Perform Due Diligence on a Potential Option Property

Finally, to avoid buying an option on a property in a bad location, you need to take the time to thoroughly check out the area surrounding the property under consideration. This means understanding the political, social, and economic factors that influence property values within the area. You must consider the following eight factors when performing [...]

Do not, under any circumstances, buy real estate options on properties in areas that are perceived by the public as being bad locations. Keep in mind that when you buy an option on any type of property, you are also buying the neighborhood in which it is located. For example, here in Tampa, there is [...]

Prior to buying a real estate option, make certain that you have the property owner sign a property disclosure statement approved for use in your state in the presence of a notary public, which asks the following 10 questions: 1. Are there any hazardous substances at, on, under, or about the property? The term hazardous [...]

I do not know how expensive insurance rates are in your neck of the woods, but here in Tampa, Florida, property and casualty insurance rates have gone through the stratosphere! This is why I always check a potential option property’s casualty and property insurance claims history before I make an offer to buy a real [...]

When performing due diligence research on a potential option property, you should always double-check the information that you have about the property with the following government offices: 1. Local zoning department: Whatever you do, do not just assume that the zoning designations shown on the latest tax roll are accurate. You must always verify zoning [...]

Many option investors have gotten into serious trouble because they tried to save time and money by doing only a cursory title search without having their findings verified by an experienced title researcher or abstractor. You must understand that an uncovered, but recorded, mechanic’s lien, federal tax lien, or third mortgage or deed of trust [...]

The two most common types of property title searches are: 1. Current owner title search: A current owner title search, sometimes referred to as a title or property report, is a search of the public records from the date the property’s title was transferred to the current owner to the present. 2. Full title search: [...]

The following is a listing of abbreviations commonly used in property title documents: 1.Est.—Estate 2.Et al.—And others 3.Et vir.—And husband 4.Et ux.—And wife 5.Jt.—Joint tenants 6.Qc.—Quit claim deed 7.Lov—-Gift transfer 8.Dot.—Deed of Trust 9.Grantor—Seller 10.Lt.—Lot 11.Com prop.—Community property 12.Ten in com.—Tenants In Common 13.Pcl.—Parcel 14.Tr.—Trustee 15.Sec.—Section 16.Blk—Block 17.Pt.—Part 18.Tr—Tract 19.Att.—Attachment 20.Ftl.—Federal tax lien 21.Jl.—Judgment lien [...]

The following is a listing and brief description of the 16 most common liens encumbering the title to real property: 1. Real property tax lien: Real property tax liens are placed against properties by local taxing authorities—city and county tax collectors—when property owners fail to pay their property taxes. 2. Federal tax lien: Federal tax [...]

When researching any property’s title information, always make certain that you check the official public records in the county where the property’s deed is recorded to verify that all recorded liens placed against the property’s title have been uncovered. The functions of county government offices vary from state-tostate, so contact your county government to find [...]

A lien’s priority or seniority over other liens placed against the title to the same property is determined by the date or chronological order in which it was recorded in the official records and the type of lien. For example, a mortgage or deed of trust lien recorded on August 25, 2004, would have priority [...]

Real property liens are legal claims placed against a debtor ’s (lienee’s) real property by lenders, creditors, and government agencies (lienors) to secure payment of a debt. The two types of real property liens are: 1. Voluntary liens: Voluntary liens are placed against the title to real property with the owner ’s consent, such as [...]

You should be able to locate the owner of a vacant property by looking up the street address on your county’s real property tax roll. The tax roll will have the name of the owner of record along with the post office mailing address where the property tax bill is sent. However, sometimes the address [...]

When a deed is recorded, it is indexed in a grantor (seller) index and at the same time in a grantee (buyer) index. Grantor and grantee indexes are maintained in alphabetical and chronological order. They are generally alphabetized according to last and first names. Let us assume that you are trying to determine a current [...]

Most counties are divided into map or plat books. Each map or plat book is given a separate number, and each parcel of land is given a separate tax identification number—an APN or an appraiser ’s folio number. The property appraiser or assessor assigns a folio number or APN to each parcel of land in [...]

Prior to the advent of digital files, county or public recorder ’s offices used only a microfiche and microfilm index system to record and maintain property title documents. Once recorded, documents were placed directly onto microfilm, with each document being assigned a reel and frame number. If your county’s property records are not yet available [...]

The name of virtually every property owner in your county is available at your county property appraiser or assessor ’s office on what’s known as the property tax roll. The property tax roll lists every parcel of land in a given county. Depending on where you live, each parcel is assigned a separate tax identification [...]

The following is a listing of online sources of demographic information: FFIEC Geocoding System: www.ffiec.gov U.S. Census Bureau FactFinder: www.factfinder.census.gov U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer: www.census.gov U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: quickfacts.census.gov U.S. Census Bureau zip code statistics: www.census.gov

To  perform an environmental hazardous waste search on a potential option property, log on to the following web sites: EPA Enviromapper zip code and EPA superfund hazardous waste site search: www.epa.gov Environmental hazards zip code search: scorecard.goodguide.com HUD environmental maps: www.hud.gov

I can trace my fondness for checklists back to my days as a Marine Corps recruit at Parris Island, South Carolina, where checklists were used extensively by drill instructors to keep track of everything from weapons to bedsheets. And from that time on, I have been hooked on checklists! As far as I am concerned, [...]