Courthouse Retrieval System Presents:
Enhancing Customer Service by Utilizing Public Records
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How to Turn Public Records into Valuable Information
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Introduction
a. Property Research
b. Property Evaluation
c. Reading and Understanding Tax Maps
d. Turning Property Records into Profit Marketing
Property Research
a. Recorded Property Owner
b. Parcel ID
c. Sales and Deed History
d. Building Characteristics
e. Extra Features
f. Subdivision Profile
g. Area Info/Demographics
Property Evaluation
a. Different Types of Values of a Property
b. Comparable Property Searches
Reading and Understanding County Tax Maps
a. Importance of Maps
b. GIS
c. Navigating Maps/How to find a Parcel
Turning Property Records into Profit-Marketing
a. Target a Senior Market
b. Zero Consideration/No Sale Properties
c. Renters/Investors
d. Looking for Vacant Land
e. 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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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
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.
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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:
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.
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
Export or Print list
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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.
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 & Exports
Export/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.
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.
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.
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Custom Results
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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