How to Gather Information About Your House

Bought a new place? Perhaps you’ve inherited one? It’s natural to want to learn more about a new property that’s come into your possession. Even if you have lived somewhere for the past ten years, you will eventually start wondering about what has transpired between its walls over the past decades.

Getting to know more about a house can be useful not just for appreciating what it represents and stands for. It can also be helpful for preserving the home’s historical relevance when making updates and understanding its structural integrity before renovations.

Besides, past information could be vital for assessing a property’s value when paying taxes or listing it on the market. A house with significant historical connections, for instance, is sure to command a hefty bid from the right buyer. (A bleak narrative, on the other hand, can seriously drive the value down.)

Whatever your reasons for digging into your house’s past, there are several ways you can find information depending on your needs and circumstances. Here’s what we recommend.

Run a Reverse Address Search

Let’s say you want to discover who has lived at a specific property. The first thing to do is to see whether you can find it on a reverse address lookup platform. This site compiles data from publicly available resources, which you can search by entering the street number, street name, city, state and zip code. Their search services are not only fast but can also get you a whole lot of information about your home, like the names, ages, and contact details of those who lived there before you.

Basic data, such as the property type (single-family dwelling, etc.), the year built, the type of heating, air conditioning, and sewage system, water source, and mortgage details (e.g., estimated loan-to-value), are also available. And if you are curious about the neighborhood, you can find those details, too.

Speak to Neighbors and Prior Owners/Residents

Those who have known the property over the years (either by owning it or living nearby) can also give you important insights into its history, which formal channels might not reveal.

For instance, they might be aware of events that took place in a house (like crimes or believed hauntings) that real estate agents may intentionally not disclose. They could also shed light on positive occurrences, which have long been buried in a property’s once-glorious past.

So, have a chat with neighbors, especially those who have lived in the area for some time. Also, check whether you can get in touch with previous owners and residents of the property. If you have inherited a house, it is worth speaking to old family members as well to see whether they can remember anything that could be of help.

Check Deeds and Tax Records

Deeds are legal documents detailing the transfer of a property’s ownership and can, therefore, contain a variety of valuable information. This includes the full names of the buyers and sellers, the sale date, and the value. They also provide a legal description of the property, like its exact location, size, and boundaries.

Being public records, deeds are usually available at the county clerk, court clerk, or recorder’s office in your area. But you might not need to visit them in person if their documents are digitized (as is the case with many government offices now). Tax records can also help you learn more about the property, particularly when it comes to the assessed value, tax paid, amounts due, and liens placed. You can find them at the tax assessor’s office or on their website.

Look for Information at the Local Library

There is no better place than your local library to dig into historical archives that could help you find historical information about your house. It might, for instance, have old newspapers, bulletins, and directories containing death notices, court case announcements, and updates on important events related to people who lived on the property decades ago. You might also learn about the local area and significant incidents (like hurricanes and floods) that impacted residents. In addition, libraries may have maps, photos, and plans that could help with your search. And if you have noticed interesting design elements in the property (say, decorative trims, gable roofs or symmetrical facades), you can likely find a few books on historical architecture to dig into their origins. While you’re at it, don’t forget to reach out to the local historical society to check what they can reveal.

Search Online Resources

Details about your house could have appeared in various places on the internet. For instance, there could be old photos uploaded by descendants of previous residents or stories shared on blogs and social media by neighbors who lived in the area.

Traditional information resources, like news articles and government records, can also be available online thanks to rapid digitization. The easiest way to find all these is by using a search engine. Sites like Google and Bing crawl the internet to find content relevant for keyword searches. So, they can increase your chances of discovering related information available online. And if that doesn’t work, you can extend your search to social media platforms.

To Conclude

When you want to find information about the house you live in, reverse address search platforms, local recorder and tax assessor’s offices, library archives and search engines can be excellent resources for discovering useful details. Speaking to previous owners, residents and neighbors could also help unearth valuable insights that you might not find through formal channels. Sometimes, real estate agents who have been around for a long time will have extensive local knowledge, too. So, reaching out to them is another option you would want to consider.

If all else fails, a genealogy expert who specializes in historical properties could be your best bet (provided your house has a history that dates back several decades). Professional genealogists have access to a vast amount of resources, and they are highly skilled in tracing historical events. But this type of expert doesn’t come cheap. So, consider what’s at stake and whether it is worth the cost.