Applicability: United States property research; available evidence and local rules vary. Editorial review: 2026-10-01. Examples are fictional. Follow the availability and account messages shown in CountyEdge.
Outcome
Turn an address or parcel into a clear research brief. Choose whether you need property facts alone or an assessment of possible investments, then confirm exactly what the private case will investigate.
Before you begin
Have the full street address and any unit or building number. For land without a street address, have the parcel ID, state, and county or county equivalent. A matching address is the starting point; it does not establish parcel boundaries or legal permissions.
Prepare the question you want to answer, your proposed use, and any firm constraints. You can prepare the brief before signing in. Starting research requires a verified account, available report allowance, and an available research service. An unsaved brief is kept in the current browser session for up to 24 hours; it is not yet a saved case.
Practical steps
- Start property research from the homepage, or open Research a property directly. A homepage address is carried into the brief. Confirm the full address and applicable unit. The homepage Use a parcel ID link opens parcel entry; an existing draft is kept until you choose the offered switch. You can also choose No street address? Enter a parcel ID within research, then select its state and county.
- Review the matching property before continuing. If several candidates appear, choose the intended one. Treat the displayed address as a location confirmation, with parcel identity still to be researched.
- In Questions, choose Investment assessment (the default) or Facts only. Then select at least one research topic. Choices include Property records and history, Ownership and title, Taxes and assessments, Zoning and development, Building and restoration, Flood and site constraints, Rental and HOA restrictions, Market and price history, and Area context. Property identity and governing authorities are always checked.
- Facts only follows Property → Questions → Review. Add relevant notes under Property context (optional), then continue directly to Review. The report excludes investment strategies, scenarios, and financial inputs. Switching modes keeps your investment entries in the draft for later use.
- Investment assessment follows Property → Questions → Investment → Numbers (optional) → Review. Select the property type and one or more strategies. Choose Not sure — evaluate possibilities if you want plausible options examined. Describe proposed changes and read any notice about additional topics.
- Choose Add numbers (optional) to enter known purchase costs, budget, financing, income, or targets. Leave unknown amounts blank; zero is an explicit assumption. Alternatively, choose Review brief on Investment. This keeps any figures already entered. Invalid entries must be corrected or cleared before investment review.
- Review the property, topics, report mode, and relevant context. Investment review also includes strategies and financial assumptions. Use the Edit controls to correct a section; Edit property requires a new location confirmation. Changes clear the final confirmation. Confirm the scope, sign in if needed, and use Start private research only when it is available. Keep the resulting case link.
Worked example
A fictional buyer is considering a house for long-term rental and might convert an existing garage. The buyer selects Long-term rental and Addition, conversion or restoration, identifies the property as a single-family home, and describes the conversion. Their stated question is whether the rental and proposed changes are supportable before they commit to a purchase.
The buyer knows the proposed purchase price but has no construction quote. They leave project cost blank rather than entering zero. The report can identify missing evidence and label any planning assumptions; it cannot turn the missing quote into a confirmed cost.
For a separate task that only needs ownership and tax information, the same buyer can choose Facts only and the relevant topics. That scope produces research findings without an investment assessment.
How to interpret it
Your selected topics define what you ask CountyEdge to investigate. Investment evaluation may add topics needed to assess the chosen strategies. For example, a rental assessment needs restrictions checked even if your original interest was the purchase price.
Not sure is a request to explore plausible possibilities. It does not confirm that every strategy is lawful, financially viable, or covered by available records. Facts only still includes limitations and unresolved questions; it does not mean every requested fact will be found.
Unknown financial inputs differ from zero. A blank loan payment means it has not been established. A zero cost is a specific assumption that can materially change the result.
Common problems
- The parcel cannot be identified: check the parcel ID together with its state and county. The same identifier can mean different things in different places.
- The wrong unit appears: return to the property step and correct the unit before confirming. A building-wide record may not establish a unit-specific fact.
- Extra topics appear: review the chosen investment strategies. Use Facts only if you want research limited to the selected topics without an investment assessment.
- Financial details are missing: continue with honest blanks where permitted and review the resulting assumptions and gaps. Do not invent numbers to make a result appear complete.
- The start control is unavailable: read the sign-in, allowance, active-report, or service-availability message. A completed brief alone does not mean research has started.
Next action
Prepare a property research brief, then use Track research and troubleshoot to follow its case. If this is your first investigation, begin with Your first investigation.