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How to Research the History of a House

Abbax khan

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How to Research the History of a House
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If you are interested in researching the history of a house you’ve been looking at, check out the resources here to help along the way.
Nowadays most people like to be informed.  Buying a house is a nerve-wracking time, and you want to make sure you know as much about your future home as possible.  At the end of the day, this is why you find need that Top Notch Home Inspector (and why you’re here at Red Flag Home Inspection).  So, you have your sights on a house and you are taking a deeper dive into the history of the house.  Here are some resources that can help you along in that journey.
  1. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or Ask Your Realtor

The MLS is a backend database that real estate agents use to create (and share with prospective buyers) the house(s) you are interested in purchasing.  If you are curious, you can learn more about the MLS with a quick google search.  This database, unfortunately, is not available to the public but your chosen Real Estate professional certainly can gain access to get you the prior listing records.  There you can review the square footage, the wallpaper, the carpet in the bathroom, etc.  You may actually get a glimpse into what the house looked like before they knocked out some walls and opened it up.  Some have had success finding former listing data from EstatelyCompass, or Moveto as well.

  1. Evacuation Zone and/or Flood Zone

In Florida, knowing which evacuation zone a house is located in is a must.  Florida Disaster has an interactive map where you can put in your address and zoom in/out to see the zone you are in (HERE).  Your designated evacuation route should be researched and posted somewhere in your home.

Flooding causes more damage in the United States than any other severe weather-related event.  To check your new home’s susceptibility to flooding, you can check FEMA’s interactive map HERE.  Those located within a designated Flood Zone will be required to secure Flood insurance if they carry a mortgage on the home.  Even if not located within a designated flood zone, you may want to consider getting this insurance coverage.  A handy tool I found when preparing for this article can be found HERE.   This site will assess your “Flood Factor” and report on the likelihood of you encountering a flood within various timespans you designate.  It will also tell you the likelihood of your neighborhood, zip code, city, or county having a flood event.

  1. Foreclosures and Distressed Property Search

Foreclosure sales can bring down the average sales price in a given area, and the presence of bank-owned or foreclosed properties may develop into a neighborhood eyesore.  You can try to get ahead of this by researching distressed and foreclosure properties at Realtytrac. The site is just as easy as using Zillow or google. You just type in the city or street and see what listings pop up. You have the ability to filter by pre-foreclosure, auction, bank owned, as well as conventional sale. You can, of course, also get these listings from the MLS through your chosen realtor. You don’t always get 2’ tall grass to point out the distressed properties, so this site will help you look into any that may exist near your new home.

  1. Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (C.L.U.E.)

This is a LexisNexis database that contains up to seven years’ worth of the automobile and personal property claims data. It also contains scoring data to assist insurance companies with a risk assessment to help lead pricing and underwriting. This data, however, can only be accessed by the owner of the property, the insurer, or the lender for a property.  You can, however, request that the current owner (the seller) order a C.L.U.E. report on your behalf.  This may alert them to issues they had no idea existed prior to their own purchase.  This information can prove useful to assist you in assessing what perils the building has gone through, as it is not always easy to determine events that occurred after the damaged materials are removed and made new.

If you are wondering why you would care if the damaged materials were removed/replaced, you may not know how often unskilled labor and/or DIY enthusiasts tackle some of these issues themselves. Things have the potential to look great, but not be so great when you peel back the layers. People following proper protocols and standards of care, unfortunately, is one of those things you need to be on the lookout for. Doing the right thing is sometimes much more expensive than doing, enough.

  1. Talk to the Neighbors

You can learn A LOT about a neighborhood by latching onto the local gossip hub.  Three short hours later and you will know all of the cul-de-sac drama, who painted the house with un-approved color palettes, and who’s dog calls your yard their personal dumping grounds.  You can also learn quite a bit about the buildings.  Basic up-keep and maintenance questions are fair game.  Knowing if a laundry list of defects was found shortly after construction could prove pretty useful for your decision-making processes.  You may also want to inquire about the schools, traffic patterns, and any local amenities that are nearby.  So be bold and introduce yourself.  If it’s a crash and burn, you will need to assess whether you can live next to Ms. “I keep my yard pristine while my dog’s dumping on yours”.  True story, dog urine burns lawns.  Look it up!

Seriously though, neighbors are a great source of information.  People know other people, who may know about the house or area you are looking to move into.

  1. Search Engine

You googled your cold symptoms and convinced yourself that you were dying, so why not try it for your future house?  Well, you actually can grab some pretty low-hanging fruit with a simple google search.  Oftentimes, listings from TruliaRedfinRealtor.com, etc. pop up.  These listings may have a different or more in-depth set of photos that will help jump-start your search.  You may pick up the criminal history of the past owner, or a voter registration site that tells you he voted for that terrible guy that one time.

While you are there, try out Google Streetview.  To use it, you type in the address into google.  Then click on the map image (the first response), then drag the little orangish-yellow guy at the lower right corner into the screen where you want to view.  You will see the available Streetview footage with a differing coloration as you are dragging this guy around.  From there, you can move up/down the street, or zoom in or out.  You can also click on the clock icon at the upper left corner to see the same image in that same location on prior dates.  This is great to see if the roofing changed, or if they painted the house.  Just be warned, you may see 6 cars parked in the front yard and 2’ tall grass.  If you are in looking in densely populated areas, a good amount of imaging should be available dating back to 2007.  More sparse areas may have little or no Streetview imagery.

  1. Aerial Imagery

Modern-day aerial imagery has been showing increased clarity and frequency of collection.  What this means is that there is a fighting chance that you can see (within a few years’ span) when that building addition was constructed.  Any “visual” event that you can see from an overhead perspective may be observable in some of the more modern and clear imagery.  So if a detached building was built, or a pool was put in, you would likely be able to narrow down when it was done.  You can also typically see coloration changes that are typical when replacing roof coverings, or when they gave up on their yard and started embracing the weeds.  In Florida, most municipalities have limited aerials on their property assessment pages.  To see your county, you can go HERE for Hillsborough, HERE for Pinellas, or HERE for Hernando counties.  If you are not in these three counties, usually you can easily find your local Property Appraiser’s office by googling the county + “property appraiser”.

Another great place to get current aerial images is on google.  Similar to the way you navigated to Streetview above, instead of dragging the orange/yellow guy, you just click on the map link itself.  Once in, you can click the icon at the lower left corner to toggle from “map” mode to “aerial” mode.

Once there, you can zoom in pretty close and see some decent detail.  The date of the imagery is posted at the lower right corner of the map.  If you right click, you can select points and measure distances (say if you wanted to estimate if your new pool will be too small for that 6’ pool float you’ve been looking at.  You can also copy the latitude and longitude in case you need coordinates for any other purpose.

Another great resource, of course from google, is Google Earth.  You type the address, street or city you are interested in at the hourglass icon on the left side of the screen.  From there, you can scan around, pan, tile, and zoom in and out.

You can also drag that orange/yellow guy into place to see the Streetview image.  If interested, you can also draw and annotate the maps you are viewing.  In Google Earth Pro, the desktop version of this program, you can click on the “Historical Imagery” button to see the same house spanning several aerials (usually provided in 2 to 6 year spans).  If you don’t know why this roof is not an efficient roof design, please check out my article on the topic HERE.  On the one prior, I don’t think I have to tell you that a big tarp on the roof is BAD.  For those who don’t know, those are placed as temporary coverings if/when there are roofing issues.  I would definitely ask questions about why it was there (if you do not see it during your inspections) and request paid invoice receipts to prove it was dealt with properly.

  1. Public Records Searching

If you are really committed to learning the history of a potential home, your journey will next take you to Public Record Searching.  A directory that may help you find the Public Record authorities in your area can be found HERE.  Below is the export when I put in FLORIDA, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY:

The first stop along these lines should be the Property Appraiser’s office.   Here you can look into the prior owners of your target property.  Appraisers also assess the value of the property by level of finish and use.  So a visit to the Property Appraiser’s office may dig up some solid information on how they converted that 3 car garage into a mother-in-law suite (IF that does happen, I hope you read about the PRO’s and CON’s of that in my prior Blog Entry HERE).  Many building permits and changes in use for the areas of the residence get reflected in the appraisers’ record books over time.

You may also need to pop over to the Building Department.  Some of the more modern Building Departments have their records available online, while others have not quite made it there yet.  For really old buildings, expect to need to go in-person and possibly get assistance looking through microfilm.  Here you can search the permit history on the building of interest.  If you see major re-working and do not see matching permit history, you may want to inquire with the seller’s on whether they were pulled (and why not).  If you have these departments print out any permits or plans found, expect to pay them per page (and they don’t all take check or card).

Believe it or not, the local library may have insight to the buildings of the area, and their rich history.  If you are on a scavenger hunt for more historic reasons, I would make a quick stop there to see what you turn up.


  1. Title Search

In Florida, a title search accomplishes several things.  Among them, it includes confirmation of who has the right to sell the property, the description of the property (in the official records), mortgages present, tax information, and any liens/restrictions/easements on the property.  The “chain of title” is a legal document that will show the sequence of historical transfers of the title to a property.  Mortgage lenders require a title search, so your transaction may already be destined to contain one.  These searches go back as far as possible, so this may dig up some needed information about the history of your building.  Often, records are found that pre-date the construction date of most buildings.


  1. Diedinhouse.com

I know it’s morbid to consider, but past owners may have deceased in the house you are looking to buy. Realtors are commonly asked if the past owners or anyone passed away in the residence, and they may or may not know.  For a fee, you can go to diedinhouse to answer that question.  Talking to neighbors, as discussed above, is also an effective way to learn if something terrible happened in your future home.


  1. School Ratings

Those with children obviously need to know if the school districts they would land in are solid.  Great Schools is a go-to resource to learn all about the schools at the various levels.  Each school is given a rating factor (out of 10) to indicate which schools are below average and which are great.  You will also find the full school name, address, distance from your selected location, and the number of students currently enrolled.  Drilling down into individual schools further, you can find additional student metrics, test scores, and various other demographics.


  1. Sex Offender Database

Just in case you were distracted by the dog soiling your future bushes when the neighbor told you, you can run over to the National Sex Offender Public Website to check if there are any registered offenders in proximity to your new home.  The FBI’s Scams and Safety website also has a sex offender registry that you should check just to be sure.


  1. General Crime Statistics

It may be good to know that the area you are (potentially) moving into isn’t over-run with theft and violent crime.  If you agree (and you don’t mind a fee), you should check out some of the information and statistics at Neighborhood Scout.  The FBI comes through again with additional resources to feed your need to research your neighborhood.  The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) has data that can be sliced by location, year, and several other selection criteria.  Additional FBI resources, including Hate Crimes and other infractions, can be found HERE.

Those with a Ring doorbell may also want to join the Ring community in the area of the prospective home.  There are some interesting Ring doorbell videos shared there, and you may get to see chat messages about local occurrences.  Spoiler Alert: most of the videos posted there are porch pirates or people asking if anyone knows this random person who had the audacity to knock on my door today.

Closing

So good luck researching your next dream home.  I hope these tools are helpful, and you are
able to hone in on that dream home you’ve been scouring the MLS to find.  Did a tool you use not make the list?  Post a comment below to share.

Best ways to research the history of a house:

  1. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or Ask Your
    Realtor
  2. Evacuation Zone and/or Flood Zone
  3. Foreclosure and Distressed Property Search
  4. Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange
    (C.L.U.E.)
  5. Talk to the Neighbors
  6. Search Engine
  7. Aerial Imagery
  8. Public Record Searching 
  9. Title Search
  10. Diedinhouse.com 
  11. School Ratings 
  12. Sex Offender Database 
  13. General Crime Statistics 
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Pull-Out Beds: Maximizing Comfort in Compact Living Spaces

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In today’s fast-paced world where living spaces continue to shrink, the need for furniture that offers both functionality and space-saving qualities has become increasingly vital. Among these multifunctional pieces, pull-out beds have emerged as a versatile solution, revolutionizing the way we utilize limited space while prioritizing comfort.

Efficient Space Utilization

Pull-out beds, also known as sofa beds or trundle beds, are ingenious space-saving furniture items that serve dual purposes. During the day, they function as stylish sofas or seating arrangements, seamlessly blending into the living area. When the need arises, these beds effortlessly transform into comfortable sleeping spaces at night, catering to guests or offering an extra bed without consuming additional room.

Enhanced Comfort Without Compromise

One of the remarkable aspects of pull-out beds is their ability to provide comfortable sleeping surfaces without compromising on comfort. Modern designs incorporate high-quality mattresses and supportive structures, ensuring a good night’s sleep comparable to traditional beds. Additionally, advancements in mattress technology offer various options, such as memory foam or hybrid mattresses, catering to different preferences while maintaining compactness.

Versatile Designs for Diverse Needs

Pull-out beds come in diverse designs, ranging from sleek and contemporary to more traditional styles. This versatility allows them to complement various interior aesthetics, ensuring they seamlessly integrate into the existing decor of any space, whether it’s a studio apartment, a guest room, or a multifunctional home office.

Convenience and Ease of Use

The convenience of having an extra bed that can be tucked away when not in use cannot be overstated. Pull-out beds are user-friendly, with mechanisms that enable easy transitioning between sofa and bed modes. Their functionality eliminates the hassle of setting up or storing additional mattresses, providing a hassle-free solution for accommodating guests or unexpected overnight stays.

Conclusion

Pull-out beds stand as a testament to innovation meeting practicality in the world of furniture design. They offer an ideal solution for maximizing comfort in compact living spaces without compromising on functionality or style. Their ability to seamlessly transition from a chic sofa to a comfortable bed makes them an indispensable addition to modern living arrangements, providing a perfect balance between comfort, convenience, and space efficiency. Whether in small apartments or larger homes, pull-out beds continue to redefine how we optimize space while prioritizing comfort and versatility.

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Why You Should Invest in Influencer Marketing to Boost Your Instagram

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In today’s digital era, Instagram has become a powerful platform for brands to connect with their target audience and build a solid online presence. Influencer marketing is one of the most effective strategies to amplify your brand’s reach and engagement on Instagram. By collaborating with influential individuals in your industry, you can leverage their credibility and massive following to promote your products or services. This article will explore why investing in influencer marketing is crucial for boosting your Instagram presence. We will delve into the benefits, strategies for identifying the right influencers, techniques to increase brand awareness and drive conversions, and measuring the success of your influencer marketing campaigns. Additionally, we will discuss valuable tips, emerging trends, and the growing importance of influencer marketing in shaping the future of digital marketing. Get ready to unlock the potential of influencer marketing and take your brand’s Instagram to new heights.

The Power of Influencer Marketing on Instagram

Instagram: the land of filtered photos, well-curated feeds, and endless scrolling. It’s no secret that this platform has become a cultural phenomenon, with over a billion active users worldwide. But what sets Instagram apart is its power to shape trends, influence consumer behaviour, and make or break brands. From fashionistas to fitness enthusiasts, Instagram has created a whole new breed of influencers who hold sway over millions of engaged followers. And where there are influencers, there’s a golden opportunity for businesses to tap into this power check now.

Remember the days when celebrity endorsements ruled the advertising world? Move over Hollywood A-listers because a new generation of influencers is taking centre stage. Influencer marketing has gained immense popularity for a simple reason—it works. By partnering with influencers who have built a loyal following, brands can organically reach their target audience, connect personally, and generate an authentic buzz. Plus, it’s a win-win situation: influencers get paid for their collaborations, and brands get to leverage their credibility and influence. It’s like a modern-day word-of-mouth on steroids. So, why not jump on this Instagram bandwagon and give your brand the boost it deserves?

The Benefits of Investing in Influencer Marketing

In a world where trust in traditional advertising is dwindling, influencers offer fresh air. By partnering with influencers whose values align with your brand, you tap into their credibility, loyalty, and trust. Their followers see them as friends rather than salespeople. When an influencer shares their genuine experience with your product or service, followers are more likely to trust their recommendation and consider your brand credible.

Influencers can be your secret weapon if you’ve been struggling to reach your target audience. With their carefully cultivated following, they have the power to put your brand in front of thousands or even millions of eyes that you may have otherwise missed. By identifying the influencers who resonate with your target audience, you can expand your reach and ensure that your message reaches the right people. It’s like having a stampede of potential customers knocking on your door.

Brand awareness is essential for any business, and Instagram is the perfect platform. Influencers have an uncanny ability to make your brand go viral, spark conversations, and create a buzz that traditional marketing methods can only dream of. They bring your brand to life through captivating content, engaging stories, and interactive experiences. By strategically partnering with influencers, you can catapult your brand into the spotlight, gaining exposure and making sure your brand stays at the forefront of people’s minds.

How to Identify and Partner with the Right Influencers

Before diving into the world of influencer partnerships, take a step back and define your target audience and brand goals. Knowing who you want to reach and what you want to achieve will guide you in finding the perfect influencers who align with your brand.

Not all influencers are created equal, and not all partnerships will yield the desired results. That’s why it’s crucial to conduct thorough research on potential influencers. Please closely examine their content, engagement rates, and audience demographics. Are they authentic? Are their followers engaged? Do they align with your brand values? Asking these questions and doing your due diligence will help you find the diamonds in the influencer world.

Authenticity and engagement are the magic ingredients that make influencer marketing successful. Look beyond the follower count and dig deeper into the influencer’s ability to connect with their audience. Are their followers genuinely engaged with their content? Do they respond to comments? Are they trusted within their niche community? Building a relationship with an influencer who genuinely cares about their audience will ensure your collaboration feels genuine and resonates with their followers.

Leveraging Influencer Marketing to Increase Brand Awareness

When it comes to influencer marketing, collaboration is critical. Work closely with the influencer to create a campaign that aligns with their style and resonates with their audience. By combining your brand’s unique message with the influencer’s creative touch, you can create a content masterpiece that captivates and engages their followers.

Content is king, and influencer marketing is the lifeblood of success. Collaborate with influencers to create content that embodies your brand’s values while staying true to their authentic style. Whether a beautifully styled photo, a heartfelt testimonial, or a captivating video, compelling content grabs attention, sparks curiosity, and leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

Want to supercharge your brand’s visibility? Hashtags and viral challenges are your secret weapons. Work with influencers to create trendy hashtags or participate in existing ones that align with your brand. Encourage their followers to join the challenge, share their experiences, and spread the word like wildfire. The more people participate, your brand’s exposure and engagement will skyrocket.

In Instagram, influencer marketing offers a unique opportunity to boost your brand’s reach, build credibility, and create a lasting impact. So, why wait? Harness the power of influencers and let your brand shine in the spotlight of the Instagram stage.

Boosting Engagement and Driving Conversions through Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for boosting engagement on your Instagram account. When you collaborate with influencers, they can create content that resonates with their audience and encourages active participation. Think captivating videos, stunning photos, and relatable captions that get people talking and sharing. By leveraging the creativity and authenticity of influencers, you can create a vibrant and interactive community around your brand.

One of the advantages of influencer marketing is the ability to drive conversions. Influencers can strategically incorporate call-to-actions (CTAs) into their content to maximise this potential. Whether encouraging followers to visit your website, purchase, or sign up for a newsletter, well-placed CTAs can generate valuable leads and turn followers into customers. By working closely with influencers, you can ensure that your CTAs are seamlessly integrated and compelling.

Influencer marketing can be a game-changer for your sales funnel. When influencers endorse your products or services, providing a smooth and seamless journey for potential customers is crucial. By optimizing your landing pages and sales funnels, you can create a seamless transition from an influencer’s content to a personalized and persuasive buying experience. This enhances the customer experience and increases the likelihood of converting followers into paying customers.

Measuring the Success of Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns

To evaluate the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaigns, it’s essential to establish clear and measurable key performance indicators (KPIs). These can include engagement rate, reach, click-through rate, and conversion rate. By defining your KPIs upfront, you can track progress, set benchmarks, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns.

Luckily, measuring the success of influencer marketing doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Plenty of tracking and analytics tools available can provide valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns. From tracking the number of clicks on an influencer’s link to analyzing audience demographics and behaviour, these tools can help you understand the impact of your partnerships on your overall marketing efforts.

Ultimately, the success of your influencer marketing campaigns comes down to return on investment (ROI). By comparing the costs of your campaigns with the revenue generated, you can assess the profitability of your strategies. If specific influencers or types of content consistently deliver high ROI, you can allocate more resources to those areas. Conversely, if some campaigns need to produce the desired results, it may be time to reassess your approach and try new tactics.

Tips and Strategies for Maximizing ROI in Influencer Marketing

While one-off collaborations can be beneficial, building long-term relationships with influencers can be a game-changer. You can tap into their dedicated audience and benefit from ongoing exposure by fostering loyalty and trust. Long-term partnerships also allow for deeper integration of your brand values and messaging, resulting in more authentic and impactful content.

Incentives can be a powerful driver of engagement and conversions. By creating exclusive offers and promotions in collaboration with influencers, you can develop a sense of urgency and scarcity that motivates followers to take action. Whether a limited-time discount or a unique package, these exclusive deals can generate buzz, boost sales, and strengthen the bond between your brand and its audience.

Listening to your audience is crucial for optimizing your influencer marketing efforts. Actively monitoring comments, messages, and mentions allows you to understand customer sentiment, identify pain points, and address concerns. By promptly responding to user feedback, you can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction and foster positive relationships with your audience, increasing trust and loyalty.

Future Trends and the Growing Importance of Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is an ever-evolving field, and new formats continue to emerge. From Instagram Stories to IGTV and Reels, influencers are finding innovative ways to engage their audience. Keeping an eye on these emerging formats and experimenting with them can help you stay ahead of the curve and tap into new possibilities for brand exposure and engagement.

While macro-influencers often grab headlines, the rise of micro-influencers is worth noting. These are influencers with smaller but highly engaged and niche audiences. Collaborating with micro-influencers can be an effective strategy for reaching specific demographics and communities. With their strong connection to their followers, micro-influencers can generate authentic and highly targeted content that resonates with their audience.

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