Obtaining Information At Town Hall You have to make a trip to town hall to check all of the records pertaining to the subject property. You also need to verify the pertinent information concerning the sales comparables that you'll be using for the appraisal report. There will be times when you'll find discrepancies between some data sources. A real estate listing, for example, may have different information from what is recorded at town hall for the subject property and sales comps. When you encounter a situation like this, you may not be able to accurately determine which data source is correct. When this happens, you should always use the public record at town hall as the final say in the matter. You'll be much better off “Covering Your Assets” with the information from the public record than you will from any other data source. You have to make a trip to town hall to check all of the records pertaining to the subject property. You also need to verify the pertinent information concerning the sales comparables you'll be using for the appraisal. In most areas you can purchase copies of the flood maps, tax maps, zoning maps and other information from the local municipality. If you purchase these maps you can do some of the appraisal field work at your office. This can save you time at town hall. You'll also be able to get some appraisal information before you even go out to view the subject property. When you get to town hall you usually have to visit several different departments to obtain all of the information that you need. Ask the employees in each department to assist you. You can save a lot of time by having them help you out. They know exactly where the information will be and they can help you with any questions you might have about the town hall records. As long as you're polite and friendly, they're usually willing to assist you. Don't go in there with an attitude like you're something special and they have to cater to your needs. If you have a nasty attitude or if you talk down to them, then you're not going to get much help from them. Sounds basic doesn't it? Well believe me, I've seen people go into town hall with an attitude toward the workers there like they were saying, "gimme, gimme, gimme." They have no consideration for the town employees. People with an attitude like that end up wasting a lot of time because they have to find everything out for themselves. I have found that if you're friendly to the town hall employees they can help you tremendously in finding information. This will save you time and money. | | Not all local town halls are the same. Some have more information than others and some have a filing and recording system that makes it easier to find the information. Just do the best you can with what you have to work with in your area. Here's a list of some of the information you need to check at town hall but don’t limit yourself to this list. Always get as much as data and information as you can for your appraisals: 1. Check the field card or building papers that describe the house and/or site. This should tell you the square footage of the house; type of construction materials used; the size of any decks, pools, garages; the age of the house; number of rooms; the site acreage etc. Determine if there is/was an underground septic system, well water system, and/or an underground oil tank on the site. Also, find out if all valid permits and approvals have been obtained for the installation and/or the discontinued use of these underground items. Check to make sure that all necessary building dept. permits have been filed and all building department approvals have been obtained. 2. Check to make sure that all necessary building department permits have been filed and that all building department approvals have been obtained. This is required for any changes to the house and/or site from the time of the original construction or inspection by the local building department. Any decks, pools, garages, additions, updated kitchens and baths, etc. that have been added must have building department permits and approvals. Don't just take it for granted that they were filed. Check it out yourself! continued... |
