Real estate records are located in local government offices that record real estate transactions, such as sales, refinances and other transfers. In most states, including California, the government office is at the county level and is generally referred to as the county recorder’s office. Some states require real estate records to be filed in the clerk’s office of the local county courthouse, while a few states, such as Connecticut, parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, require real estate records to be recorded in cities or towns. In all cases, these are public records you can review. Among them, you will find grant deed information.
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Obtain the owner’s complete name and the address of the property for which you seek grant deed information. If the grant deed information you seek is for a property you are purchasing, the owner-seller should provide this information to you. If you are simply doing title research for a property, you can find the address information by making a site visit; however, finding ownership will vary in difficulty depending on the office where real estate records are kept. For example, the recorder’s office in San Diego County provides ownership information by phone, while the Los Angeles County Recorder’s office requires an office visit.
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Check the government office website, if available, for information regarding a search of the grantor-grantee index for real estate records. In some cases, such as in San Francisco and San Diego counties, this information is available online. In Los Angeles County, the information is only available in-person in the public viewing room at the recorder’s office.
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Locate the index with the grantor-grantee information, whether from an online system or at the recorder’s office. The index will list all the transactions involving the owner for the real estate you are interested in searching. For example, for the grant deed information you are searching, the current owner will be listed as the grantee, and the person who transferred the property to him will be listed as the grantor. Check the grantee index for the grantor’s name, and you will find the name of the person who transferred the real estate to him. Searching the index for each successive name you find, you can go back in time as far as you want--or as far as possible--to determine all the prior owners.
This week, the companies behind the two biggest US search engines teased radical changes to the way their services operate, powered by new AI technology that allows for more conversational and complex responses. In the process, however, the companies may test both the accuracy of these tools and the willingness of everyday users to embrace and find utility in a very different search experience.
"Although we are 25 years into search, I dare say that our story has just begun," said Prabhakar Raghavan, an SVP at Google, at the event Wednesday teasing the new AI features. "We have even more exciting, AI-enabled innovations in the works that will change the way people search, work and play. We're reinventing what it means to search and the best is yet to come."
Lian Jye Su, a research director at tech intelligence firm ABI Research, believes consumers and businesses would be happy to embrace a new way to search as long as "it is intuitive, removes more friction, and offers the path of least resistance — akin to the success of smart home voice assistants, like Alexa and Google Assistant."
But there is at least one wild card: how much users will be able to trust the AI-powered results.
A new search experience, and new problems
Bard and ChatGPT, which was released publicly in late November OpenAI, are built on large language models. These models are trained on vast troves of online data in order to generate compelling responses to user prompts. Experts warn these tools can be unreliable — spreading misinformation, making up responses and giving different answers to the same questions, or presenting sexist and racist biases.
"Consumers, and even business users, may have fun exploring the new Bing and Bard interfaces for a while, but as the novelty wears off and similar tools appear, then it really comes down to ease of access and accuracy and trust in the responses that will win out," he said.
Generative AI systems, which are algorithms that can create new content, are notoriously unreliable. Laura Edelson, a computer scientist and misinformation researcher at New York University, said, "there's a big difference between an AI sounding authoritative and it actually producing accurate results."
While general search optimizes for relevance, according to Edelson, large language models try to achieve a particular style in their response without regard to factual accuracy. "One of those styles is, 'I am a trustworthy, authoritative source,'" she said.
On a very basic level, she said, AI systems analyze which words are next to each other, determine how they get associated and identify the patterns that lead them to appear together. But much of the onus remains on the user to fact check the answers, a process that could prove just as time consuming for people as the current model of scrolling through links on a page — if not more so.
Microsoft and Google executives have acknowledged some of the potential issues with the new AI tools.
"We know we wont be able to answer every question every single time," said Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's vice president and consumer chief marketing officer. "We also know we'll make our share of mistakes, so we've added a quick feedback button at the top of every search, so you can provide us feedback and we can learn."
Raghavan, at Google, also emphasized the importance of feedback from internal and external testing to make sure the tool "meets the high bar, our high bar for quality, safety, and groundedness, before we launch more broadly."
But even with the concerns, the companies are betting that these tools offer the answer to the future of search.
-- CNN's Clare Duffy, Catherine Thorbecke and Brian Fung contributed to this story.
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Editor’s note: This is a guest commentary from Oren Etzioni, former CEO of the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), a Seattle-based organization at the forefront of natural language processing research. Etzioni is now a technical director at the AI2 Incubator, an AI-focused startup incubator.
The integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft’s Bing search engine heralds a tectonic shift for consumers, publishers, and advertisers on the web.
In recent weeks, Bing has gotten a lot of buzz, and Google has lost $100 billion-plus in market capitalization. But changes over the next five years will be far more profound.
What seemed like a staid and steady web search industry, largely monopolized by Google, has been thrown into disarray by the fact that content generation is now instantaneous, fully automated, and its cost is rapidly dropping toward zero.
This shift means that authoritative sources and genuine experts will be more important than ever.
For consumers, more efficient search has a long history which includes Google’s knowledge panels (2012), featured snippets at the top of the search result page (2014), voice assistants such as Alexa (2014), and now ChatGPT.
Over time, a concierge experience will emerge where a consumer can ask a question, receive an answer from a chatbot, and engage in a dialogue to further refine the response.
This could be good news for consumers, but it also raises a thorny question: who is the concierge working for?
As a consumer, I hope for an objective and informative answer but the chatbot will not necessarily oblige.
- A chatbot’s answers depend on its training text which contains myriad biases.
- The chatbot might be manipulated through its training process (similar to the practice of Google bombing).
- Different chatbots will emerge that represent particular perspectives (the GOP bot), commercial interests (the ExxonMobil bot), and specific individuals (would you like to converse with Biden bot? The Kim Kardashian bot?).
- And of course, chatbots could be influenced by advertisers.
Historically, search engines distinguished between search results and sponsored or “featured” results (i.e., ads) but product placement may surface inside chatbot responses, undermining their credibility.
In response, consumer advocate chatbots will emerge, charging a subscription fee instead of being ad-supported. As chatbots proliferate, search engines will emerge that help the consumer find the “right” bot for a conversation. Meta-bots could collate multiple responses to a question, each originating from a different chatbot.
Consumers will be inundated with an unprecedented amount of automatically generated “noise” in the form of websites and messages — emails, posts, responses in social media, and more.
The minimal cost of generating seemingly authentic text (along with pictures, audio, and even video) will result in unprecedented information pollution and even AI-based forgery.
In response, I have argued for a stronger role for digital authentication of identity (who actually wrote that message?) and for rules that require bots to identify themselves. Consumers have a right to know if we are interacting with a person or a bot.
As the volume of content increases, publishers will face unprecedented pressure to remain relevant, discoverable, and valuable. Certainly, clickbait websites with titles like “top 10 things to do in Seattle” will be replaced by more personalized and up-to-date chatbot responses. Collections of reviews found at Amazon or on Google Maps will remain informative only if the reviews are appropriately authenticated — otherwise, it will be all-too-easy to create volumes of fake reviews.
Likewise, the information on social media (popular posts, for example) will only be meaningful if popularity isn’t manipulated by bots. Authoritative sources will become even more essential as people clamor for reliable facts in a maelstrom of misinformation. Brands and reputations will be built on providing genuine, authentic answers.
In a world where “what” is said is so easily manipulated, “who” said it becomes increasingly important.
Monolithic Concrete Slab
A concrete slab foundation, also called a slab-on-grade foundation, is poured directly on top of the ground. It consists of a single, thick slab of concrete that is poured and finished to create a smooth, level surface that serves as the base for the structure. Concrete slab foundations are the most affordable foundation option, as they require minimal excavation and backfilling.
Monolithic Concrete Slab Pros and Cons
Pros
- Affordable since less excavation and backfilling is required
- Quick to install
- Durable, with properly poured and finished slabs lasting decades or longer
Cons
- Less suitable for areas with expansive soils due to soil swelling and shrinking
- May require additional waterproofing measures such as a sump pump or exterior drainage system
- Less energy efficient since they do not provide any insulation between the ground and the floor of the structure
Stem Wall Concrete Slab
A stem wall concrete slab combines a concrete stem wall with a slab-on-grade foundation. The stem wall is a vertical wall of concrete that is poured around the perimeter of the foundation. It typically extends up from the ground a few feet and provides support for the structure above it.
A stem wall concrete slab foundation is often used in areas with expansive soils because it helps to anchor the structure to the ground and prevent it from moving due to soil movement.
Stem Wall Concrete Slab Pros and Cons
Pros
- Increased stability in difficult soil conditions
- Allows for crawl space, which can help to Improve ventilation and insulation
- Best for sloping sites
Cons
- More expensive to install than slab-on-grade foundations, as they require more materials and labor
- Requires additional reinforcement, which can add to the cost of the project
- Requires additional waterproofing
Pier and Beam Foundation
A pier and beam foundation, also known as a post and beam foundation, consists of concrete or masonry piers that support the weight of the structure, with beams or girders spanning between the piers.
Pier and Beam Foundation Pros
- Allows for crawl space, a plus when considering ventilation and insulation
- Can be adjusted to level the structure if the ground beneath it settles or shifts
- Works well for sloping sites since the piers can be adjusted to accommodate the slope of the ground
Pier and Beam Foundation Cons
- More expensive than concrete slab foundations
- May require more frequent maintenance to prevent deterioration
- Strength may be an issue as it relies on the strength of the piers and beams rather than on a monolithic concrete slab
Cinder Block Foundation
Cinder block foundations, also known as concrete block foundations, are made from blocks of concrete that are stacked and cemented together to form the walls of the foundation.
Cinder Block Foundation Pros
- Cinder block foundations are more affordable to install than even poured concrete foundations
- Strong and durable, lasting for many years
- Easy to install—the only type of foundation that most do-it-yourselfers can install
Cinder Block Foundation Cons
- Not as strong as poured concrete slab foundations
- May require additional reinforcement, adding to the cost of the project
- May crack or deteriorate over time, especially in regions that experience freeze-thaw cycles
Basement Foundation
A basement foundation is a deep foundation dug into the ground which provides a space below the main level of the house. This space can be turned into a habitable space for entertainment, or it can be converted into an apartment.
Basement Foundation Pros
- Added living space for a family room, home office or guest bedroom
- Increased storage space for household items and tools
- Usually increases resale value since more living space is added
Basement Foundation Cons
- More expensive than other foundations since they require more excavation and backfilling
- More waterproofing is needed because they are deeper, so a sump pump or exterior drainage system may be required
- Less energy efficient since more habitable living space must be heated and cooled
We've now closed our evidence search service.
We’ve taken this decision after reviewing the wide range of services we currently provide, so we can focus on delivering the priorities outlined in our 5-year strategy.
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Visit Health Education England’s NHS Knowledge and Library Hub for:
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