How Public Records Access Helps Real Estate Pros Open More Doors & Close More Deals

Uncertain times ratchet up the importance of conducting real estate research efficiently. Public records can yield valuable information but searching public records can be a chore. Nexis^® for Real Estate supports your need for fast access to a wide variety of information, from news, company and industry information to deeds, tax liens, and other vital public and property records.

Whether your focus is on residential or commercial real estate, access to LexisNexis Public Records offers distinct advantages, starting with 82+ billion records from more than 10,000 sources, all in one place, including:

• 6B records with unique name/address combinations
• 8B property records
• 4B business records
• 29B bankruptcy records
• 7B motor vehicle registrations

Having all this information available from a single search platform accelerates real estate research by eliminating time-consuming scavenger hunts across dozens of sites on the open web.

But that’s not the only advantage. The exclusive LexID® identifier and proprietary SmartLinx® reporting technology work in combination to identify links between people, properties, and businesses—even when they don’t appear together in a public record. With a simple person or company search, SmartLinx rolls up all of the information about a person or company in one, easy-to-read snapshot , saving time so you can move ahead with using the information you uncover to boost your business.  

3 ways to use public records to protect & grow your business

Conducting real estate research across public records helps you identify threats and find opportunities.

1. Identify property ownership behind the LLC. The use of LLCs is a common practice for commercial property owners and residential real estate investors who which to protect their personal assets and other real estate holdings from liability. This benefits the property owners, but it makes your job harder if you rely on manual records searches. SmartLinx uncovers that information quickly, so you can find out who to contact about a property of interest or make sure that you aren’t exposing your real estate business to risk because of a hidden relationship.

2. Stay active in property markets, even in economic downturns. When the economy slows—or comes to a complete, if temporary halt, as it has due to the coronavirus pandemic—you may find fewer active listings for commercial property. Conducting real estate research helps you identify properties that may be underperforming for myriad reasons. A property may be run down due to deferred maintenance or may be functionally obsolete. Perhaps it is underwater due to financial distress of a business nature, such as a negative monthly cashflow, or of a personal nature, such as a prolonged illness or divorce. Likewise, you can find signs of distress for residential properties, such as liens, bankruptcies, and foreclosures.

3. Conduct due diligence on potential business partners and clients. Associating with the wrong people puts your own reputation at risk. Nexis for Real Estate connects you to public records where you can find critical judgment and lien information, professional licenses, and civil and criminal filings. And that’s not all. Nexis for Real Estate also covers sanctions, watchlists and politically exposed persons (PEPs), so you can verify that the company or person you’re about to do business with doesn’t pose an increased risk. And our adverse news coverage provides yet another source where you can find risk red flags, such as negative news coverage due to poor environmental practices or declining reputation among customers.

Conducting real estate research is essential, but it shouldn’t dominate your day. With Nexis for Real Estate, you have a world-leading content universe at your fingertips—including billions of public records—so you can uncover relevant, timely information on the fly. Plus, you can set up Alerts for key searches so you can stay up to date when new information is available—without having to rerun the search every day. The result?  You have more time to connect with your clients, make decisions with confidence, and put your business on a path to superior performance.

Arrange a personalized demo to see what your real estate research may be missing.