SOUNDS TOO SIMPLE, BUT HERE'S A LITTLE TIP

Thanks Rina,I did not know that!

good idea
and thanks for the help;)

Thanks so much for all your helpful tips, and information that you share with everyone! Its clearly evident how much you want all of us to be successful with REI.. Mike in CT...

Thank you for sharing, I wouldn't have thought of this.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

just in case someone needs this information , make sure you have your county's website saved to your favorites. You can look it up by typing the name of your county and look for "records" or "tax records". I have this to be the most valluable research tool when researching a property.

Yes, the county websites are very important! Bookmark them, like Martin said. Thanks!

Rina

P.S. Randee, Richie, Mike, & Lea, Thank you for the kind remarks. Nice to be here for each other. Mike, it was nice chatting with you today.

Great Idea! Your the best!

Rina,
The obvious which I never though of - great help!

Finally someone who Googles the address! LOL That is how I find out a lot of info. Great post Rina!

Sometimes we get so involved that we forget the simple things often work wonders. I'm off to Google now!

Kristin

Used this idea in past and forgot all about doing it. Thanks for the reminder. the same is true about a property owner. Ever try googling a persons name?

Hi Rina,
My goodness! And to think I am internet saavy. I have been trying to find out information on a property via my assessor's records and to no avail had no luck. Never thought about googling the address. Geez, just googled the address and guess what? Bingo!

Thank you.

Peace and Blessings,

I have noticed this too. Sometimes I get emails from foreclosure sites with a property and the site wants me to to pay money and sign up for a subscription for more info on the property. I just take the address and google it and I usually can find all the information I need.

Jeremy

I tried this and is not working for me am i doing something wrong?

Your giving spirit, your willingness to help others simply knows no end!

Seriously, I have done this many times, just as you wrote:
"one of the simplest ways to find information is to just plain Google the address"

It did not, once, cross my mind to share that information with everyone on this site! (I think somewhere in the back of my mind I probably thought that everyone did it - no brainer!)

That is what sets you apart my friend!

This is a GREAT thread! I love it!

I will think twice about everything that I do now and see if I can't post a couple of things that could really help others members navigate the RE process a little more efficiently!

Angela

As always nothing but great advice from everyone. I don't think we can have too many resources. The more ways to make sure every deal is a good, knowledgeable choice the better. Thanks again to everyone. Hope all is well.

Richard
Bothell, WA

Thank you, This is something I didn't know.

I never thought about that!That's great! I've been driving around at 2k or newer developments that I know about and got address of properties that show no activity. I remember Dean saying that if we were on the east coast that he was sorry because of all the snow that we got. but I used it to my advantage! I thought differently and another simple but also a tip is that I seen a lot of people plow there stoops,driveways,sidewalks, etc. So a light bulb went off in my head! lol! If the property's driveway is not plowed and you don't see any footsteps that can only lead to the mailbox is that there is more than likely nobody living there. All of this of course was done after the streets were plowed.

Hi Rina,

Thank you for the tip. Its funny how a lot of times we over look the simple things.

Lance

Thanks Rina.
You are a real treasure-trove.

Rina,

I didn't know that but I knew about the court record. Thank again Rina

Angie

Rina,

GREAT REMINDER....THANK YOU!

John

Great tool to get a pic of the area too (google maps)

I have done this too, another thing if you are out driving anyway and it has not been snowing, go out early on garbage day! No cans usually means nobody is living there either!

Angela

Thanks for the thanks, and for all the extra tidbits! You guys are awesome!
Recap:
Google tips- (address, name, maps) Thanks LJ, Jeremy, Garth, and Heather!
No snow removal activity- Thanks Orlando!
garbage day "missers" - Thanks Angela! (and thanks for being such a sweetie!! )

Lance, you're right about how we overlook little things like these. (And then even when I KNOW them, I sometimes forget until someone reminds me!) But if we get used to keeping our eyes and ears open, and practice, I think our REI sense gets more keen and it becomes second nature. I remember Carol Stinson once saying that she could "spot a vacant house a mile away with her eyes closed" (or something like that. lol), because she is SOOOOO used to looking for them.

Chris, Gena, Kristin, Tamara, Michael, Angie, John, and Jay, thanks for the encouragement and other insight you added to the thread! (Jay, hope you got it to work on some for you.)

Wish you all the VERY best of success in your REI!!

Rina

Those are some great tips. I thought of that too with the snow in the driveways, but the area I live in is also considered seasonal for summer rentals and summer vacation homes, so just because there are signs of no one home could only mean they are not living there during the winter season. Just a thought to remember for seasonal areas.