How To Find Out Who Owns A Property You Want

Brai is the founder of SW4 Insights, a public policy advisory firm based in Washington D.C. He has over a decade of experience as a journalist and consultant covering finance and economic policy, with a particular focus on distilling complex topics to inform readers' decision-making.

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Deborah KearnsMortgages Expert

With two decades of experience as a respected journalist and communications leader in the mortgage field, Deborah Kearns is passionate about helping consumers make smart homeownership and personal finance decisions. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, Associated Press, Forbes Advsior, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, MarketWatch, Money, NerdWallet and Bankrate. She has held several leadership roles in digital newsrooms and with top mortgage and real estate companies.

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Deborah Kearns

Deborah KearnsMortgages Expert

Mortgages Expert

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Published: Jun 16, 2023, 5:00am

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How To Find Out Who Owns A Property You Want

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You are in the market for your first home or an investment property, and you happen to walk by your dream house, the ideal fixer-upper or a plot of land in a great location to build a vacation home. One of the first steps to take is to find out who owns the property—information that’s available through a variety of sources. In fact, property ownership details are public records, and the data is readily available online, or you can seek the help of a real estate professional.

Why Would You Want To Find The Owner of a Property?

You might want to contact the owner to see if the home is occupied, for sale, or if there are any plans to sell in the future. If the property you’re interested in is a plot of land, contacting the owner is part of your due diligence to make sure there are no pre-existing issues or ownership disputes.

6 Ways To Find Out Who Owns a Property You Want

When real estate changes hands, a local government entity often records the transaction details, which become part of the public record. Here’s a list of ways to find out who owns the property you want, most of which are free.

1. Check Your Local Assessor’s Office

The best place to start is the website or office of your local property assessor. They maintain a database of real property information, including the property’s value, assessment roll, warranty deeds and other information, including who owns it.

Assessors are local government officials tasked with estimating the fair value of real estate property within a county, city, town or village to accurately assess property taxes. The assessor records the assessments on the assessment roll, which you can review to get the property’s latest valuation.

2. Check With the County Clerk

It’s possible the property might not be in the tax assessors’ database, which can happen in some situations. If that’s the case, you can check with the county clerk’s office, also known as the recorder’s office. The county clerk acts as a recorder and custodian of important public records, including all deeds, bonds, marriage licenses, and birth and death certificates.

The county clerk usually keeps a record of property deeds so long as you have the property’s address to do a search. If you’re able to track down the deed, it should have the name of the property owner. Note that depending on how much time has passed since the deed was recorded, the information may be out of date. Additionally, you may have to pay a nominal fee to request these public records if the county doesn’t provide them online.

3. Ask a Real Estate Agent

An experienced real estate agent with extensive contacts in the local market will have access to more property listings than those that are publicly available. They might also have intel regarding homes that are in the pipeline to be listed.

Real estate agents also have access to the multiple listing service (MLS), which contains a lot of data that they can share with you, including sales or listing information. They won’t necessarily have ownership details, but if there’s a listing agent connected to a property, they can contact them to get more information about the owner and their situation.

4. Search Online

If you have the exact property address, you can also search online to track down the property owner. There are several websites that provide public property information for free. However, tread lightly when using free online sources; the information might be outdated, or the source might not be the most reliable.

There are also online databases that will provide you with property information for a fee or subscription. These sources might provide more details about a property, as well as who owns it.

5. Talk to a Lawyer

You could hire a real estate attorney to help you find out who the owner of the property is and to handle the initial outreach on your behalf.

6. Talk to the Owner or Neighbors

You can also knock on the front door and ask to speak to the owner directly or leave your contact information if it’s not the owner’s primary residence. You could also check with the neighbors to see if they’re willing to share details about the property owner or the property history, but this should be an option of last resort.

What To Do After You Find the Owner of a Property

When trying to track down the owner of a property, be careful about relying on outdated or inaccurate information, and make sure you’re talking to the current legal owners. Be mindful, though, of letting your eagerness land you in hot water and potentially violating someone’s privacy.

If you find the owner of a property you’re interested in and they are open to selling, the next step is to get preapproved for a mortgage. Preapproval will let you know how much money you can borrow to help with the purchase. You should also make sure you have enough money for a down payment and closing costs.

Finally, you’ll want to work with a real estate agent or attorney to make an offer on the home and ensure you get to the closing table with as few bumps as possible. Once your offer is accepted, your mortgage loan goes through underwriting. As part of that process, your lender will conduct a title search to verify ownership of the property and that it’s free and clear of any encumbrances or title disputes.