How to Research the History of a House

by Dwayne Davis Nothing Really

In today's world, most individuals are eager to learn. Purchasing a home may be stressful, so you want to be well-informed about where you'll be calling home. Simply put, this is why you're here at Red Flag Home Inspection, looking for a top-notch home inspector. So, you've got your eye on a property and are taking a closer look at the house's history. Check out these useful links to get you started on your quest.

Table of Contents

● How to Research the History of a House

● Closing

● What is a Wind Mitigation Report?

● Insurance Inspections: What is a 4-Point Inspection?

● Flipped Houses: The Battle Between GOOD (Construction) and EVIL (Investment Costs)

1. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or Ask Your Realtor

It is a database used by real estate brokers to construct (and share with potential purchasers) the properties you are interested in buying. If you're inquisitive, a basic internet search will provide plenty of information about the Multiple Listing Service. Although this database is not open to the general public, your real estate agent will be able to access it and provide you with previous listings. You may check out the house's dimensions, wallpaper, and even the bathroom's carpeting there. Before they broke down some walls and opened up the home, you could see what it looked like. Estate, Compass, and Move to have all been used by some to locate old listing data.

2. Evacuation Zone and/or Flood Zone

Knowing where a residence is situated in an evacuation zone is critical in Florida. You may see where you are located on a map of the Florida Disaster by entering your address and adjusting the zoom level. Identifying and displaying your home's approved evacuation route is a good idea.

Any extreme weather-related event, including flooding, causes more damage in the United States. You may use F.E.M.A.'s interactive map to see whether your new house is at risk of flooding. If a mortgage is held on a property in a designated Flood Zone, the owner will be obliged to get Flood insurance. Consider purchasing this insurance even if you live outside a defined flood zone. Your "Flood Factor" will be evaluated, and a probability report will be generated based on your provided timeframes. A flood is more likely to occur in this area than others, depending on where you live and how far you live from the coast.

3. Foreclosures and Distressed Property Search

Bank-owned or foreclosed residences may become an eyesore in the community, lowering the average sales price. RealtyTrak is a good place to start if you want to learn more about foreclosed and distressed homes. It's as simple as using Zillow or Google to access the site. You need to key in the city or street name to view the available properties. Pre-foreclosure, auction, bank-owned, and regular sales are options for narrowing your search. Of course, your selected realtor may also provide access to the M.L.S.'s listings. This site can assist you in finding out whether there are any distressed properties in the area where you're looking to buy a new house.

4. Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (C.L.U.E.)

Up to seven years' worth of automotive and personal property claim data may be found in Lexis Nexus database. In addition, it provides risk assessment data that insurance firms may use to help them a price and underwrite policies. However, only the property owner, insurer, or lender can access this information. The present owner (the seller) may get a C.L.U.E. report for you. This may make customers aware of problems they were unaware of before purchasing. Even after the damaged materials have been removed and replaced, it is not always simple to tell what events happened after they have been removed and replaced with new ones.

Why should you worry whether damaged materials are removed/replaced? It may surprise you how frequently inexperienced personnel and/or D.I.Y. enthusiasts attempt to fix these problems themselves. Things may seem wonderful, but as you peel back the layers, they may not be that wonderful. One of the things you need to be on the watch for is people adhering to established processes and standards of care. Doing enough is often cheaper than doing the correct thing.

5. Talk to the Neighbors

You may discover a great deal about an area by listening to the neighborhood talk. The cul-de-sac drama will be over in three short hours, and you'll know whose property had unapproved color schemes used and which dog uses your yard as personal trash. The structures themselves are very well-documented. Questions on the basics of maintenance and upkeep are acceptable. Your decision-making processes might benefit greatly from knowing if a long list of flaws was discovered quickly after construction. Inquire about surrounding schools, traffic patterns, and other local conveniences as part of your search. So don't be afraid to make yourself known. To determine whether you can live next door to Ms. "I keep my yard spotless while my dog is pooping on yours," you'll need to take a hard look at yourself. Dog pee causes grass to burn. You can look it up on the internet.

Neighbors, on the other hand, maybe a goldmine of knowledge. People know other people, and they may be able to help you find a new home or neighborhood.

6. Search Engine

After researching your cold symptoms on the internet and convincing yourself that you were dying, why not do the same for your future home? P> A basic internet search might potentially provide some juicy rewards. Listings from Trulia, Redfin, Realtor.com and other real estate websites are often shown. To help you get started with your search, some ads may feature additional and/or in-depth images. As a potential buyer, you may be able to learn about the previous owner's criminal record or even his vote for that bad man.

Take use of Google Streetview while you're in the area. You put the URL into google.com to utilize it. Once you've clicked on the map picture, drag the orange-yellow person in the bottom right corner to where you want to see it on the screen. As you move him about, you'll notice that the Streetview film has a different tint. You may go up/down the street or zoom in/out from that point. Click on the clock icon in the top left corner to look at the identical photograph taken on a different day and time. Seeing whether or not the roof has been replaced or the home has been painted is exciting. There are six automobiles parked in the front yard and 2 feet of grass. If you're searching for heavily inhabited places, you'll have access to much 2007-era imagery. A lack of Streetview images in more sparse places is possible.

7. Aerial Imagery

There has been a rise in the quality and frequency of aerial images during the last several years. As a result, you may be able to tell (within a few years) when that particular building addition was erected. An incident seen from an aerial viewpoint may be seen in some of the more recent and clear pictures. Then you'd know when anything like a pool or a separate building had been completed. If they've replaced their roof covers or given up on their yard and begun embracing the weeds, you'll also generally observe hue changes. Aerial photos on property assessment papers are rare in Florida. To discover a local Property Appraiser's office in any other county, type in "county name + property appraiser" into your search engine's address bar.

Google is an excellent source to get up-to-date aerial photographs. Like you did with Streetview, you may access the map directly by clicking on the map link rather than dragging the orange/yellow person. Once logged in, you may switch between "map" and "aerial" mode by clicking the symbol in the bottom left corner.

Google Aerial

There's a good deal of detail to be seen as you zoom in. The map's bottom right corner displays the image's date. For example, you may estimate if your new pool will be too tiny for that 6' pool float you've been eyeing if you right-click to pick locations and measure distances. If you require the coordinates for another reason, you may also copy the latitude and longitude.

Just move the orange/yellow figure into position to see the Streetview picture. You may even sketch and comment on the maps you're looking at if you're inclined. The "Historical Imagery" feature in Google Earth Pro, the desktop version of this tool, allows you to view the same home from many aerial perspectives (usually provided in 2 to 6-year spans). Check out my essay on why this roof is inefficient HERE if you want to learn more. The last time, I'm sure I didn't have to explain how bad it is to have a huge tarp on the roof. For those who don't know, they are used as temporary roof covers when necessary. If you don't see it throughout your inspections, you should inquire why it was there and ask for paid invoice documents to verify that it was handled appropriately.

8. Public Records Searching

Public Record Searching is the next step if you want to discover more about a possible home's past. You may discover a list of Public Record authorities in your region. When I typed in F.L.O.R.I.D.A., HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, the export was as follows:

Public Records

The Property Appraiser's office should be the initial stop on these lines. Your target property's past tenants and owners may be researched in this section. Appraisers also consider the property's finish and usage when determining its worth. A trip to the Property Appraiser's office may provide some solid information on how they transformed the three-car garage into a mother-in-law suite (if that happens, I hope you read about its pros and cons in my earlier Blog Entry HERE). Over time, several construction permits and changes in the usage of the residence's regions are documented in the appraisers' records.

Additionally, a trip to the Department of Construction may be necessary. It is possible to access some of the documents from more contemporary Building Departments online, although this is not currently the case for all of them. For ancient structures, you may need to go to the site and seek help with microfilm scanning. Here, you may look up the building's permission history. Inquire with the sellers if any big renovations don't match the permit history (and why not). Obtaining printed copies of any permits or plans obtained will cost you per page, and not all departments accept check or credit card payments.

The local library may be able to shed light on the history and architecture of the area's buildings. If you're on a scavenger hunt for historical purposes, I recommend making a brief pit stop there to see what you can find.

9. Title Search

A title search in Florida fulfills several goals. You'll also get confirmation of who owns the property, its official description, any mortgages, tax information, and any liens, restrictions, or easements attached. The "chain of title" is a legal document demonstrating the history of a property's ownership. There is a good chance you will need to do a title search as part of your mortgage application process. Your building's history may be unearthed via these searches, which reach back in time as far as feasible. Records that predate the date of construction of most structures are often discovered.

10. Diedinhouse.com

I know it's awful to think about, but the home you're considering purchasing may have had a previous owner who died there. It's usual for realtors to be asked whether the previous owners or anybody who lived there died, and they may or may not know the answer. Diedinhouse.com is where you can get an answer to that question if you pay a charge. As previously said, you may learn a lot about your potential home's history by speaking with the people who live next door.

11. School Ratings

School districts are important for those who have children. Thus it is important to determine whether they are safe. Every level of school may be found in detail at GreatSchools.com. To distinguish between the good and the bad, each school is assigned a rating factor (out of 10). In addition, you'll discover the school's complete name, its address, how far it is from your chosen location, and how many pupils are now enrolled there. Further investigation into particular schools yields more student metrics, test scores, and other demographic data.

12. Sex Offender Database

The National Sex Offender Database may check to see any registered offenders near your new house just in case you were distracted by the dog soiling your future shrubs when the neighbor informed you. A sex offender register is available on the F.B.I.'s Scams and Safety website.

13. General Crime Statistics

If you're considering relocating, it's good to check that the region isn't overrun with theft and violent crime. The F.B.I. has come through with new materials to help you investigate your area for the second time. It is possible to slice and dice data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (N.I.B.R.S.) based on geography, year, and other factors. Hate crimes and other violations of federal law may be found here.

Members of the Ring community in the potential home's vicinity may also be interested in joining if they already have a Ring doorbell. Here is the place if you're looking for fascinating Ring doorbell videos or chat messages about local events. Spoiler Alert: Most of the videos on the site are of porch pirates or folks inquiring if anybody knows this weird guy who knocked on my house this morning.

Closing

That's all I can say. Best of luck in your hunt. Let me know if you find any of these resources useful. Locate the perfect house you've been looking for in the M.L.S. If your favorite tool isn't on the list, let us know. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.