The 'Search By' Option provides four ways to search the map for properties.
The 'Viewable Map Area' option will only return those properties found within the viewable area of the map in the browser. If you move the map, or change the zoom the search results are not updated (unless you click the 'Map Properties' button again). It's possible that there are additional properties that will satisfy the search filters once the map has been changed. It's suggested that you search again to get the results for the current viewable map area.
This is the default selection for the 'Search By' drop down.
The 'City' option will only return those properties that are found in the city specified in the 'City' drop down. This drop down will only be viewable if the 'City' option is chosen in the 'Search By' drop down. Once a city is selected the map will pan to show that city's location. It is possible that the complete area of the city will not be in the viewable map area once it has automatically moved.
If you want to search without being restricted to either choosing the Viewable Map Area, City, Zip Code, or County, you can select 'City' from the 'Search By' drop down menu and then select '--Any City--'. This will effectively search the entire database for properties sold that meet the other filter criteria.
The 'Zip Code' option will only return those properties that are found in that zip code. Select 'Zip Code' from the 'Search By' drop down and then a textbox will appear. Type a zip code here. When the mouse is moved away from the 'Zip Code' textbox, either the map will pan and center on that zip code if it's been found, or it will alert you if there are no records in that zip code.
The 'County' option will only return those properties that are found in the specified county. After selecting 'County' from the 'Search By' drop down, the 'County' drop down will appear. Select a county to filter results by that county. The map will not pan to display the county.
The 'Date Range' Option will filter the results to only those properties that closed within the time period specified.
Only Sundays are listed in the 'Date Range' drop downs because of the way the data is. Any property that closed during the week will list the Sunday after the closing date as the date sold. For Example, if a property was sold and closed on a Monday, the date sold for that property will be listed as the following Sunday.
If you would like to search on one weeks worth of data only, select that Sunday's date from both 'Date Range' drop downs. For example, to search for properties that closed during the week of March 13th through the19th of 2006, choose 3/19/2006 from both 'Date Range' drop downs.
The minimum date range that can be searched on is one week's worth of data.
It's possible to search through all the data from the week before April 23, 2002 to the present day by selecting --All Dates-- from both drop downs. It's an error if --All Dates-- is selected in one drop down and not selected in the other.
To filter the results by price range, set the 'Price Range' drop downs to the range of values to search on. This filter is inclusive, meaning that if one drop down says $500,000 then those properties whose sold price is $500,000 will also be included. This also means that if you wanted to only to return properties sold that closed at exactly $300,000 you would set both 'Price Range' drop downs to display $300,000.
If you wanted to see all properties, regardsless of price, select -All Prices- for both filters.
If you can't see this filter, it's because the 'More Filters' checkbox isn't selected.
The results can additionally be filtered by the number of bedrooms listed for a property. It is important to note that not all properties have the number of bedrooms listed. If you choose to reduce the results of a search by the number of bedrooms a property is listed as having, it is possible that some properties that have that number will be missing from the results. This is because I do not have this information for all properties.
If you want all search results regardless of how many bedrooms the property has, choose --Any Number of Bedrooms-- for the 'Bedrooms' drop down value.
The number of bedrooms that a property has is the value on record with the county when the property was sold. It is possible that this information is no longer accurate.
If you can't see this filter, it's because the 'More Filters' checkbox isn't selected.
To filter the results by the square footage of the property, choose a value for the 'Square Footage' drop down.
Not all properties have the square footage listed. If you choose a square footage range to filter the results, it is possible that some properties will be missing from the results that have that square footage. This is because I do not have this data for all properties.
If you want all search results regardless of the properties square footage, choose --Any Square Footage-- for the 'Sqaure Footage' drop down value.
If you can't see this filter, it's because the 'More Filters' checkbox isn't selected.
To filter the results by the year the property was built, choose a value for the 'Year Built' drop down.
I do not have the year built for all properties. If you choose a year built range to filter the results, it is possible that some properties that were built in that year will not show up because the property year built is unknown.
If you want all search results regardless of the year built, choose --Any Built Date-- for the 'Year Built' drop down value.
If you can't see this filter, it's because the 'More Filters' checkbox isn't selected.
This 'Address Search' box will let you search on any part of an address. Only the first line of the address will be searched. That is to say only the property street number and the name of the street will be searched.
For example, perhaps you wanted to find a house that you were sure sold, but couldn't remember if it was on First Street or First Avenue. If you put 'first' in this box, you would get all results where the word 'first' was anywhere in the results. This includes both properties found on First Street, First Avenue and First Court.
Another example: Suppose you remember looking at a house that had the street number of 454. If you searched on '454' the results will be those properties with '454' contained in their address. Some possible results could be 34454 Cook Street, 454 Clarke Street, 4549 Telegraph Avenue.
If you know that the address was exactly '454' then you can make sure the results are only those properties that have '454' as the last part of the address by including a space after the '454' like so: '454 ' (Note the space at the end, inside the single quotes). This space will match the space that can be found between the property street number and the name of the street the property is on. Some possible results could be 9454 Green Street, 454 First Street, 90454 Langdon Avenue. Note how the numbered part of the address is always the last part of the numbers. This is because of the space we included after the 454 also had to match a space in the address. This same technique can be used to find addresses where you only know the first digit of the address.
If you aren't getting the results you expect, try searching on less letters. Some street name are misspelled in the database, and not all data is 100% complete and accurate. Also, for some records, street is listed as st and for others it's listed as street. Keep this in mind. Some words are abbreviated some of the time, and sometimes they are not.
When the 'More Filters' checkbox is unchecked the only filters that show are 'Date Range' and 'Search By'. When it is checked, all the rest of the filters become visible.
Sometimes when the page loads for the first time, you will notice that the 'More Filters' checkbox is checked, but the hidden filters are still hidden. This is because your browser remembers that you had that checkbox checked before, and checks it for you again. However, because you didn't check it, the hidden filters are not visible. A solution to this is to uncheck the 'More Filters' checkbox and then recheck it.
When a filter is hidden, it no longer is used to reduce the search results.
Use the mouse to click on the 'Map Properties' button to get the set of properties that satisfy the viewable filters. Some searches take longer than others.
Use the mouse to click on the 'Clear' button to clear the table of results below the map, the tacks on the map, and any status messages that exist. This button will not reset the filters selected.