Doing title research myself

[Mark Hu]

I had an unpleasant surprise while down at the Orange County, CA recorders office. They explained to me I could only search for recorded property documents by owner name or document number.
Does that leave me dependent on a real estate agent to provide me the name of the property owner from the mls? Is is ethical for me to ask my agent for the property owners name? That seems to be the only way I can do my own title search before putting in an offer.
Note we just wasted our time with an offer on a property that has a large lien from the us attorney's office.

[Ibrahim Hughes]

I like the idea Steve and usually do a basic 'lien search' myself before getting too interested in submitting offers. Once the offer is submitted and I intend to wholesale I typically do a full title search myself. I hate to look unprofessional when an open lien pops up that kills the deal. Esp. when I'm on my way to the closing table.

I deal primarily with vacant and "abandoned" properties. So I can learn a lot about the reason behind the vacancy/abandonement of the house as well as the whereabouts of the owner by doing my own search.