Now that you have a brief overview of the methods of legally describing properties you are ready to find the property. Before you begin searching make sure you are prepared with the following:

• Pencils
• Erasers
• Paper
• Notebook or a manila envelope to store each parcels information
• A state and county map
• Lots of quarters, dimes and nickels for copies

Let’s go to the county office to locate the property. Go to the front desk and tell the clerk that you need some help looking up the legal description of the parcel number you have been given from the list of tax delinquent properties. Tell the clerk that you need to go visit this property.

Sometimes the clerk may know the owner of the property. If not you might be able to locate the owners name and address in a phone book or the local county records. The problem with looking up the owners name and address is that the owner may have more than one or two pieces of property.

Well back to business! The county clerk will come back with a short description. Take that description and look it up in the corresponding Bagley Book. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Isn’t that what our taxes pay for anyways? Be patient and courteous.

The clerk will now help you locate the parcel number in the Bagley books Each Bagley Book contains maps of one township. Usually each Bagley book will have a name on its cover like 3N 9W. The Bagley books are in numerical order for example; 3N 10W will be next to 3N 9W. Unfortunately, not every county has a Bagley book therefore you may find yourself using maps instead.

Before you go tromping through the great outdoors I want to suggest that you locate parcels with single-family homes residing on the land. I would recommend that the Beginner stay away from raw or vacant land.

You may also want to swing by the county assessors office to get the run down on the assessed value of the property. Remember that you want the improvements to represent at least 70-80% of the total value of the property. The improvements may indicate that a house has been built on the land. Be sure to call a few Real Estate Agents so that you can have a good idea of the market prices for the area at which you are looking at.

Now that you have been able to locate the property using the parcel number and the county recorders office it’s time to go find it. Be sure to take a compass.

Remember you are looking for a parcel that has a great resale value. I suggest that you stick with Residential Single Family homes. Be sure to check with the EPA and find out if they have any recorded or known environmental problems. A great rule of thumb is verify, verify, verify everything from numerous sources.