Have you ever wondered who lived in your home before you?
Across the United States the average length of stay in a home is just over 12 years. In Phoenix that average is quite a bit lower at 8.3 years in 2022. So, chances are, unless your home is less than eight years old, somebody lived in that home before you.
Reasons For Wanting To Know:
Why would you want to know? Good question.
- Curiosity. Some people are simply interested in knowing who lived in their home before. Was there a family? How long did they live there? It may not change anything about how they live there, but sometimes it’s just interesting to know.
- Remodeling. You may be wanting to remodel your home and are looking for plans of the house, or research any previous remodels that may have been done on the home.
- Selling. If you are not the first owners of your home, researching your house might help avoid some hassles during the inspection phase of the sale – like finding un-permitted work.
Where Do I Search?
With some basic information there are a few ways you can dig into the layers of your home’s previous ownership.
- Building Department – Your municipality will have a building department and website. This department is where you will need to go to access past building permits issued as well as current building codes.
- Title Company- Title companies can typically trace property ownership back about 30 years. The search is done through recorded deeds. The goal is to identify any encumbrances associated with the property. The research is done through records at the county recorder’s office. Fees associated with hiring a title company usually vary between $100 to $250.
- County Recorder’s Office- If you don’t want to pay the fees, and have the time, you can access and research recorded documents yourself by contacting your counties Recorders Office. There is no fee associated with researching and viewing documents. If you want a copy though, the cost is usually about $1 per page. Knowing your parcel number will help get you started. You will be able to sift through deeds and learn about prior owners. Documents available include:
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- Property transactions
- Deeds of trust
- Family trusts
- Tax liens
- Mortgages
- Survey maps
- Subdivision plats
The Arizona Secretary of States Office lists all fifteen county recorder’s offices in Arizona, some of which offer a log in for homeowners to do research on their own.
- County Assessors Website- You can find more free information yourself by using your county assessor’s website. You can access and research maps, sketches, pictures and tax information– a different kind of DIY project! A significant amount of information is available for each property and all you need is the address.
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- Search Engine- If you put your address in the search engine, the Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN ) will appear. You just need the street number and road- too much information will keep it from finding your property. For instance: 1215 N Kentucky is sufficient.
Once you have the parcel number there will be lots of tabs to choose from. Explore each one to find layers of information!
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- Maps– In the maps tab you will find a map with the dimensions of your property. Zoom in to see the property details, zoom out to see the layout of the surrounding properties. Under this page you will find the owners information listed and the property valuation. A basic drawing feature allows you to experiment with placing a new building or pool on your property. There is a ruler feature that allows you to measure for boundary setbacks for that project.
*There is a caution here- The maps on government sites can be inaccurate. To have workable drawings you will need to hire a draftsman to have plans accurate enough for blueprints.
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- Pictometry- View your home and property as a satellite image. Select a date from the past pics of your home. As you scroll through the years, you will be able to see the home landscape mature and the neighborhood develop.
- Sketches- Simple drawings of your home’s floor plan and it’s dimensions and rooms live here.
- Taxes
- Current Assessed Value
- Parcel Maps
- And More!
Title Alerts- **We highly recommend that before you even search for your property, take the time to fill out the title alert section. If anyone tries to make any changes to your title, you will be notified by email.**
- Property Snoop Apps – Are another option. Zillow, or Google Maps are apps that can provide a limited amount of information.
Does Your Home Qualify As Historic?
If your home happens to be on the National Register of Historic Places there will be several more layers of information you can dig through.
In Arizona you have both the National Historic Preservation Office, part of the National Park Service. We also have our State Historic Preservation Office also known as SHPO as resources you can look to get information about your home. To qualify as a historic home there are criteria established by the National, State, and local preservation offices your home needs to adhere to.
- Age- The home needs to be at least 50 years old
- Significance- Your home must be relevantly connected to some historic event, people, or architectural style in your community.
- Original Integrity- Your home must have maintained a significant degree of original features of both design and construction materials.
You can begin by contacting your local Historic Preservation Office to see if the house qualifies. If you are living in an existing historic district, and your home has maintained most of its original integrity, you may already qualify.
If you purchased a home that is listed as historic, there already is a great deal of information that is available to you. This information will likely lead you to some very interesting stories about your home and the era it was constructed in. In Arizona there are over 1,400 historic sites. In most communities there are several historic districts. Phoenix alone has 36 distinct historic districts.
There are a ton of resources available to you to dig into your homes past. The process can be time consuming and sometimes a bit tedious, the results can be quite interesting though. You may run into an Arizona pioneer that lived in your home if it is old enough, or you may find out some fun facts of former inhabitants. Whatever you find out, it will be more than you knew when you started. We would love for y’all to share any stories you might have about your home. Please send them to info@rosieonthehouse.com.
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PODCAST
February 22nd, 2025
Ever wondered about the history of a home? When was it built? Who lived in it prior to the current owner? A starting point can be your local building department, title company or your county/parish recorders office. We explain some of the steps and what information you’ll likely find from lot dimensions to permits and possibly a good history of the home. Plus Arizona Registrar Of Contractors Director Tom Cole talks about the Construction Science Apprenticeship Fair for careers in construction.
Original Broadcast Archive Page With Expanded Content
PHOTO CREDIT
- IStock
- Willowphx.com
