I love Marion County Clerk of Courts

I love open governments. I love governments that put up property related info, for free.

I have among my bookmarks this -

http://216.255.240.38/wb_or1/or_sch_1.asp

Yes, it doesn't look like much, but it is a treasure trove of information if you are looking for people or looking up info about people in (Ocala) Marion County.

But if you are looking at property, well then you have a mix of websites to look at. I'm sure there is an easier way but this is the rabbit trail I take to find info about Ocala and other Marion County Properties:

1. Go to http://www.mariontax.com/property-taxes/property-t...

2. From there at the top menu go to "Property Taxes" then click "Pay Taxes Online- Search the Tax Roll".

3. Agree to everything.

4. You should get to a screen that says Search by Tax account Number. Go to the top menu and put your mouse on "Search Tax Roll" and pick "Search by Property Address".

5. Plug in the address of the property of interest.

6. For the sake of this exercise I'm looking at a $48K house on Realtor.Com. I plug in the address, hit search and it brings up the results. The taxes for 2015 have been paid. I click the account number, which begins with an 'R'.

7. I scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, because right now I have no interest in the taxes paid since 1999, to "Links of Interest LINK TO PROPERTY APPRAISER WEB". Click the highlighted link for the County Appraiser.

8. This opens a new window (on my browser) and it shows me a new owner. In this case it is the SEC OF HSG & URBAN DEVELOPMENT... foreclosure!

9. I click the highlighted number and BINGO, tons of info. I get the taxes for the past 3 years, the ASCII outline of the property including out buildings, zoning info, permits, miscellaneous improvements, building characteristics, and my favorite "Property Transfer History". There are quit claims, a lot of warranties, a transfer to the bank and most of them have a PDF image for me to look at.  I've found divorce papers, death certificates, and all sorts of goodies related to property.

So Marion County, Florida.... I love you.