It’s all public record, and in some counties, those property records are available online. When using these property appraiser’s sites, you can search records in several ways. Keep in mind if you search by street address, you have to enter the street address in the precise way that the appraiser’s office does, including how and what they abbreviate.

It is often easier to search by an owner’s name. (Again, you have to watch the way the appraiser’s office lists names. In Palm Beach, for example, it’s last name, then first name, with NO comma in between. In Broward, use a comma, but no space!) Searching by owner’s name can be quite interesting – try a few local celebrities for fun.

Keep in mind, these are government Web sites, and like everything else on the Internet, sometimes they just don't work. You can try again later, and report your difficulties on the webmaster or feedback buttons on each site. (Sun-Sentinel.com is providing these links, but we can't do anything about the performance of these Web sites.)