Hey everyone, so we’re super close to closing on a house, and everything’s been going smoothly until now. The mortgage company wants insurance quotes, but we can’t figure out when the house was built. My realtor has already called the city, and the inspector has a rough estimate based on floor plan changes from the nineties, but no one seems to have solid records. I’m trying to avoid paid sites, but every free one just isn’t giving me the info I need. The house is older, and there are some built-in features that might help date it. My question is, will we still be able to close? And can we just guesstimate a year for insurance purposes?
Have you checked who the seller is insured with? They might have that info.
You might find something on your county auditor site. They sometimes have records going back a while.
Unless the house has been vacant forever, there’s probably some insurance company that has records on it. They might have the info you need.
You can check for permits or tax records. Look for a big jump in value year over year too. Also, try using https://historicaerials.com/ and see if you can find aerial photos from different years to help narrow it down.
Have your realtor check with the seller’s realtor to see if they’ve found the abstract. If the sellers have a loan, it’s usually kept with a title company.
Honestly, just put something generic like 1900. It’s not uncommon for older homes to have unclear build dates.
If you want, you can send me the address, and I can try to help look it up. No worries, I’m not in the market for a house right now.
You might find the tag on the main support joist. That can sometimes have the build date.
So, I looked into it a bit more. The house has had several parcel numbers and was combined with some apartments back in the early 2000s. It’s changed hands a few times, but I can’t seem to find earlier records.