Suggestions On Desktop Apps/Sites To Discover Property Info

[Michael Pilolla]

Hey BP Community,

I'm starting to sift through some properties on the typical sites - Redfin, Zillow, Realtor, etc. But when I find a potential property, instead of sending a letter to property owners who may have no intention of selling, I'd like to find out if the property is owned by an absentee owner, owned by a trust, etc. I'll eventually be using Listsource or Melissa, but for now, I'm hoping there's a tool that could quickly (and preferably free - haha) give me insight into a property AFTER I measure it against a couple rules of thumb.

Hopefully that makes sense. Happy to clarify if not.

Thanks for your help in advance!

Michael

[Sean OToole]

@Michael Pilolla For free sites you'll be limited to the county. Unfortunately you'll find little info there. The SLO assessors website has little more than tax assessment and basic characteristics like beds and baths, despite lots more info being public record. To get the rest you'll have to go in person. Similarly for the county recorder, you won't find more than document number, document type, date, grantor and grantee information online. For the rest of the details (purchase details, mortgages, foreclosures, etc), you'll either have to buy the documents from their website or go to their office to review for free. Even from there, you'll have to hand enter the info into a spreadsheet or document if you want to use it for much of anything.

Bottom line, if you value your time at all, you'll end up using a paid service. Listsource and Mellisa are great for pulling lists but if you also want to lookup individual properties, get phone numbers, etc there are better options.