I know it's probably specific to the area, but I thought I'd throw the question out there, anyway.
Does anyone know how a non-realtor would be able to find a list of recent commercial land sales in an area?
Specifically, if there was a large (600-800 acres) land purchase in a city and who might have bought it?
Something tells me the data is out there somewhere, but I just can't seem to string together the right search words to find it.
-Rob
Go to your local county records (my county has them online) and look up who owns the land in question and then you can search the deeds (deet of trust) to find out when it was purchased...and if there was a loan, how much the loan was for. It's not an exacty science, but it'll give you some info (maybe not exactly what you're looking for, though).
Clem
I believe you may be able to get that from your town hall. Atleast here I'm pretty sure they keep trake of such notices. What piece of "debris" do you wish to help them remove from their new land?
Here is how I do it.
Search for county auditor's website.
Find section on Real Estate.
From there search either by address or owner.
If that search brings nothing, search an address you know. From there I can get a map function. I can move around that map to the property in question.
Once I have the property on the map, there is a map function that will tell you who the owner is on the property and what it's ownership history is.
EDIT: My auditors website also has a link for recent sales which can be further divided down by school district
All counties should have two indexes. One lists by buyer (Grantee) and the other lists by the seller (Grantors). You find out who was the owner at the assessor's office (or whatever office your county calls it) and go from there looking them up as the seller. Sometimes the indexes are called the direct and indirect indexes. Progressive counites may have all this info on computer. If its still kept in books, it may take months for the information to be updated.
A good place to start is to Google search your county and state with GIS in the description. If your county has a GIS site (not all do yet) a map should pop up and you zoom in to the parcel. There should be a icon that will identify the parcel owner. It may also provide the name of a previous owner.
Sounds like I have some leads on getting what I want....
1) There's no "debris" that I would like to help them remove....
2) I actually have NO idea where the 600-800 acres is (although I have an idea of geographic location)
3) I don't need to know the price, just if a piece of land that size has been purchased within the past few months (and keep a watch to see if one IS purchased in the next few months.)
4) I WOULD like to know WHO purchases it.
5) I live in the suburbs of Austin, TX.....
Just trying to do some investigative research for future endeavors.... 
-Rob
I don't know what you're looking for 
, but supposedly it's already been purchased.
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/track-site-engineers-secured-f1-group-says-711...
You don't have a Realtor buddy who can look it up for you? It'll be hard to find in the county records since you won't know the parcel, grantor or grantee. MLS records MAY have it, but it might not even show up there.
It depends on the business too. My buddy is in the foreign car repair business and usually rumors or quiet whispers among birds-of-a-feather abound long before anything hits the papers or courts.
Talk to folks in the line you're looking at in the town you're shopping in. Even if nothing turns up, you network.
Dan
