in my area the recorders office is run by the dept of natural resources. everything is available on their website, it can be searched by owner name, subdivision name, date, etc. anyway, all I do is go online, look up a property and owner and see what liens or deeds of trust are recorded for that property. I'm not sure if this is standard, from what I've seen here, and tried to find for other areas online, it looks like you might have to go to your local courthouse to find this info.
If this is your first deal, I wouldn't risk doing it yourself. In Pgh, Pa you can go down to the courthouse and research all of the information. The only problem is it is so scattered you will probably miss something. I would get whoever is going to issue title insurance to do it.
Please have a Title Co do this for you & insure the title so if they miss something it won't cost you.
And a local title co. would probably give you a cheap preliminary title report so you'll have some pretty good idea what you're facing re liens, debts, etc.
Title research is a learned skill and requires ALL records online, and not easily undertaken with any great accuracy by any layman even if that layman were to have the title co.'s resources.
Good Idea, in days gone by it would have worked. Nodays there is one little snag that I cannot get around.
When a title co. insures your deed, they set it up for a 8:01 recording the next morning. So a night search crew is checking to see that there are no changes made just prior to title passing and their insuring same.
So the night search www.team.Checks.
Supose I wish to cloud and I throw a deed on or a trust deed or who knows what. I wait til last minute and just before the wicket closes, I popped the instrument in and it records.
the following morning at 08:01 your deed will be recording but it will be behind me.
the night search team discover the deed and cancel the recordation which would have been insured by them.
The next day all hell breaks loose. The deal has been held up and a copy of the new instrument is in the title Companies hand. You get called and give an explanation if none. They hold it up until it gets straightend out. If it is truly wild you can bond it out and then record the next day. Sooooo I do not suggest you do your own search and remember if you do your search or abstract is worth just what you paid yourself for it. Nada.
And I would add that no database (even a governmental one) will guarantee that it's 100% accurate and up to date. That's why, at least in PA, title companies have people physically search records at the courthouse. They don't rely exclusively on databases. Garbage in, garbage out. The primary source for the data are the records themselves.
To the point of innaccurate databases, I found a particular property I was interested in. I looked it up in a survey database and got the parcel id# from there. Checked the county recorders office - "parcel id# not found" ?!?! Ok, so check by address - "no info available" ummm...call my contact at the recorders office - she starts spewing info at me in less than a minute. Now I wouldn't want to trust that kind of database when looking for liens
Thanks to all of you for setting this "do it yourself-er straight". I was trying to save a couple of bucks before I invested the big dollars. I guess good research is the best investment to make! Thanks again!
~"When I was an REI babe I thought as a babe and reasoned as a babe. I was in need of milk and not solid food." - REI 1:1
....however might I addddddd.......the recording system in my Parish (that's right-Louisana) is all online and after a certain year all records are online. I took a day off(which I now realized cost more than an abstract would have-charged to learning) and using this database I have searched for mortgages/liens/judgements/darkclouds by legal description, owners of record names, variations of names, businesses associated with owners names, and commonly known address......was I at least headed in the right direction? Just for the sake of learning and getting more wisdom and similac from you wonderful people!!!
You do not have the respond to this question above but it is always nice to keep to know who is new in the family. If the posts above didn't answer all your concerns, let us know if there is another area that you fear you might get burned? Appraisal? Repair costs? Asbestos. Lead Pint? House ghosts? You name it !
what are title searches/.abstracting title costs now a days??? i know they are worth it since you might miss something along the way but just curious what they charge to do something like www.this.i'm in texas if that matters.
A title search in my area costs at least $300, not including title insurance. And, most title companies in my area won't run a search without requiring title insurance.
I don't want to beat a dead horse. I hope you are finally convinced to buy title insurance.
I use to do my own searches. I'm proud to say that I never got hit with a unmerchantable title issue or missed any big liens. But, I missed some.
Title companies don't like gaps in the insured chain. I didn't like the gnawing feeling that there may be something, something big which I missed. To remove that feeling is worth the price of title insurance.
in my area the recorders office is run by the dept of natural resources. everything is available on their website, it can be searched by owner name, subdivision name, date, etc. anyway, all I do is go online, look up a property and owner and see what liens or deeds of trust are recorded for that property. I'm not sure if this is standard, from what I've seen here, and tried to find for other areas online, it looks like you might have to go to your local courthouse to find this info.
If this is your first deal, I wouldn't risk doing it yourself. In Pgh, Pa you can go down to the courthouse and research all of the information. The only problem is it is so scattered you will probably miss something. I would get whoever is going to issue title insurance to do it.
Lori
[addsig]
Please have a Title Co do this for you & insure the title so if they miss something it won't cost you.
And a local title co. would probably give you a cheap preliminary title report so you'll have some pretty good idea what you're facing re liens, debts, etc.
Title research is a learned skill and requires ALL records online, and not easily undertaken with any great accuracy by any layman even if that layman were to have the title co.'s resources.
Good Idea, in days gone by it would have worked. Nodays there is one little snag that I cannot get around.
When a title co. insures your deed, they set it up for a 8:01 recording the next morning. So a night search crew is checking to see that there are no changes made just prior to title passing and their insuring same.
So the night search www.team.Checks.
Supose I wish to cloud and I throw a deed on or a trust deed or who knows what. I wait til last minute and just before the wicket closes, I popped the instrument in and it records.
the following morning at 08:01 your deed will be recording but it will be behind me.
the night search team discover the deed and cancel the recordation which would have been insured by them.
The next day all hell breaks loose. The deal has been held up and a copy of the new instrument is in the title Companies hand. You get called and give an explanation if none. They hold it up until it gets straightend out. If it is truly wild you can bond it out and then record the next day. Sooooo I do not suggest you do your own search and remember if you do your search or abstract is worth just what you paid yourself for it. Nada.
Cheers Lucius
And I would add that no database (even a governmental one) will guarantee that it's 100% accurate and up to date. That's why, at least in PA, title companies have people physically search records at the courthouse. They don't rely exclusively on databases. Garbage in, garbage out. The primary source for the data are the records themselves.
To the point of innaccurate databases, I found a particular property I was interested in. I looked it up in a survey database and got the parcel id# from there. Checked the county recorders office - "parcel id# not found" ?!?! Ok, so check by address - "no info available" ummm...call my contact at the recorders office - she starts spewing info at me in less than a minute. Now I wouldn't want to trust that kind of database when looking for liens
Thanks to all of you for setting this "do it yourself-er straight". I was trying to save a couple of bucks before I invested the big dollars. I guess good research is the best investment to make! Thanks again!
~"When I was an REI babe I thought as a babe and reasoned as a babe. I was in need of milk and not solid food." -
REI 1:1
REI_Similac
....however might I addddddd.......the recording system in my Parish (that's right-Louisana) is all online and after a certain year all records are online. I took a day off(which I now realized cost more than an abstract would have-charged to learning) and using this database I have searched for mortgages/liens/judgements/darkclouds by legal description, owners of record names, variations of names, businesses associated with owners names, and commonly known address......was I at least headed in the right direction? Just for the sake of learning and getting more wisdom and similac from you wonderful people!!!
What's your name REI_SIMILAC?
You do not have the respond to this question above but it is always nice to keep to know who is new in the family. If the posts above didn't answer all your concerns, let us know if there is another area that you fear you might get burned? Appraisal? Repair costs? Asbestos. Lead Pint? House ghosts? You name it !
Alex
what are title searches/.abstracting title costs now a days??? i know they are worth it since you might miss something along the way but just curious what they charge to do something like www.this.i'm in texas if that matters.
thanks
A title search in my area costs at least $300, not including title insurance. And, most title companies in my area won't run a search without requiring title insurance.
I don't want to beat a dead horse. I hope you are finally convinced to buy title insurance.
I use to do my own searches. I'm proud to say that I never got hit with a unmerchantable title issue or missed any big liens. But, I missed some.
Title companies don't like gaps in the insured chain. I didn't like the gnawing feeling that there may be something, something big which I missed. To remove that feeling is worth the price of title insurance.