my property taxes if they have over appraised my property’s taxable value. In Texas, you can protest on a principal known as unequal appraisal. That means if your home and one of your neighbors homes is identical in size and amenities, theoretically, they should both appraise for the same amount assuming the land is the exact same size and in a comparable place in the neighborhood. (i.e. not backing up to commercial, railroad tracks, busy roads, etc.). How to protest your taxes is a lengthy enough subject for another blog I’ll try to do soon.

It can also be used to find people, assuming they own property in the county you are looking at. This could be used for anything from finding old classmates to finding people who owe you money! Why did I loan that guy MONEY in the first place?? Since Texas is a Non-Disclosure State, you won’t be able to see how much that bum paid for his place with the money you loaned him but it will give you an idea of approximately what their home is worth.

In some counties, you can easily opt out of having your name listed as the property owner. Harris County is one of those counties that will only show “Current Owner” instead of the property owners actual name by simply filling out the following form and sending it in. Most of our surrounding counties don’t allow for that unless you fall under one of the 10 categories covered under the following tax code.

Tax Code Section 25.025 provides for confidentiality of appraisal records for individuals in 10 listed categories. These include peace officers, jailers, employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, commissioned security officers, victims of family violence, judges and their spouses, employees of prosecutors of criminal law or child protective services, employees of a community supervision and corrections department, criminal investigators, and police officers or inspectors of the U.S. Federal Protective Service.

If you find a record that says “Current Owner” in Harris County, in most cases, you can still determine who the real owner is by looking for the previous owner’s name on the appraisal district’s website and then searching the real property records on the Harris County Clerk’s website and inserting the previous owner’s name in the Grantor section and look to see who the Grantee is.  I usually include the subdivision in the appropriate box to narrow down the number of records returned in case it is someone that owns a large number of properties. In many cases, you can see the actual image of the transfer paperwork although you’ll have to set up a free account to do so but it’s quick and painless. Those records are generally limited to records from March 23, 2000 forward. Any records older than that, you’ll probably have to drive down to the Harris County Clerk’s office to view.

So, those are my tips on the steps needed to research property records. It works in many other States besides Texas so don’t limit yourself. Give it a try and if you have any trouble with it, you can contact me for more information.