Newbie trying to get seller financed property (mortgage question)

[Blake Dowe]

Hi everyone!

I'm a new investor in the Southern Maine area and am looking at a property with hopes of getting it through seller financing. 

On the tax sheet it says the property was sold to the current owner in 1981 for $0.00

Is the $0.00 a misprint? or does this represent that the current owner has no mortgage?

Either way I would assume that the owner does not have a mortgage because the property was purchased more than 30 years ago. I'm having trouble finding out a concrete answer on whether or not they have a mortgage and am wondering if anyone has any tips.

My backup plan is to finance the property through an FHA loan if I find that they do have a mortgage.

The property is 3-unit residential and I will follow up with my analysis if anyone would like to tell me their thoughts on that.

Thanks!