YOUR ADDRESS
There are at least 6 compelling reason to Google your own address- especially if it is an address your are thinking of renting, buying or selling. Smart home owners would do well to search for their address too and here is why....
1) To see if Megan's Law Registrants live nearby - Safety first folks. Megan' Law requires law enforcement authorizes to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders in their neighborhood. Nearly every state that has a Megan's Law-type sex offenders registry has on online version that serves up the names and address and sex offenders history and even photos. Check it out for your state at
MEGAN'S LAW or for Utah at
UTAH SEX REGISTRY
2) To find Crime reports and Data for your home - Cities, county and state law enforcement agencies all post crime date online, But GOOGLE searches for your address or city and
"CRIME REPORT" is most likely to turn up your local police or sheriff's offices crime report. If you are moving to a city or even a state where your are not completely familiar, doing a quick search on Google holds the potential to reveal some disturbing or comforting crime activity information
3) To detect scammer how are trying to sale or rent your home - Internet scammers have taken to ripping off house information and putting together fake listings, offering other peoples for rent and even for sale with a lease to own option. The offer list the home with with cheap and easy terms, then ask the would be buyers or renters to please wirer or send the deposit money over seas, where the fake sellers can get it while they are traveling- you guessed it - Nigeria. These scams come to light only when the new renter start stopping my the home and peeking in the windows.
4) Checking out the values in your neighborhood to possible help with your taxes - In real estate the value of your home is driven mostly by the value of those home in your neighborhood that are similar to your also known as comps. (In some now disclosure state this maybe more difficult) This could give you a good reason to know what your neighbors home sold for. If you see a pattern of homes selling for lower then yours homes assessed value, you can use these comps to petition your county to lower your own property taxes
5) To see your homes property records - Its a story as old as homes, well as old as websites that displays homes records and listings. Your homes records online are populated from the public records about your home. which are either so old they don't include upgrades and additions that have been done over time, or they're just flat out wrong for a number of reasons. If you Google your address and find that your home description is riddled with errors, contact your county public record agency to correct them, this is particularly important if you are planning on selling your home anytime soon
6) To see home Home's GOOGLE street view - When your selling your home its especially critical to see everything that prospective home buyers may see. That means checking out how your home listing looks on all online real estate sites. One thing homes savy buyers is the Google map street view of the homes they maybe interested in prior to going to see the home for themselves. If you are unfamilar with this Google attached a camera to the top of a car and drove down almost every street in america. Now Google uses can have an over head view along with a street view of the homes. That a look for yourself at
GOOGLE MAPS this will blow your mind
