Courthouse Retrieval System Presents:

Enhancing Customer Service by Utilizing Public Records

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How to Turn Public Records into Valuable Information

I. Introductiona. Property Researchb. Property Evaluationc. Reading and Understanding Tax Mapsd. Turning Property Records into Profit Marketing

II. Property Researcha. Recorded Property Ownerb. Parcel IDc. Sales and Deed Historyd. Building Characteristicse. Extra Featuresf. Subdivision Profileg. Area Info/Demographics

III. Property Evaluationa. Different Types of Values of a Propertyb. Comparable Property Searches

IV. Reading and Understanding County Tax Mapsa. Importance of Mapsb. GISc. Navigating Maps/How to find a Parcel

V. Turning Property Records into Profit-Marketinga. Target a Senior Marketb. Zero Consideration/No Sale Propertiesc. Renters/Investorsd. Looking for Vacant Lande. Farm and Area or Subdivision

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Performing a Simple Property Search

After logging into the system, your first step for locating property information is to perform a search for listings that match your chosen criteria. First, choose one or more counties to search. Just select the box shown below and choose from the dropdown list that appears. You can even begin typing a county name to narrow down the list you see:

 

After choosing your counties, you can easily search by owner’s name, street name, subdivision, parcel, or MLS number. Just select the circle next to the information type you’ll be searching by:

 

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Then enter your search criteria in the search box and click the Submit button. If you see options pop up while you’re typing, feel free to choose the correct one. However, we find it’s usually best to perform your initial search using broad terms because that reduces the chance of accidentally filtering out necessary properties. The % sign is a helpful wildcard search to form results containing your entry instead of starting with:

 

Once you’ve clicked submit, you’ll be taken to a new page that shows you all the properties that fit your criteria. Feel free to read our Search Results help document for detailed information about what you’ll see on your results page.

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Property Report

Clicking the address of any property on a list of search results will take you to the Property Report for your selection. The Property Report contains detailed information about the property and provides tools for customizing exactly which details are shown when you share, save, or print that report.

Toolbar

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Customizing the Report

Edit square footage, bedroom, or bathroom data

If a property’s square footage, bedroom, or bathroom data needs to be adjusted, you can make that change before saving your report. Just click the Edit link under Property Summary for changing the square footage, or click the blue-highlighted values under Property Characteristics: Building for changing bedroom or bathroom information. Then just enter the appropriate values and press your Enter or Return key.

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Map View and Layers

When viewing a Property Report, click the View Larger Map link to see a more detailed view of the property’s surrounding area. CRS maps provide a variety of layers and tools that give you additional information about that area like recent sales, foreclosures, listings, and more.

Layers

Let’s take a detailed look at the layers available to you. Start by clicking CRS Map Layers in the upper left corner to see your options.

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 Recent Sales

Highlight properties that have sold within certain timeframes by turning on or off recent sales layers.

 Labels

Turn on or off various labels to enhance the current view.

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Listings

Show or hide listing statuses for properties by turning the listing layers on or off.  

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 Map view

Click the gear icon to see different types of maps, Road, Aerial, and Birdseye. If you see the arrow icons shown in the image below, you can use those to rotate the map view.

Measuring Tool

To measure distances on the map, click the ruler icon and choose the measurement type you need.

Distance

To measure a distance, click the ruler icon and choose Distance. Click on your starting point, then drag the red line to any other point on the map to see how far apart they are.

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Area

Click the ruler icon and select Area to measure the area of a section of your map. After choosing the Area tool, click on your starting point, drag the red line to the next point on the edge of your area, the click again. Continue adding connecting lines in this manner until you close off the area to be measured. The acreage will be shown in the middle of your selection.

 

Comparables

While viewing a property report, click the Comparables link near the top of the page to view other properties that have sold recently in the same area.

Comparable Sales

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This section shows the details of the subject property you were viewing when you clicked the Comparables link. Click the X icon to hide any values you don’t want shown on your report. For detailed information about how these values are calculated, click the link indicated by the arrow in the image below.

Map View

The comparable properties are plotted on a map and shown in a list view. On the map, hover your mouse pointer over any of the numbered icons to view basic information about that property. For more details, click the View Report link to open a Property Report in a new window.

Search Parameters

You can refine your list by setting new parameters for your comparables search. Click any of the drop down lists, choose a new value for the parameter, then click Update Results to refine the list. You can change values for:

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Each value is relative to the subject property. For example, setting the Acreage value to +–10% will show you properties that are closer in size than using the default value of +–20%.

List View

Beneath the Search Parameters section is the list view of your comparables. Click the address of any property to view its Property Report. To remove any properties from your comparables report, just check the box to the left of the property, then select Remove Checked at the bottom of the list.

 

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Advanced Property Searches

To access the Advanced Search, just click the gray button that reads “Click to Use Advanced Search” on the front page of the Property Search.

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On the next page, enter one or more counties to search through. If you would like to view previously saved criteria or results, just choose the correct set from the drop down lists.

 

After setting the appropriate counties, use any or all of the sections below to set the criteria you would like to search by.

  Search by Property Value

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Search Results

The Search Results page lists all the properties found for the criteria you entered. You can view, save or share this list as it is, or you can filter it down further. You even have the option to save your results to use for future activities.

Let’s take a look at what you’ll see on the page, then we’ll talk about how to get the most out of the tools available to you.

Top of the results page

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Filter your list further

Use the box that displays your current criteria to filter your list even further. Just add new criteria, like a street name or parcel ID, and click Update Results to reduce the number of properties on your list.

 

 

View your list of properties on a map

Click the Map View button to plot your search results on a map. Visit our Map view help page for more information about how the map works.

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 Change the details shown on the list

By default, you’ll see Simple Results when you perform your search, showing only the property address, parcel ID, and owner’s name. To choose exactly which details to show on this page and in your exports or printed lists, just click Custom Results. Clicking Custom Results will change the view to include the information you have set up on your Profile & Settings page. For more information on setting up the fields used in your Custom Results view, visit our Profile & Settings page.

  Send a mailing to all the properties on your list

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Export or Print list

Prospecting

Select Area Method: Basic

The first step is to select the counties you’ll be searching and the method by which you’ll search those counties.

 

Area Map

Click the Area Map link to select an area by drawing shapes over a map of the county. For example, to select the properties within a circular area, click the magnifying glass icon and choose Radius.

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Subdivision

To find properties in a specific subdivision, click the Subdivision link after entering your counties to search, then type the subdivision name in the box. You can enter more than one subdivision, or you can even type a partial name to widen your search results. Matches will show up as you type. Just click Update once you’ve entered the appropriate information to see your results, and read the Prospect Criteria section below for the next steps.

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 If you see the results in the dropdown box and click update, you will get results for all the subdivision names populated in the dropdown box. So if you have multiple phases or sections in a subdivision, you must select update with all phases showing in the dropdown box. You do not have to manually select each section.

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Labels & ExportsExport/Label Options

Create/Export Merge Files

If you’re going to export a merge file, choose whether or not to include additional fields, then select your export type and click Export Files.

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Labels

If you’ll be printing labels, customize the address by including or leaving off a title and deciding whether to include a second owner. You can even add to or replace the name with “Current Resident” or custom text.

All that’s left is to select your label type, file format (Word or PDF) and the label number you’d like to start your print job on. Once you’ve done these, click the Create Labels button to download your printer-ready file.

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Note: You have a set number of exports available each month. You can always see how many exports are remaining in your account balance for the month.

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Profile & Settings Page

Personal Info

View your personal information under the Personal Profile section. To make changes just enter the new information in the appropriate field and click the Save button. The Email Address and Map Directions starting point will default to the Email Address and Profile Address you have entered.

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Branding

If you’d like to customize your Property Reports with a logo or other image and your name and address, just check the box to add branding, fill in the appropriate fields, and click the Save button.

 

 

Custom Results

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Home Improvement

When adding improvements to the Refined Values page of your Property Report, you can decide which property value is to be increased by the value of those improvements. Just choose one of the three options show below, and click Save.

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Thank You for Attending!

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