Information on Chicago and Cook County Research Websites

[Frank S.]

Hi all, 

I hope this helps neophytes like me to facilitate the (required) research when buying properties in Chicago.

It helps you know who you are dealing with.  I found this info through pure elbow grease. 

Find the Deal

Redfin.com is fine, but I like realtor.com because it provides previous asking prices.

https://www.redfin.com/

http://www.realtor.com/

You can also use a great agent.

Cook County Property Search

http://www.cookcountypropertyinfo.com/Pages/PIN-Se...

Here you can fine a summary of the property, listed owner, taxes, who owns it, taxes, exceptions, deed info, etc. 

Deed Research

http://cookrecorder.com/search-our-records/

There is good info here. It will let you know who owns the property and sometimes how much they paid for it. You can actually see scanned documents and signatures.

LLC and Corporation Information

If the property is owned by an LLC or corporation. You can find own if the listing agent is related to the corporation by using a key word here.

https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/bus...

Chicago Code Permit and Violation History

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bldgs/p...

Here you can figure out if they pulled permits or if they have violations.  You can use this for negotiations or to run away as fast as you can. 

What other websites can you recommend ? 

Best of luck, 

Frank

[Matthew Olszak]

Frank's list is solid, just a few to add...

Cook County Court Case Lookup: 

http://www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/?section=CAS...
With 'Civil' case type, 'Defendant' bubble, put the property address # and street name w/o direction (e.g. 121 Lasalle) in the Name field. It will show any active cases of the city vs. the property for things like building code violation fines, demo court, and super-past-due water bills. Most of the time you'll be able to see the amount demanded by the city.

With 'Chancery', 'Defendant' bubble, put the property owner's name backwards (Madigan Mike). It should bring up their foreclosure case.

NOTE: If you are a fast typer and hit enter like me, it won't show results because it will hit enter for the case # and not name. You have to actually click the button. I've looked up hundreds of cases and still hit the darn enter key. Come on Dorothy Brown!

http://12.218.239.52/V2/COUNTY/

Search by PIN to find tax deed proceedings for a property.

Cook County Delinquent Taxes

http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/tsd/delinquenttaxse...

Lookup redemption and tax sale information. This should ONLY be used as a primer to ordering the info from the clerk's office though.

Bankruptcy Court Info:

https://pcl.uscourts.gov/search

Search for federal cases and bankruptcy case info of owners. There is a cost per page and search but it is waived if under a certain total per quarter (I think somthing like $20 or $40).

Chicago Permit Application History

http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/buildingpermit/se...

Similar to what Frank listed above with more details.

Foreclosure Auction Schedule and History

When you look at the case history in the link above and see. "JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE ENTERED (CASE IS PENDING)", foreclosure has been ordered and the owner is in the redemption period. If the next action is "NOTICE FILED" and the 'Participant' is the bank, the auction has likely been scheduled. Chances are, Judicial Sales Corp will be running the auction. You can lookup the previous 90 days' results and next 90 days' schedule here: http://tjsc.com/Schedule.aspx . If its not on there, it could be with another company or the sheriff, but they are likely the ones.

Current Zoning/GIS Map

https://gisapps.cityofchicago.org/zoning/viewframe...

Lookup a property's current zoning. Its also useful to lookup a pin based on map location and see how larger properties are split into multiple pins.