When you’re looking to buy a home it seems like everyone is telling you that location is the most important thing and to a great extent this is true. Homes can be renovated or even torn down and rebuilt if you have the money to do it but you can’t really renovate the location of your home. However, what many people don’t realise is that the perfect location of a piece of real estate differs greatly based on the needs of the buyer.

The ideal location for a home is just as subjective as the features of a dream home; what might be perfect for you is just as likely to be totally incompatible for someone else’s living style. A good way to decide on what your perfect location is starts with making a list of priorities with regard to your family’s needs.

One important aspect of the search for the perfect location is the cost of living in an area. If you will be earning the same income but the cost of living in your new area will be greatly increased then that is likely not a good area for you to move to. Likewise, if you’re considering moving into an area that has a much lower cost of living than you have been paying elsewhere, research to see what the standard of living is like in that area.

Another important aspect of the search for the perfect location is what kind of transportation needs that you have that need to be met. Some home buyers require accessible public transit for their daily commute to work or shops within walking distance to their home. Other home buyers might require that the terrain in their neighbourhood be relatively flat with wheelchair access at the crosswalks and at the local shops.

Home buyers with children?or the possibility of having children in the near future?should research to see what the daycares and schools are like in any area that they’re looking to buy into. Likewise, you should look to see what kind of recreational opportunities there are in the area not only for your children but also for you as well. Some communities have facilities for swimming, skating, hiking trails, and more; while others might not have more than a neighbourhood park.

Your perfect location is very relative to the needs of you and your family; to obtain the best fit for your family you should do some research with your agent on the different areas that you’re looking at buying into. Any extra steps that you take to make sure that your new neighborhood is a good fit will benefit you later on when you move into the area!

In this article, I am going to be talking about the county offices. Today county courthouses are the means to provide the ever important need for information. The need to understand the basics for what goes on in the courthouse is a MUST for any serious real-estate investor; how the records are kept, how they are protected, what laws affect us and how to determine ownership is knowledge not only important, but essential. The real point here is that the real estate professional has certain questions concerning a property such as: ‘Who owns it?’ ‘Who financed it?’ ‘Are there any liens or judgments against the property?’ ‘What type of property is it?’ Real estate investors then go to the county courthouse to get the answers.

There are two offices of the county that have the information that we need: 1) The county assessor’s office and 2) The county recorder’s office. The county recorder’s office is sometimes called the register of deeds or even the land title office. These are generally open from 8:30 a.m. ? 4:30 p.m. in most parts of the country. However, many investors are unable to go down to the courthouse during these hours to look up the records. Therefore, this requires that the person can find out if these county records can be found using his/her home computer. A simple call to the assessor’s office will let you know if they are online and how you can access that information. Keep in mind that sometimes they do charge a fee to obtain that information, but it is a tax deduction.

The records that the assessor has on file are for public view; they have information sheets on every property in the county that is accessible by knowing the name of the owner, or the address of the property, or the legal description of the parcel and the parcel number. Any one of these should bring up the information desired. The investor should be aware that the property information will list the property size, the owner of record, the address of the owner, the legal description of the property, the improvements on the property (like buildings), the value for tax purposes, which is called the assessed value and sometimes you’ll get a picture of the property.

The parcel number is of significant importance to the active investor looking for information at the recorder’s office because it accesses the original loan documents that were recorded, who actually owns the property, who financed the purchase (whether it is the seller or the lender) and whether there are judgments or liens against the property. It also will show if there are any liens by the IRS ? a word of advice ? investors should have no involvement with properties with IRS liens until there is a certified copy of the paid receipt that the lien has been cleared.

Hopefully this article has helped determine where to find the records before buying a foreclosed property. In another article, I will address where you might want to get your Pre-foreclosure information that is reliable and accurate. In the interim, please feel free to visit my website for a FREE, immediate access, 7-day course on how to make money with bank-owned foreclosure properties:

http://www.bankforeclosuremoney.com

Thanks for your time! Stephanie Jewett, RN, MBA