How to Find Out Who Owns a Property [Full Guide]

To find out who owns a certain property, people usually use the Geographic Information System, the County assessor or recorder consultation, the title company or reverse address lookup services online, among others.

Have you found your dream home and wish to make an offer, or do you want to know who moved into the house next door?

Information about property ownership is usually available online, and it’s legal to access. However, you may have to jump through a few whoops since you need to find a legitimate website. Moreover, you could go to a real estate agent, since they typically find out who owns land as part of their job. All-in-all, every method you use to find out owners of property by address differs significantly between states.

With this in mind, our HeyLocate team has researched the best resources to determine who owns a property. Free services are not always reliable, since they may not have the resources to verify the information. Paid platforms are suitable when you don’t want to take chances or talk to the wrong person when looking to score an off-market property.

Free Methods to Find Property Owners by Address

Start with the main free methods to know the owner of the property, although they hardly give an immediate result.

Use Geographic Information System (GIS)

A Geographical Information System is a tool that provides accurate property mapping. Your county provides the information you get while using GIS. This means you will need to visit your state and county’s specific geographic information system.

GIS tools allow you to search a property owner by Address, Property ID, Assessment Area Number, Assessment Sub-Area, DC Wards, or DCRA permits.

Look Up Tax Bills By Address

A property’s tax records are public information. These property taxes are available at the county records’ office. You can access this information through an online service or in person. The county recorder’s office information includes the property owner’s name, the property value at the time of the search, and all taxes due and paid.

You will need the property’s address to initiate an address search. Several addresses will pop up based on the numbers on the address and similar street names. Hence, you will need to select the property from the listing. You will then see the property owner and all taxes paid by the homeowner.

Visit the County Assessor

The county assessor appraises all county property for tax purposes. The property owners pay property tax collected at the collector’s office.

To this end, you can start at the county assessor’s office when you’re looking to find out who owns a property. The assessor will provide free, legal, and comprehensive ownership data about the property.

However, the information from the assessor’s office can be outdated depending on the time it was collected. You may have to visit city hall or call your local government office to verify the information.

Visit the County Clerk/Recorder

If the property you want owner information on is not listed in the county assessor’s office, you may have to visit the county clerk’s office. This could happen if no one has ever paid taxes on the property.

When you visit the county recorder’s office, you will get information about the property owner, contact information, and history of the property ownership.

Professional Tools for Property Owner Search

Finding out who owns a property may seem simple. But that’s when you’re looking for general information. When you need comprehensive details, such as an estimated value and property taxes, you will want to engage a reliable reverse lookup by address platform.

These are tested and approved online house owner finder platforms: for example, Ownerly and NeighborWho are dedicated specifically to the property search and lookup.

Ownerly offers great leads for those looking to sell their home. The platform offers a one-week trial for $1 to search by address and see up to 25 reports. It also has a $5 trial to have shared access and download PDF documents.

Neighbor Who property search offers a $1 trial for searching up to 50 properties. You can subscribe to a monthly plan at a charge of $44.86 for 50 searches or $29.87 per month for a three-month membership.

I chose a trial that allowed me to access premium data such as full names of the owner, phone and email, and property deeds info.

Besides, we recommend paying attention to the tools for real estate investors, brokers, and wholesalers. With them, you can get details like the owner’s contact details, sale price, when the property was bought, equity, and value estimates.

For example, PropertyRadar has a personalized activity dashboard for property lookups, listings, discovering new properties, etc. It also offers lead management; hence, it’s beneficial when you want a straightforward platform to navigate the real-estate space.

Melissa Lookups offers free basic searches. The information you’ll get from the search will include the owner’s name, telephone, type of property, and the sales estimate.

Hire a Title Company

A title company may come in handy when you need assistance with a title search, especially if the information is not readily available. Title companies conduct research on public records and find all the information related to a title.

You’ll benefit from gaining information about the background of a property, which can make the transfer of ownership clear. However, title companies can charge $200 for a single search.

Turn to Marketing List Companies and Brokers

You can also talk to a real estate agent since they can run a title search. Some real taste brokers can do it for free, saving you money, but most marketing list companies will charge a small fee to conduct a property or title search.

The good thing about hiring a real estate marketing list company is that they can examine and ensure there are no liens, claims, or issues that could result in another entity or person laying a stake in the home.

Conclusion

If you’ve ever fallen in love with a property and want to know who owns it, this article will help you narrow down your options. You can start by looking up public records, but they could be time-consuming. Paid options promise quick and comprehensive results.

Ownerly is our number one choice, thanks to its ease of use, detailed reports, and fair pricing. Neighbor Who is our second choice as it shows the property history and unique information concerning a property.