How to Find Property Tax Records
Property tax records will tell you how much the tax assessor believes a home is worth.
house image by Ian Holland from Fotolia.com
If you want a snapshot of a property's history, or you want to snoop out more information about a property you’re thinking of buying, search on county tax assessor databases or visit the tax assessor's office yourself. Anyone can view these public documents. Property tax records show the amount of taxes assessed on the property. They also show a description of the property’s amenities and give you a history of its ownership.
Online
Step 1Find out the street address of the property you are interested in, then find out the name of the county where it is located. Go to that county's home page and navigate to the link to the tax assessor's office.
Step 2Search for the words Property Listings, Property Database or Property Information at the tax assessor’s website. If the assessor maintains online tax records, you’ll find the information you need here.
Step 3Type the address of the property in the search field of the online records database. Some sites will also let you search by the owner’s name. If you don’t know the complete street address, type in the street name and you’ll get a listing of all the addresses on that street. From this list, you can narrow your search by reading the property descriptions until you find the property you’re looking for.
Step 4Click on the link to the property you want to know more about. You’ll see the legal description of the property, the name of the current owners and information about the property’s condition and amenities, as well as a history of the taxes assessed on the property, and a listing of all previous owners.
In Person
Step 1Go to Tax Assessor’s office, which will likely be located in a county government building.
Step 2Request the property tax records for a specific property. You might be asked to fill out a written request. You’ll need the property address to make your request.
Step 3Review the tax records the clerk gives you. Some counties keep tax records in ledgers, some use over-sized file cards, while others have archived records on microfiche. The records show a history of the property’s ownership and the taxes assessed.
References
Tips
- If you’d like a copy of property's tax records from the tax assessor’s file, you might have to submit a written request and pay a fee.
Writer Bio
Cynthia Myers is the author of numerous novels and her nonfiction work has appeared in publications ranging from "Historic Traveler" to "Texas Highways" to "Medical Practice Management." She has a degree in economics from Sam Houston State University.