 Home Buyers
Tips Archive
Discover the History of
Your House
Do you live in an old house and want to unearth a bit of
its history?
If you live in an older house and are not familiar with its
heritage you might want to consider becoming a house detective, so to speak. It’s fun
and educational to find out about the history of your property. In my colleague real
estate classes students are required to select a property, preferably one they have some
interest in, and research its ownership back to 1900. They tell me it’s the best
assignment of the course.
Here are some places you can go for information:
First, go to the county courthouse and check the property
records. There will be deeds filed by names of owners, plus there will be tax records. It
will help tremendously if your have the legal description and tax number of the property
you are investigating.
Other sources of information include your local historic
preservation program, if there is one in your town. Also, the state archives has tax rolls
and birth and death records. Census records are available at regional National Archives
centers and some libraries. And don’t forget local libraries that might have city
directories, newspapers, and magazines.
Good hunting.
This Tip was excerpted from:
TWO HOURS OF REAL ESTATE, One Minute at a Time, by Phil Hardwick, Quail Ridge Press, 1993.
ISBN 0-937552-53-4
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