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Portlandmaps.com: What does your public tax internet site look like?

Real Estate Appraiser with Ashcroft & Associates

December 22, 2007 03:06 AM

As an appraiser, I glean off as many public internet sites that I possibly can while not leaving the comfort of my desk. I appreciate all the relevant information the cities and counties provide for us, but sometimes I think they may cross the line. Our city/county site, portlandmaps.com enters everything from mug shots of criminals that live in your neighborhood to what sort of violations or complaints an owner has received about his property (including overgrown shrubs, vermin, cars in the yard, sewage in the basement, etc. ...).

Recently portlandmaps started entering owner's name and addresses. Did they cross the line? I'm still on the fence as to how I feel about that... I mean, if they post a mug shot of all the sex offenders and where they live, why can't they put my name out there for everyone to see? But other than stalkers and solicitors, who [in the general public] would use this information in a positive manner? According to a recent article in the Portland Tribune, two out of the three Portland counties would not release private information to portlandmaps to make public on their web site.

On a side note, I'd like to post our area counties' tax information just to show how different the four nearest counties are and rate them with a 5 star rating system:

Clackamas (they keep changing their web addresss, so hopefully this link works) ***
Washington **
Multnomah (the county is nearly 100% the city of Portland) ****
Clark (WA) *****

Please feel free to share your thoughts and county information as well.

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Herb Hamilton

RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors - Portland, OR

Real Estate Broker ,CDPE, Downtown Portland

Sara,

I was surprised as well to see this additional information and am experiencing the same " On the fence about this one " as you are.

Initially I thought it was a bad idea. As a Real Estate Broker working with Investors I found that having access to the Seller via a Realtors(R) data base was a great way of protecting my lead source. But it has not changed the way that my investors work at all. They are very savvy and use Portland Maps often. Yet they still call me to do all of the work.

Conclusion: The overall service that I bring to the table far over shadows the availability of the name.

After all if you really wanted the public record you could obtain that from the title company anyway.

So in reality it just makes my job a little easier.

Dec 22, 2007 04:18 AM

Sara Goodwin

Ashcroft & Associates - Portland, OR

Portland, Oregon Appraiser

Wow, Gregory, that is pretty limited. You can find out the name of the person that owns the place and it looks like you can search on what mortgagee they used (although the one I pulled did not have that information) AND it looks like you have to pick up a calculator to find out what their taxes are. Ugh :-)

Hello Herb - For real estate professionals, yes it makes it much easier and you make a very good point from the broker/investor side - It's good to hear that they still call you in the end!

Dec 22, 2007 12:18 PM

Jeremy Cowin

Jeremy Cowin Appraisals - Altadena, CA

This is one of the sources I use provided by Los Angeles County - very limited info, but it the basic info that we need to "verify" and use, but no personal info! http://assessormap.co.la.ca.us/mapping/viewer.asp

I actually think posting items of (including overgrown shrubs, vermin, cars in the yard, sewage in the basement, etc. ...) is a good idea on a specific address if it applies, it can create a clearer picture of what a property is ACTUALLY like vs a guess! but what if it gets cleared up? Than what? Who updates the info? And I agree Sara, that not all people will use this info in a manner that will be positive and beneficial.... Sometimes doing the extra research to get the info is better than having easy access to info that can potentially be misused and put people and their properties at risk.

Just my $0.02. Merry Christmas!

Dec 23, 2007 05:29 AM

Hey Jeremy -

Another thing that a potential buyer can do is check out the complaints that neighbors have had on surrounding houses to see if they might fit into that neighborhood. I ran into one complaint (obviously from a neighbor) stating their water feature was too loud - Can you imagine?

Dec 23, 2007 10:52 AM

I have a huge water fountain approx 5 X 7 - I would like to think that it adds a bit of harmony to my home and have not had any complaints YET!! Some people just have too much time on their hands...... or are just restless souls!

Most of my neighbors have stated they want me to come and help build one for them!

Dec 24, 2007 01:49 AM

Robert Elfand

Oviedo, FL

RAA

Hi Sara -- We have a wide mix of County records available...the larger (wealthier) counties have the most information available like Orange County (Orlando). Seminole County(Oviedo -where I reside) is overhauling their site next week. Osceola (close to Disney Word) Volusia(Daytona Beach), & Lake Counties (middle of the state with lots of acreage) are much more limited. Orange County IMHO is the front runner in Central Florida. The site offers sale research tools (statistical graphs, median price, and comparable search), aerial maps (up to 3 years back), photo's of the dwelling on the parcel, plat maps, and copies of the transfer deed. We have not approached the line of putting mugshots up...but it may eventually happen?

Happy Holidays!

Dec 24, 2007 01:50 AM

Sarah Eubanks

Hill Valley Financial Services - Oregon City, OR

Preferred Oregon Loan Consultant & Notary Public

hi Sara ~ I did not know of this one. I hope to hear more feedback. I do not think I am very fond of it for the same reason as you. I actually had a stalker once and he went to jail. It is a weird fact of life and anything we can do to prevent it, the better.

I hope that your Christmas was pleasant! Talk with you soon...

Dec 26, 2007 02:58 AM

Jeremy - How Zen! I would love to have such a water feature but I have a feeling I'd spend more time cleaning dog hair out of the filter than relaxing to the soothing sounds of water :-)

Wow, Robert - You can even search by owner's name on your Orange County public site. That's super useful for real estate professionals, but sorta scary otherwise -

Sarah - I would definitely feel vulnerable if I felt threatened by someone trying to find me and there was an easy resource to find my information. I have friends that have had stalkers and it's not fun. At least portlandmaps is not like Orange County (see above) - I see it like the waiting period to buy a gun - There are some people that need a waiting period to cool off, or a loss of anonimity (by having to go into public to search someone at rather than doing it at the safety of ones own desk), or the trouble of traveling to the assessor's office that allows some steam to blow off before they do something stupid.

Dec 26, 2007 05:44 AM

Portlandmaps.com: What does your public tax internet site look like?

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