How to Find the History of Your House in Ohio

County Auditor

• 1

  Go to the county auditor's web page or office. Be sure to visit the office responsible for property records in the county where the property is located. For example, if the property is located in Cleveland, go to the Cuyahoga County auditor.

• 2

  Request property information. If visiting the auditor's website, click the property information or property records option on the home page.

• 3

  Submit either the owner's last name and county, or the street number, street, county name and direction. If requesting the information online, enter the information into the corresponding fields, and press "Search."

• 4

  Browse through the results. There may be several results that match the query, especially if you are searching by just the last name. Narrow down the returned results and find the property, or property owner, that best matches your intended query.

• 5

  Look over the history of the property. Most owners of the property are displayed, including the recorded purchase prices of the property, the type of deed registered with the auditor's office, amount of taxes paid each year, the value of the property, a building sketch, the year the property was built, the square footage of the building and the total land area of the property.

County Recorder

• 6

  Go to the county recorder's office in the county courthouse or building, or conduct an online search on the county recorder's website.

• 7

  Submit the property address to the clerk, or enter details into the online search tool. For example, the Cuyahoga County recorder's online database has two search options -- general and parcel. To conduct a general online search, enter the type of document (e.g., "deed"), the property owner's last and first name and a date range for the recording date. The date the deed was transferred to that owner is displayed. To conduct a parcel search, enter the parcel number (you can get the parcel number from the county auditor or recorder) for the property, which will tell you all past owners of that property.

• 8

  Pay any applicable fee. Online searches are typically free. There may be a charge to copy records at the recorder's office.