TAX RECORD SEARCHES

When searching for Public Records in T-III, stick to using only the "basic four" criteria: County, Owner Name, Street Number and Street Name. You most likely have a known address and owner in mind. If you are searching a FSBO, you may not know the owner name, and you may know the street name, but not the number. Use what you have of the "basic four" criteria whenever possible and be sure to use the "wildcard" ( * or % ) to allow for variables. Search by owner name using only the last name with the wildcard in front (ie. *Johnson ) If the street has a directional in its name ( ie. N. Edgehill ) allow for variations in spelling and placement by placing the wildcard before and after the street name (ie. *Edgehill* ) You must accept that data may be misspelled, entered incorrectly or laid out differently than you might expect. With this in mind, don't be quick to give up when a search returns "No Data Available."

Search creatively using the wildcard and different combinations of known criteria. If a search does not work with the street number, eliminate the number and search the entire street and look in the Owner column for the owners name. Be aware that some property, such as adjacent additional lots will not have street numbers. Searching by owner name should reveal all properties listed as owned by that name. But, keep in mind that a property may be listed under a different owner name or combinations of names. Unfortunately, tax information in T-III is only as good as March of 2000. In other words, it is static. For up to date tax records, go to the respective County Auditor web site, if possible. (You can find the links at www.ycar.org) And remember that sellers have access to this timely, and oftentimes more complete information, too!

FREE ANTIVIRUS DEMO

We at the board office were recent victims of the Navidad.exe virus. This bug replicates itself by sending "friendly" e-mail messages to the first 50 addresses saved in your Outlook or Outlook Express address book, using your e-mail identity as a disguise. The message includes an attached file called Navidad.exe. The unsuspecting e-mail recipient downloads and installs the bug. The virus program now begins the process all over again on this new system and proceeds to send out more infected e-mail. I was able to find and delete this bug by use of an antivirus program by McAfee. You can obtain a free demo version of McAfee's VirusScan at www.mcafee-at-home.com. Under "Products A to Z," click on McAfee VirusScan, click Download Eval. Fill out the registration form, agree to the terms and then download and install to your computer. Now be sure to download the latest virus database update. Go to the top of the page, click on "Download Updates/Upgrades," click on "Anti-Virus Updates," then click on the latest DAT file for VirusScan 4x and 5x. Download and install this update. Now open McAfee VirusScan Central and click VShield to configure your System, E-Mail and Download scans. Although your license to upgrade will expire, you will always have the ability to update the virus definition DAT files.

WWW.YCAR.ORG

Did you know that you can have your Open House advertised on the web site? Have your office data input person enter the time, date and address into the Open House section of the T-III Data Input program. We will then extract the data from T-III, convert it to HTML (web viewable format), create a link to the property page at REALTOR.com and then upload it all to www.ycar.org. Prospective purchasers can click on the Open House link found on our homepage and then view all Open Houses that have been entered. You could also put in your vindicator ad. “go to www.ycar.org for more info!”