On-Site Inspection. How do I locate land address with just an APN number?

[HItstheSpot]

If you're going to appraise out in the rural areas then you need to learn how to navigate and how to find specific parcels without an online app. That area out there is notorious for no street signs and no house numbers and on occasion for roads that are gated or which are impassable. And inconsistent internet access.

Taking screen grabs of the overheads with parcel overlays and printing them out and making notes of nearby addresses is a real useful strategy.

One more thing, the locators on some of these online maps sometimes make mistakes and put their pins in very inaccurate - not even close - locations. The APN overlays are always correct but the locators using street addresses are sometimes inconsistent out in the rural areas.

Thank you for all the input George! You have been a great help!

 

[RustyTapeMeasure]

High Desert ? There is no address unless there is a taxable structure on it.

He said Anza. So no, not High Desert /Mojave but it is sorta high at 3800ft+?

 

[RustyTapeMeasure]

For comps you'll probably find what you need by staying south of Hwy-371 and east of Terwilliger. There are some sales from the last 18 months right in the immediate neighborhood plus competing neighborhoods to the south. Don't be afraid to extend past 6 or 12 months in a rural location.

I appraised a 600ac spread at Burnt Valley just shy of Hwy74 a couple years back. Used to be owned by Red Skelton.

View attachment 96269

OP needs to list you on report for significant input including HOW to FIND the property.

 

[RustyTapeMeasure]

Interesting your MLS has no APN# input for search criteria.....never seen the lack of that.

 

[Fernando]

Maybe a dumb question but can a Licensed or Certified Residential do a land appraisal?
I never did a land appraisal.

 

[sputnam]

I get your point, but it is more I have had trouble finding land in some remote areas with only an APN number in the past.

Sure.... everyone does when no one has bothered to mark the parcel you've been asked to appraise. You have a few choices. You tell the Client that you can't find the property and you decline the assignment. You accept the assignment and do the best you can. You contact the owner or borrower or someone and ask them to meet you at the property and show you the corners.

 

[Tom D]

Yea, show me the corners in a wooded lot. And how much is the fee for lost and found, maybe never found. Sorry, poor rural humor from easy ghetto urban.

 

[George Hatch]

Interesting your MLS has no APN# input for search criteria.....never seen the lack of that.

Yeah, this system has a field for APN but the mapping function isn't 100% reliable insofar as locating the parcel on the map. Even some street addresses get pinned incorrectly on the map.

The county systems don't have this problem. And their overhead imagery w/parcel overlays is accurate enough for what we do.

I search public records for sales data a lot, but I use a different database for that. I pay $165/mo and get access to the entire state. Search by address or parcel or owners name. Assessor maps included.

ParcelQuest Appraise

www.parcelquestappraise.com

 

[George Hatch]

I usually use the county maps for my location maps in my reports. I turn off the city and zoning overlays and use their markups to show and annotate my comp locations. It don't cost nothing.

 

[sputnam]

Yea, show me the corners in a wooded lot. And how much is the fee for lost and found, maybe never found. Sorry, poor rural humor from easy ghetto urban.

The owner of the property knows where it is... and usually knows where it begins and ends. Maybe not good enough for a survey.. but definitely good enough for an appraiser to understand what is being appraised.