Make the Most of Your Listing: Finding Your Property's Official Records

Where Official Property Records Actually Live

Every property in the United States has a public record maintained by the local government, typically the county assessor's office, the county clerk or recorder, or in some states a combined property appraiser's office. These records exist independently of anything a homeowner submits themselves, they're compiled from surveys, permits, prior sales, and periodic assessments. In New York, the NYC ACRIS database covers the five boroughs, while counties outside the city maintain their own assessor and clerk websites. In New Jersey, most counties offer a public tax records search through the county clerk or a statewide portal. In Florida, each county's property appraiser website is the primary source, and most are searchable by address with no login required. All three are free and publicly accessible. You do not need to pay a third-party service to look up your own property.

What You'll Actually Find in the Record

A typical property record includes the officially recorded square footage, the lot size, the year the structure was built, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms on file, the current assessed value for tax purposes, prior sale history and prices, and any liens or judgments recorded against the property. Some counties also show permit history, useful if you've done renovations and want to confirm they were properly recorded. This is the same data an appraiser pulls when evaluating your home for a buyer's mortgage, and it's the same data a buyer's attorney or title company will reference during due diligence. Knowing it in advance means no surprises later.

Why the Official Numbers Sometimes Don't Match What You Expect

It's common for a homeowner's own sense of their home's size to differ from the official record. A finished basement may not count toward official square footage in some counties, since basements below grade are often counted separately from above-ground living space. An addition or garage conversion that was never permitted may not show up in the official record at all, which can create a real problem later, unpermitted work sometimes needs to be disclosed, and it can complicate an appraisal if the buyer's lender expects the square footage to match what's on file. If your own records show something meaningfully different from what you find in the official database, it's worth a conversation with your real estate attorney before you list, particularly if the difference involves unpermitted work.

Using This Information to Price and List Accurately

Once you have your official numbers, use them directly in your NestMatcher listing rather than estimating. Accurate square footage and lot size make your listing more useful to matched buyers, and they prevent a mismatch from surfacing later during a buyer's own research or the eventual appraisal. This same record is also where you'll find your recent property tax assessment, which is worth knowing both for your own planning and because buyers will ask about it. Combined with the comparable sales research covered in our appraisal guide, pulling your official record is one of the fastest ways to walk into pricing your home with real confidence instead of a guess.

What This Means in New York, New Jersey, and Florida