How to find commercial property history

How to find commercial property history

Commercial property history is the record of what has happened to one asset over time: who has owned it, what it has sold for, what debt has been secured against it, when it was built or renovated, and what it has been assessed and taxed at. Read in sequence, those records show how an asset has changed hands, what it has been worth at each point, and how it has been financed.

Whether you are buying/selling, mediating the purchase or sale, or servicing a multifamily, land, or commercial parcel of any kind, searching the history of the property will always help develop a more detailed understanding of that asset and its owner.

The more information you have on the property, the more informed your decisions will be surrounding it. When analyzing properties in Reonomy's web app, you can build a holistic and historical view of any property through levels of property, people, and company-based information.

Where each type of property history comes from

Five separate records make up a commercial property's history, and each is held by a different office. Sales and mortgage records sit with the county recorder. Building and tax records sit with the county assessor. Ownership history is assembled from the chain of recorded deeds. Pulling a full history manually means visiting each of those sources in every county where the owner holds property. For how to search those record sets directly, see our guide to commercial property records.

Property history

Fortunately, you no longer have to spend valuable time taking trips to your local county recorder, clerk, or assessor's office. You can now search for the history on any commercial property nationwide with speed and ease using Reonomy. First, let's run through a few examples of the common ways in which Reonomy users identify the history of their target properties.

Property history search

A property history search starts from one of two known values: the street address, or the name of the owning person or entity. Searching by address returns the record for a single parcel. Searching by owner returns every parcel that owner holds, which you can then open one at a time.

The most common way that people search property history is by looking up a known property, either by using its address or the name of the owner.

Property history search by address

Reonomy lets you access a property's sales, mortgage, and building history, as well as current information about the owner, tenants, and tax valuations, all by simply searching a street address. In the search bar that headlines Reonomy's search app, you can enter an address, and you'll be taken directly to the profile page of that exact parcel. Tabs of information include Building & Lot, Ownership, Tenants, Sales, Debt, and Tax. The Ownership and Tenants tabs include the contact information of the people behind ownership (even if behind an LLC) and the decision-makers of business tenants.

Property history search by owner

If you already know who the owning person or entity is behind a property, you can also navigate to the Ownership tab of Reonomy's search app to simply search the name of the owner and find a property's history that way. Once you have clicked "Apply," you'll instead be taken to a list of properties, as the owner may own multiple properties. From that list, you can then click any address, where you'll then go to the profile page of the individual asset as mentioned above. If you are starting without a name and need to identify the owner first, that process is covered separately in our guide to finding commercial property owners.

Property sales history

Property sales history is the list of recorded transfers for a parcel. Each entry names the buyer and seller, the price, the date the sale was recorded, the price per square foot, and the document type and number. Read in sequence, those entries show how long each owner held the asset and what they paid for it.

Property sales history shows the transactional past of any multifamily, land, or commercial asset. On Reonomy, comprehensive sales records show the past sales of a property, along with the parties that were involved (i.e. past owners), the sales price of each transaction, the date the sale was recorded, the price per square foot, the document type and number, and much more.

You can see all of this information for each sale separately, listed in date succession.

Why property sales history is useful

Uncovering the sales history of a property can be valuable in several capacities:

Sales comps are derived largely from property sales history

Sales records are what enable the creation of comparables, or comps, for commercial assets. Building a comp set is a distinct exercise, covered in our guide to commercial real estate comps. Comps for commercial real estate are simply assets that are very similar to that of a single, subject asset. They are similar in value, size, and type, and are under very similar environmental, market, and geographical influences.

It helps you find potential property buyers

Analyzing a property's sales history can help you see whether a property has or has not been sold recently. When looking for commercial real estate buyers off-market, recent sellers and buyers are a good audience to pitch to. Recent buyers could be looking to expand their portfolio by purchasing similar properties to their own. Recent sellers, on the other hand, have some cash on-hand, and could be looking to reinvest that capital if the right deal were to arise. To scan a whole market rather than one parcel, see recently sold commercial properties.

It helps you find potential property sellers, as well

Property sales history allows you to understand the intent of the current owner. You can see what their typical holding period is (by looking at multiple properties), and you can see how long they've been holding one property in particular. If they've been holding a property for 10 or more years, for example, they may be very willing to negotiate an off-market transaction with you. The sales history also shows what the current owner paid for the property and when they purchased the property.

What they paid and when they paid it can give you insight into what they'd be looking for now as a fair price of sale. All of this allows you to tailor your pitch on a very granular level, and speak to owners very directly about their ownership past and present.

Property sales history can show abnormal transactions or red flags

A sales history search will uncover unusual transactional patterns of a property. Sales history outlines if a property has transacted several times in a short period. It also shows if there has been an abnormal number of transactions through the property's history. Either of these could be a red flag for you when assessing the property. If anything, it prompts further due diligence.

Property ownership history

Ownership history is the chain of title for a parcel: every owner of record, in order, with the date ownership changed hands. It is assembled from recorded deeds, so an owner held behind an LLC appears under the entity name on the deed rather than under an individual.

A property's ownership history shows the change in ownership throughout a property's history. It outlines the previous property owners, the dates of ownership change and details on the current owner. In any asset's profile page on Reonomy, by looking at the sales history and current owner records, you can gain a fuller picture of ownership history. Understanding the ownership history of a property is important, it helps with the following:

Find prospect owners to target

Looking at the ownership history of a property uncovers information on the current owner and what their possible intentions are (as it does when looking at sales history). You can use Reonomy's search filters to search for properties that have or have not been sold in a specific time range, as well as how much they paid for the property. Reonomy also allows you to see the full ownership portfolio of a single owner. By searching an owner's name or mailing address, you can analyze the property history of all of their properties, even if those properties are owned under different LLCs.

You can also search for owners based on their location and the types of properties they own, as well as the types of businesses within those buildings, and more.

Get in contact with the current owner

Reonomy property owner records include the contact information of the owner(s), including the contact details of the individuals that are part of an owning-LLC. Find the property owner's phone number, email and mailing address to make contact. Contacting the owner directly ensures you save time in coming to a decision. You can use the property's full historical overview to fuel your pitch as well, and prove to individual owners that you're a student of their portfolio, as well as an industry expert.

Property mortgage history

Mortgage history shows the debt recorded against a property: the loans taken out on it, when each was originated, when it matures, how much was borrowed and who lent it. Because loans are recorded alongside the deed, the debt record runs in parallel with the sales record.

Search for a property's mortgage history to find the most recent debt positions on a property, as well as the past loans taken out on the property. Analyze property mortgage history for the following debt details:

• Loan Origination Date

• Loan Maturity Date

• Total Loan Value

• Lender

Likewise, you can search for properties based on the above details, to instead back into properties with a certain loan history. When prospecting, apply search filters by date or value ranges. Search for properties with a mortgage value between your target value range. Search a date range to filter for properties with a certain origination date or a maturity date to find those coming to terms on a loan or looking to refinance.

Building history

Building history covers the physical record of the asset: the year it was constructed and the year it was last renovated, alongside building and lot size. It is held by the county assessor and updated when a permit closes or the parcel is reassessed.

Reonomy's building and lot records on commercial assets show you the year a build was constructed, as well as the last time the building was renovated.

Property tax history

Tax history shows what a jurisdiction has assessed a property at over time and what it has charged in tax each year. Assessed value and market value are recorded separately, and the two often differ.

Property tax history shows the annual tax rate, annual tax commitments, and the property's assessed and market values. This information is useful when calculating the NOI or cap rate of a property. The annual tax commitment is a significant expense to include in these calculations. A property's assessed value can aid in estimating the current value of a property.

Property history report

A property history report combines all five records for a single asset into one view, so sales, ownership, debt, building and tax data can be read against each other rather than pulled from five separate offices.

Combine all of the above information to generate a property history report on any individual asset. Sales, ownership, debt, and tax history enable you to develop a full picture of any one commercial asset. Combine historic records with current building level data to customize your report. From there, you can dive into owner contact information to begin your outreach process in the case of buying, selling, mediating a buy or sell, or servicing a commercial property.

Frequently asked questions

What is a commercial property transfer history?

A transfer history is the ordered list of every time a property changed hands, with the date of each transfer, the price, and the parties on either side. It is the same underlying data as sales history, read as a sequence rather than as individual transactions. Reading it in order shows holding periods, which is often more useful for prospecting than any single sale price.

How do I find out how much a commercial property sold for?

The sale price appears on the recorded deed held by the county recorder. Search by parcel number or street address to pull the deed, then read the consideration amount and the recording date. In a handful of non-disclosure states the price is not recorded, in which case assessed value and transfer tax are the closest available proxies.

How do I find the ownership history of a commercial building?

Ownership history is built from the chain of recorded deeds, read from the most recent transfer backwards. Each deed names the entity that took title and the date it did so, which is what lets you reconstruct the sequence of owners. Where a building has been held through LLCs, the deeds name the entities rather than the individuals behind them, so the chain shows entity names unless you resolve them separately.

How do I find out when a commercial building was built?

Year built is held by the county assessor, and is usually listed on the property record card alongside building size and lot size. Local building departments hold the permit history, which shows renovations and additions after the original construction date. Reonomy's building and lot records surface year built and year last renovated together.

Where can lenders find commercial property ownership and loan history?

Both come from the county recorder. Deeds establish the ownership chain and mortgages or deeds of trust establish the debt, and the two are filed against the same parcel. For underwriting across multiple markets, a national platform is faster than county-level searching because it normalizes filings from thousands of jurisdictions into a single format.

How far back does commercial property history go?

It depends on the county. Recorded deeds can go back more than a century in older jurisdictions, but digitized records typically begin somewhere between the 1960s and the 1990s. Anything earlier usually exists only on microfilm or paper at the recorder's office.