Isaac Bachicha

A title search is fairly easy and can save you some money if you are able to do it yourself. The first thing you are going to do is go to your tax assessor's office. Typically this is located in your county or city records office. Here you can find information regarding property taxes. This tax information is important because it will not only let you see if any back taxes are owed, but it will also identify the lot and parcel number of the property.

Once you have those two pieces of information, you will need to contact your county or city clerk or courthouse. The clerk's office is typically where the titles and deeds are recorded and kept for a particular area. The information you found at the tax assessor's office (lot and parcel number) will then be provided to the clerk's office who will give you a "book and page number" for the property for which you are searching. With that information you should be able to find the title.

The information most commonly sought after and checked for is whether the property has any liens or other encumbrances on it. You can also find the owner's name, the contact information for any lenders who may be involved with the property, and also the date the title was recorded. When doing the research on the title, keep in mind that there may be small discrepancies that may not be clear on the initial look. Keep an eye out for any issues regarding the dimensions of the property that may be different on earlier deeds of the property compared to newer deeds. Also make sure that there aren't other common issues associated with the property such as multiple heirs or private and/or government agencies that may have laid a claim to it.