San Diego Short Sale and Foreclosed Homes

 
 
This afternoon I attended a seminar that was presented by one of our go-to guys for permit research. He also helps home owners through the process of "righting" their violations of unpermitted work. The room was packed with agents from all over the County.

The first 15 minutes was worth the price of admission! While agents have been visiting our County permit department and re-learning how to operate fiche machines every time we do permit research, some of the BEST property records have been elsewhere all along.

Our County assessor's office has records that can only be accessed by the legal property owner or by the owners' authorized agent. These records include building descriptions, dates of construction, building sketches and measurements, appraiser field notes and site plans.

Our presenter shared that the appraiser field notes are a gold mine when proving that a patio, carport, plumbing, electrical etc. existed on a certain date when a search for a permit was futile.

Another possible tool to prove the existence of an improvement?  Aerial photographs.  Our assessor's office has photos that date back to 1961 and a new set is taken every 10 years.  Our presenter proved from an aerial photo that an obscured structure existed by pointing out the structure's shadow.

Wow!!  Information like this is priceless!  Do you know where your property records are?

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