Overview: I have been tracking and researching homes for over five years. Because of my research, I knew that we were in a housing bubble. And so I stayed out of the market, on the side lines, waiting. Below, is a very common research technique that I use, to learn more about homes that interest me.
Full Disclosure: I own no real estate, I don’t, nor have I ever worked for a Real Estate Agent, a Bank, or a Mortgage broker. I am just a nerd. 
1) Find a house using the MLS, Zillow, or whatever site gives you the best access to the homes you like. Important! The house must have a posted address. In this first screen shot, I am using the site www.centraloregonrealtors.com, and I found a house that I have watched for a while. It’s current MLS # (though it has had many) is 2903276.
2) You can see that on the bottom of the ad, there is a address. So I hightlight the area, right click, and copy the address to my clipboard.
3) I then head over to the Deschutes county web application known as D.I.A.L (click the link).
4) We are mainly interested in this area right here.
5) Click the ‘Check All’ button, then select the ‘Street Address’ radio button, and finally paste the address that you found from a Real Estate site and click submit.
6) In this case you are presented with the following screen.
NOTE: There is a lot of data here, so I am going to break it down for you.
a) This is the Deschutes county liability section. For the most part, you can ignore this.
DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Information on the Deschutes County Computer is not guaranteed to be
accurate and may contain errors and omissions. Deschutes County provides NO
WARRANTY AS TO THE MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE FOR
ANY INFORMATION. Original records may differ from computer entries. If
reliance upon computer record is intended, verification of information on
source documents is required. User expressly acknowledges and agrees that
the use of any information appearing on the Deschutes County Computer is at
User's sole risk. Deschutes County shall not be liable for any direct,
indirect, incidental, or consequential damages caused by mistakes, omissions,
deletions, errors, defects, in any information, or any failure or delays in
receiving information. The following property tax assessment data is updated
nightly.
b) This next section starts to get interesting. The three primary things you will see, is the current owners names, the loan originator, and the address.
Account: 184388 Map/TL: R 1-001 171230 DB 04900
* * * CURRENT Ownership Information ONLY
SILVER,MATT J
BLUE,CATHERINE C
2332 NW CANDLELIGHT PL
BEND OR 97701-5450
THRU: Bank of America Commercial Loan Service
AGENT: BAC (P)
Site Address: 2332 NW CANDLELIGHT PL BEND 97701
Assessor Property Description
CITY VIEW PHASE II Lot: 24
Prop Cls:101 MA:5 VA:26 NH 013 Vol-Page: 2006-12233
Asmt Zone:RS CDD Zone:BEND (CITY OF BEND)
*** Land Values ***
Asmt type R.M.V.
URBAN LOT 180,900
LA 4,500
SD 3,000
*Total 188,400
*** Improvement Values ***
FB $ R.M.V. BLT %GD
153 289,850 2005
c) And here is the property description and the attributes on record of said property. It also has a summary of the property’s sales, but I usually head farther down the document, for the more descriptive sales information.
*** Land Values ***
Asmt type R.M.V.
URBAN LOT 180,900
LA 4,500
SD 3,000
*Total 188,400
*** Improvement Values ***
FB $ R.M.V. BLT %GD
153 289,850 2005
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Room Grid for 153 Total SqFt: 2521
- - - - - - - R O O M S - - - - - - -
LR K DR FAM BD BATH OTH FP UTL
Sq Ft: 1541 1st Fl 1 1 1 1 1\1 1 1
980 2nd Fl 1 3 1
1010 Garage
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
***** Values shown below are as of the Assessment Date, January 1 of each year *****
*** --------2009-------- --------2008-------- ---------2007--------
Total Taxable Total Taxable Total Taxable
RMV A.V. RMV A.V. RMV A.V.
LND: 188,400 220,320 233,900
IMP: 289,850 341,000 344,440
TOT: 478,250 237,490 561,320 230,580 578,340 223,870
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SALES: --- 1 --- --- 2 --- --- 3 --- --- 4 ---
Date 02-17-06 09-30-04 02-02-95 12-27-93
Sale $ 639800 96000 41705 37900
Cndtn 30 33 30 30
Class 101 100 100 100
Inst # 2006-12233 2004-61118 1995-36429821993-3242218
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d) And here is the very detailed sales information. The thing to note, is that the SELLER is on the LEFT and the BUYER is on the RIGHT. If you are paying close attention, you will also notice that the current owner looks to have paid $639,800 in February of 2006, but up in our MLS ad, the owner is asking $299,900. We can deduce that the most likely scenario in our current economic environment is a SHORT SALE.
Sales Detail Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol Page 2006-12233 Sales Date 02/17/06 Adjusted Sales Price $639,800
Sales Code 30 UNCONFIRMED SALE
Grantor: Grantee:
ROGERS, SCOTT M & ALLISON M SILVER, MATT J & BLUE, CATHERINE C
1612 NW KINGSTON
BEND OR 97709 BEND OR 97701
***
Site Address: 2332 NW CANDLELIGHT PL BEND 97701
Assessor Property Description
CITY VIEW PHASE II Lot: 24
Acct 184388 Map/TL: R 1-001 171230 DB 04900
MA: 5 VA: 26 Class: 101
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol Page 2004-61118 Sales Date 09/30/04 Adjusted Sales Price $96,000
Sales Code 33 CONFIRMED SALE
Grantor: Grantee:
SHEASGREEN,ALAN ROGERS, SCOTT M & ALLISON M
8309 SE LIESER POINT DR
VANCOUVER WA 98664 BEND OR 97709
***
Site Address: 2332 NW CANDLELIGHT PL BEND 97701
Assessor Property Description
CITY VIEW PHASE II Lot: 24
Acct 184388 Map/TL: R 1-001 171230 DB 04900
MA: 5 VA: 26 Class: 100
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol Page 1995-3642982 Sales Date 02/02/95 Adjusted Sales Price $41,705
Sales Code 30 UNCONFIRMED SALE
Grantor: Grantee:
LEWIS,JAMES R SHEASGREEN,ALAN
2518 NW GOODWILLIE CT 8309 SE LIESER POINT DR
BEND OR 97701 VANCOUVER WA 98664
***
Site Address: 2332 NW CANDLELIGHT PL BEND 97701
Assessor Property Description
CITY VIEW PHASE II Lot: 24
Acct 184388 Map/TL: R 1-001 171230 DB 04900
MA: 5 VA: 26 Class: 100
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol Page 1993-3242218 Sales Date 12/27/93 Adjusted Sales Price $37,900
Sales Code 30 UNCONFIRMED SALE
Grantor: Grantee:
CITY HEIGHTS INC LEWIS,JAMES R
1070 NW BOND STE 203 2321 NW TORSWAY ST
BEND OR 97701 BEND OR 97701
***
Site Address: 2332 NW CANDLELIGHT PL BEND 97701
Assessor Property Description
CITY VIEW PHASE II Lot: 24
Acct 184388 Map/TL: R 1-001 171230 DB 04900
MA: 5 VA: 26 Class: 100
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
d) Further down, there is tax and other information, but this is not really needed for our tutorial so I will skip the description.
7) Highlight the primary owner’s name, right click, and copy it to your clipboard.
8 ) Now, head over to the Deschutes County clerk site by clicking the link. The first screen you will see will be a disclaimer. Go ahead and click ‘I Accept’ after reading.
9) The next page will be the search page, go ahead and copy in the name of the current owner on the property that we are researching.
10) After clicking ‘Search’, you should see the following screen (or fairly close to it)
11) Now, the thing that jumps out at me is the second document. The Doc Type: is Notice of Default & Election to Sell which means that this record is going to be foreclosed on. Let click on the link title 2009-036611 and see what information we get. Our goal here is to track down the relevant documents pertaining to the property we are researching. You should get the following screen.
12) Do you see that link at the bottom of the screen? The one that says 2006-078298? Do you also see the words Deed of Trust / Mortgage? Well, that is the original mortgage document. Go ahead and click on the 2006-078298 link.
13) At this point, I would click on the link that says View Document Image and a .pdf of the actual mortgage will open. You can see a lot of useful information. After you are done taking a gander, head back a page to the Notice of Default record.
14) Click on the View Document Image and you will again download a .pdf, but I will point out several pieces of information. The first is that you can see the address and the second is that you will find the date the home will potentially be sold on the county steps.
Date of sale and location of sale.
Conclusion: This home is going to be auctioned on the first day of 2010. So I can’t see how it is possible that a sale will go through. For what its worth, this is what will most likely happen with this property.
- It will go up for auction
- The bank will ask too much for it so it won’t sell
- The bank will then place the home on the market for close to the original loan amount
- The home will sit empty for the next several years, falling into disrepair
At least that is what I have been seeing…
Anyway, I hope this will help you get started in making an educated buying decision. And something else that I always ask myself.
Who is making money off of me?
In this case…
- Your Real Estate Agent
- The Seller’s Real Estate Agent
- The Seller
- The Mortgage Broker
- The Bank
And I have found it very helpful not to trust the opinions of those who will make money off of me. Their motivations are different than mine. I guess what I am saying, is that ultimately you need to make a sound decision based on your own research, and not the sales techniques or encouragement of others. The list of professions above, and the people who work in them, have screwed a lot of people, in the past five years especially. So don’t get hosed.
If readers find this information helpful, let me know. I have other food for thought things to share concerning RE.
-later
