Is it important to look for the history of a house before you consider buying it? Of course, knowing the history of a property is vital, as you will get to know the dormant condition of the house, how many times new homeowners moved into the house, and the type of repair or renovation work done in the house. Regardless of whether you already purchased a house or looking forward to buying one, it would be a promising idea to track its history.
Benefits of knowing the history of your house
Every house will have a history, whether it will be modern or stretched over centuries and decades. Let's have a look at some of its benefits, which you can’t ignore:
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First, you will get to know about the previous homeowners as well as the various events which have taken place in connection with your property. Also, you will get to know about its architectural style, additions as well as enhancements.
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Second, you can outline its special qualities and unveil its inherent value. Moreover, the historical connection of a house will increase the value of the property as well as qualify it for receiving incentives for doing preservation work.
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Third, you may even discover something unfavorable about the property you are willing to buy. For instance, a murder might have taken place in the house, the house is haunted, or a paranormal activity has been suspected.
In many states, real estate won’t be allowed to disclose such information, which makes learning about the history of a property important.
Here we will learn about a few fundamental ways to find out about your property history:
Begin primary research
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Have a look at the property listing on free websites like Redfin, Realtor.com, or even Zillow. Alternatively, you may ask your real estate agent to let you see the MLS. With this, you will get a promising idea regarding an overview of the house you are going to buy. Also, you will be able to see the advantages and disadvantages of the property and accordingly decide if you are ready to buy it or not.
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You need to focus on the pictures of the property and check if only a couple of them are available. We suggest you check if the pictures have been taken from any strange angle or wide-angle. If this is the case, the seller is attempting to hide something from you.
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Try to find out about the year in which the house was built, if it’s more than 50 years old, it would be considered old property. Although, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker, it might indicate problems with its foundation, plumbing, or electrical issues.
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In the MLS list, you will find information on how many rooms or bathrooms the house has, when the house was last renovated, square footage, size, and school district related to the property.
Another great idea would be to communicate with your real estate agent and ask them what they know about the property and the area in which it’s located. If your realtor is experienced, they will furnish you with A-Z information about the property, which you may not find either online or offline. Moreover, they will even connect you with a listing agent, who can answer all your queries.
Tax mortgage
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You must investigate the tax history of the property to estimate how much tax you would be required to pay if you are buying that property. With this, you will also come to know if there is any tax mortgage on the property or not.
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If there’s a tax lien on a property, its closure would be complex, we suggest you consider this while deciding to go ahead with buying this property or not.
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You can find the tax linen on a property by looking at the public record from the accessor’s office of the county or its tax recorder. This information is available online in many counties, otherwise, you need to look for it physically.
Tip: You must visit the Nationwide Environmental Title Research (NETR) website to find the tax accessor of your locality. Simply choose the state on the map, click on it, and select your county. With this, you can access the contact details of the accessors, including their website and phone number.
Here are a few things you must keep in mind while doing tax history research:
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You must search the tax history to find out how much tax the current property owner is paying.
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Though the tax amount will be adjusted while a property is being sold, you will get an estimate of how much tax you will need to pay, if you buy this property.
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Besides, you will get an idea about the tax lien on the house while you are doing the title search on the property. With this, you will know whether you want to go ahead with the deal or not.
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Mostly, a seller will pay the tax lien on the property with the sales proceedings, however, if he doesn’t then the buyer will need to do that.
Check for any current damage to the property
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You can look at the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report and find out if there was any severe or recent damage to the property or not. With this report, you will know the date, type, and how many claims have been made about the property in the past.
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You can request a CLUE report at any time from the seller. We suggest you ask for the claim report before you finalize our deal as you will get to know about any major problems related to HVAC, mold, or electricity that might have taken place in the past.
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Moreover, with this report, you will get to know about the insurance claims made in the last seven years. You will get clear about the home insurance amount you need to pay and if several claims have been made on the property, your insurance amount will also increase.
Identify the various environmental issues
Though your property may be in an outstanding condition, environmental factors can influence the value of the property. For instance, if your property is located near a landfill, the property value will minimize by 10 to 15 percent.
If your property is situated in a flood-risk zone, it would be a worthwhile idea to buy flood insurance. A flood insurance will cost you around $700/ year, though it isn’t going to be very costly, still it would be an additional expense for you.
Confirm if it is historic property
Buying a historic house will create an impact on how it can be repaired or even renovated. A historic property will require maintenance costs as you might need to call for an expert for cleaning or repairing historic windows. This will even increase the cost of your insurance.
Based on the area where your property is located, certain vigilant rules and regulations would apply to it. For instance, you may not be allowed to put up the fences or do any kind of renovation on the property.
Tip: We suggest you communicate with the city development office to find out the appropriate regulations related to the location of your property.
Here are a few important ways by which you can efficiently research the history of your house:
Google Search
Internet research is one of the most efficient ways to find your address and determine its history. You simply need to do a Google search for the address, and you will find some remarkably interesting information about it.
Enquire your home inspector
In case you are buying an old house, we suggest you ask the house inspector to investigate every corner of the house for anything suspicious. Also, you may ask them about the history behind each of these corners. For instance, a house inspector might know if there is a hardwood floor hidden behind the contemporary carpet or in which part of the basement you will find the historical foundation stone of the house.
Communicate with the neighbors
You can ask the neighbors, previous homeowners, or their relatives about the history of the property you are interested in buying. Most of them would be excited to share their memories with you. Once you can access the land records you will easily get to know about its original owner and the date on which it was sold along with the name of the buyer.
Check in the library
A local history publication or a newspaper will furnish you with information regarding the events that have taken place at the house you are looking forward to purchasing. Also, you will get to know about the town as well as the neighborhood around the time when the house was built.
Tip: It would be a wonderful idea to visit the library on a slow day like a rainy day when there will be only a couple of visitors and the librarian will have more time to assist you with your research.
This was all you needed to know about determining the history of a property you want to buy. So, if you are buying a house and want to know about its history, we suggest you follow the guidelines we have discussed above. However, if you need any help with relocation, you can contact us at movers.com and get a quote from us. There is other moving companies you can consider, just shortlist a few and take quotes from them.