Question about researching properties in FL

[Matthew Charron]

Hello BPers,

I have a question for your FL investors. I just relocated to FL from RI and I have begun driving for dollars to build a list. Back in RI when I would access a property on the county assessors office it would include the features of the house (number of bed/bath/rooms/fireplace/etc). I don't know if I am missing a step or something but when I search the assessors page and find a property it gives me owner and mailing address and etc but it doesn't tell me much about the house aside from potential square footage. Am I missing something or is that the way its done down here? If I can find the house on zillow or etc is that the best way to obtain this information if I can't get it from the assessor?

Also, when I search mortgage documents it doesn't tell me interest rates, just the date and the amount of the loan. Am I missing something there as well? 

And finally, I had tried researching a couple commercial properties that I know exist because I took down the address. When I pulled it up on the assessors page aside from the address and the entity holding the property, its like it doesn't exist. No tax information, no property information its basically empty. How do I go about cracking open one of those types of properties so I can have more information available?

Thank you in advance for your time.