All Forum Posts by: Sophie Evans

Great explanation thanks so much!

I used this method of finding the owner's name of a property I bought and sold recently to see what I could find against what I already know.

For XXXXXXXX in lake park, I went to court for a 2010 lake park code violation of $200k (reduced to 5K) I also paid water lien (recorded 7/13/2010 by Seacoast Utility).

So I found the previous owner's name XXXXXX who bought it in 2005. Sure enough, up popped lots of records like you said it would. But it didn't show the liens that I know were on that property as of 2011.

So does that mean that they were wiped from his records once I paid them off? (A title company did present me with records of those liens prior to my purchase at auction so I know the lien info was available from somewhere. You probably wonder why I don't ask that company, but title search was done via a partner who found the property and I don't have access to them directly).

Or do you think the liens were found somewhere else entirely? As I look back on the title search documents, they say they were recorded at Clerk & Comptroller's Office...

(Book/Page # brought up the warranty deed contracts etc)

I really appreciate your input. I have learned a lot about this already from your posts. Hopefully, I'm not asking too many response questions!

Thanks again
sophie

Thanks for the replies. Even though it may take days, I would still be interested in learning how to do it. But I appreciate the advice that having a good relationship with a title company may be the way to go. But Steve babiak and Jon Holdman, I have used the appraiser's web site for a while, but have never found any thing regarding liens or anything (except the link to the tax collector's site) that may impact the property financially, but maybe I'm not using it to its full advantage - am I missing something?

This is great advice, Jon. Thanks for the reply. These are some solid ideas for places to start my journey!

I'm a new, small-time investor.

I want to perform my own title searches.

I can't find exact info to do it, except that I need to look in the county's "public records".

I know how to check the Palm Beach County Appraiser's Office and the Tax Records...but those don't show liens.

I tried to input a couple of addresses into the PB Clerk & Comptrollers "Public Record Search" (http://www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/officialrecords/search.aspx) under "property type" but came up with "No Records Found" for both.

I must be doing something wrong!

I see the advice "Visit the county recorder, clerk, or assessor’s office in person" Seems old fashioned, but I'm willing to try if it works and not available online..!

I also saw an online class ($130) to learn how to search title (by a national company, so not sure how much it will help for local searching) - Is that necessary?

IN SHORT: Any advice on doing title searches yourself?

Thanks so much...
Sophie

Thanks so much for the responses...much appreciated. I will look into both.

Can anyone recommend a RE attorney, in Palm Beach County/Broward/Dade (So. Florida) who is knowledgeable about the ins and outs of small scale residential investing?

Thanks so much...I'm having trouble locating one that is for investors rather than representing commercial clients or foreclosures etc...

Oh and getting a mentor would be great if anyone is offering !!