Columbia, South Carolina real estate is our specialty! Serving the Columbia, SC area, including Lake Murray, Cayce, Chapin, Irmo, Lexington, West Columbia
and more!
Owning an Older Home in Columbia SC
Becoming a House Detective
Old House and Their History
Do you live in a historical home and want to unearth a bit of its history?
If you live in an older house and are not familiar with its heritage you might want to consider becoming a house detective, so to speak. It’s fun and educational to find out about the history of your Columbia SC real estate property. In some college real estate classes, students are required to select a property, preferably one they have some interest in, and research its ownership back to 1900. It is frequently considered the best assignment of the course.
Where to Find House Information:
First, go to the county courthouse and check the property records. There will be deeds filed by names of owners, plus there will be tax records. It will help tremendously if you have the legal description and tax number of the property you are investigating.
Other sources of information include your local historic preservation program. Our good friend, Mike Bedenbaugh is the director of The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation. Also, the state archives has tax rolls and birth and death records. Census records are available at regional National Archives centers and some libraries. And don’t forget local libraries that might have city directories, newspapers ,and magazines.
Good hunting.
This Home Buying Tip was excerpted from:
TWO HOURS OF REAL ESTATE, One Minute at a Time, by Phil Hardwick, Quail Ridge Press, 1993.
ISBN 0937552534