Researching a House Before You Offer: Assessor Cards, Permits and the Registry of Deeds

Before you offer on a house, you can learn a great deal about it without asking the seller anything. Massachusetts keeps unusually good public records: the town assessor's card, the building department's permit history, the Registry of Deeds and the state's mapping service between them answer most of the questions buyers ask, and they are free.

An evening with them tells you whether the finished basement was permitted, what the seller paid, whether there is an easement across the yard, and what the town thinks the land is worth. It also tells you what to ask, which in a state with no seller disclosure form is the part that matters. What a seller has to disclose explains why.

Start with the assessor's property record card

Every city and town in Massachusetts assesses property for tax, and nearly all of them publish the record online — search for the town's name and "assessor's database" or "property record card".

The card typically shows:

The owner and the most recent sales, with dates and prices. A house bought eighteen months ago and listed now deserves a question; so does one that has changed hands three times in a decade.
Living area, room counts, year built, style and construction. Compare them with the listing. When the listing claims 2,600 square feet and the card says 2,100, either a finished basement is being counted, an addition is unrecorded, or someone has measured differently. Each answer means something different.
The assessed value, split between land and building. It is not a market value, and property tax explains why, but the split tells you how much of the price the town attributes to the dirt, which is useful on a small house on a large lot.
Lot size and zoning district.
A sketch of the building's footprint. A deck, a garage or an addition that appears in the photographs and not in the sketch is worth asking about.

Assessors' data is entered by people and can be wrong, sometimes for years, so treat a mismatch as a question rather than a finding.

The building department's permit file

This is the record most buyers never look at and the one that answers the most important question about a renovated house: was the work permitted and inspected?

Some towns publish permit histories through an online portal; others require a request at the building department or a public records request, which the town must answer under the state public records law. Either way, ask for permits for the address going back as far as the file goes.

What to look for:

Major work with no permit behind it: a finished basement, a new bathroom, an addition, a replaced roof, a new heating system, rewiring.
Permits opened and never closed. An open permit means work was started under a permit but never passed final inspection. It can delay a closing and is sometimes the buyer's problem afterwards.
Who did the work, and whether the electrical and plumbing permits went to licensed trades.

For a recently renovated house this is close to essential. Buying a flipped house and the house with an unpermitted unit both start here.

The Registry of Deeds: the deed, the mortgage, the easements

Massachusetts records land documents at county Registries of Deeds, and most of them are searchable online through masslandrecords.com. Search by the owner's name or by street address where the registry supports it.

The useful documents:

The current deed, which names the owners, describes the land, and refers to the recorded plan and any easements or restrictions.
Recorded plans, which show the lot lines as surveyed when the plan was made.
Easements and restrictions: a utility easement, a right of way for a neighbour's driveway, a conservation restriction, or a covenant limiting what can be built.
Mortgages and discharges, liens and attachments. A string of unpaid liens can mean a seller in financial difficulty, which affects how a negotiation is likely to go.
Condominium master deeds and amendments, for a condo.

Some land in Massachusetts is registered land, recorded in the Land Court section of the registry with a certificate of title. The search works differently there, and title in Massachusetts explains what the distinction means.

None of this replaces your attorney's title examination, which is more thorough and is what the title insurer relies on. It does let you spot a right of way across the back garden before you are emotionally committed to the back garden.

MassGIS, the flood map and the historic inventory

Three more sources cover the land itself and what is around it.

MassGIS property tax parcels. The state publishes every town's parcel lines in one map, with assessor data attached. It is the fastest way to see a lot's shape and its neighbours, and how a parcel sits against wetlands and protected open space.
FEMA's flood map. Search the address on FEMA's Map Service Center to see whether the house is in a designated flood zone, which decides whether a lender will require flood insurance. Flood zones and water risk explains what the zones mean and what they miss.
MACRIS, the Massachusetts Historical Commission's inventory. A house listed there may be subject to a local historic district or a demolition delay. That matters a great deal if you intend to change the outside or replace the house. Buying a teardown covers the second case.

The records that are not online

A few useful files sit in town offices, and a phone call or a visit is the way in.

The board of health holds septic records: the Title 5 inspection history, pumping records, and the system's design plan. Title 5 explains why these matter.
The conservation commission holds wetlands orders of conditions affecting the property. An open order can complicate a sale.
The fire department holds records of oil tank removal permits.
The zoning board holds variances and special permits granted to the property, along with any conditions attached.

What to do with what you find

Write down every mismatch and every question, and send them through your agent before your offer if you can, or before the inspection if you cannot. A permit that is missing, a square footage that does not reconcile or an easement nobody mentioned is not necessarily a reason to walk away. It is a reason to ask, and the answers belong in your negotiation and, where they matter, in the purchase and sale agreement.

The buyer's guide sets out where this fits in the sequence, and the town guides cover what the records cannot: what a place is actually like to live in.

General information as of 2026. Record systems and online access differ from town to town and registry to registry; your attorney's title examination, not your own search, is what a lender and title insurer rely on.