How to determine if property was paid for in cash

[Benjamin Cowles]

Is there any way to determine if any of the more recently purchased properties found in your local CAD were paid for in cash? Scoping the neighborhood for distressed properties I'll find either absentee owners or those recorded as occupants which upon further investigation aren't actually occupying the home and require some skip tracing. But a good chunk of the absentees based on the purchase date don't appear to have much equity if in fact there's a mortgage on the property so I'm wondering if there's a way to find out if any of these are paid off. I'm aware with purchased lists they have that info so I'm assuming it's available to the public, right? Thanks