01 / Queried live
58 services the assistant calls directly
Give it an address and it queries these in parallel, then reports what came back with the agency and the date attached. Nothing is copied or cached into our own database — the links below open the same records we read.
Locating the property
- US Census Bureau — Geocoding Services(opens in a new tab)
Address to coordinates, county, census tract and school district
- State of Michigan — County, city and township boundaries(opens in a new tab)
Which county and which municipality a coordinate falls in — the question that decides who else to ask
- Ottawa County, Michigan — Public parcel records(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, legal description, assessed and taxable value
- Kent County, Michigan — Parcels and condominiums(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, property class, school district, assessed and taxable value
- Muskegon County, Michigan — Parcel and assessment records(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value, homestead percentage
- Allegan County, Michigan — Parcel and assessment records(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, zoning, assessed and taxable value, and the deed liber and page
- Van Buren County, Michigan — Parcel and assessment records(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, assessed and taxable value, and the full legal description
- Ionia County, Michigan — Tax parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address and zoning district
- Barry County, Michigan — Parcels (public viewer)(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, site address and lot size
- Kalamazoo County, Michigan — Parcels, 2025 roll(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value, and the full legal description
- Newaygo County, Michigan — Public county viewer parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value
- Montcalm County, Michigan — Tax parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value, homestead percentage and the deed liber and page
- Eaton County, Michigan — Parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, school district, zoning, assessed and taxable value
- Jackson County, Michigan — Parcel viewer(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, school district, assessed and taxable value, and the deed liber and page
- Oakland County, Michigan — Tax Parcel Plus(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, site address, class, assessed and taxable value
- Bay County, Michigan — Parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value, the deed liber and page, and the last recorded sale with its date and price
- Emmet County, Michigan — Parcel overlay(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, acreage, class, school district, zoning district and the ordinance it comes from, assessed and taxable value
- Leelanau County, Michigan — Tax parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, site address, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value
- Antrim County, Michigan — Parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value
- Charlevoix County, Michigan — Parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address, acreage, class, school district, assessed and taxable value
- Arenac County, Michigan — Parcels, 2026(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address, acreage, class, assessed and taxable value, and the legal description
- Lapeer County, Michigan — Parcels, 2023(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address, acreage, class, school district, assessed value, the deed liber and page, and the last recorded sale
- Gladwin County, Michigan — Parcels(opens in a new tab)
Parcel number, owner, address, zoning code and assessed value
- State of Michigan — School district boundaries(opens in a new tab)
The district and intermediate district a parcel sits in
Water, hazard and the shoreline
- FEMA — National Flood Hazard Layer(opens in a new tab)
Flood zone, whether insurance is federally mandated, FIRM panel and its effective date
- Michigan EGLE — High-Risk Erosion Areas(opens in a new tab)
Whether a parcel is in a designated area, with the 30- and 60-year setbacks and the study date
- Michigan EGLE — Critical Dune Areas(opens in a new tab)
Whether construction and vegetation removal trigger dune permitting
- Michigan EGLE — Part 303 wetlands and the National Wetlands Inventory(opens in a new tab)
Mapped wetland on or beside the parcel, and which inventory it came from
- Michigan EGLE — Coastal Zone Management Area(opens in a new tab)
Whether the parcel falls inside the coastal management boundary
- FEMA — National Risk Index(opens in a new tab)
Community-level hazard ratings for the surrounding census tract
- US Army Corps of Engineers — National Inventory of Dams(opens in a new tab)
Dams within ten miles, with the hazard-potential class, condition rating and year built the Corps publishes for each
- NOAA — CO-OPS monthly mean water level(opens in a new tab)
Lake Michigan level at the nearest gauge, against the record
- USGS — 3DEP elevation point query(opens in a new tab)
Ground elevation at the exact coordinate
Ground, water supply and contamination
- USDA NRCS — Soil Survey (SSURGO)(opens in a new tab)
Soil series, drainage class, septic and basement ratings, depth to water table
- Michigan EGLE — Part 201 sites and underground storage tanks(opens in a new tab)
Contamination sites and tanks with open releases near the address
- US EPA — Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO)(opens in a new tab)
Facilities EPA regulates within a mile, with their inspection history and compliance status
- Michigan EGLE — Wellogic water well records(opens in a new tab)
Nearby well depth, yield and construction records
Rules, roads and surroundings
- Ottawa County, Michigan — Master plan and zoning(opens in a new tab)
Current zoning district and the future land-use designation
- Muskegon County, Michigan — Municipal zoning viewer(opens in a new tab)
The zoning district and the municipality whose ordinance sets it
- Barry County, Michigan — County zoning(opens in a new tab)
The zoning district under the county ordinance
- Emmet · Eaton · Gladwin Counties, Michigan — Zoning, as carried on the parcel record(opens in a new tab)
The zoning district recorded against the parcel — and in Emmet's case the ordinance it comes from
- MDOT — Annual average daily traffic(opens in a new tab)
Measured traffic volume on the nearest counted road
- Federal Aviation Administration — Airports and class airspace(opens in a new tab)
The nearest public-use airports and heliports, and any controlled airspace overhead
- US Department of Education (NCES) — EDGE public school and district data(opens in a new tab)
The district a parcel sits in and the schools near it, with enrolment, grade span and student-teacher ratio
- US Census Bureau — American Community Survey, block group(opens in a new tab)
Median household income, home value, year built and owner-occupancy for the surrounding block group
- OpenStreetMap — Overpass API(opens in a new tab)
Named schools, groceries, parks, health, transport and water access nearby
The history of a house
- Library of Congress — Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps(opens in a new tab)
Every surveyed sheet for the town, decade by decade — Saugatuck's run from 1895, Grand Haven's from 1883 — drawn building by building
- Library of Congress — Chronicling America(opens in a new tab)
Michigan newspaper pages, full-text searchable, 1690 to 1963
- National Park Service — National Register of Historic Places(opens in a new tab)
Listed buildings and historic districts on or near the parcel, with the listing date and reference number
- Michigan History Center — Michigan Historical Markers(opens in a new tab)
The registered markers nearest an address, with their registry and erection dates
What the maps are drawn from
- OpenFreeMap — OpenMapTiles vector tiles(opens in a new tab)
The base map itself — no key, no quota, no per-load billing
- USDA — NAIP aerial imagery(opens in a new tab)
Roughly one-metre colour aerial photography, public domain
- FEMA · Michigan EGLE — Live map overlays(opens in a new tab)
Flood, wetland, erosion, dune and coastal layers, drawn on request by the publishing agency rather than copied and cached here
- Ottawa County, Michigan — Parcels, zoning, master plan, school districts, no-wake zones(opens in a new tab)
The parcel fabric, zoning districts and future land use, district boundaries, and where the lake is no-wake — drawn over the map on request
- Kent County, Michigan — Parcel boundaries(opens in a new tab)
The parcel fabric across Kent County, as outlines over the map
- Michigan EGLE — Contamination and land-use restrictions, wells and wellhead protection, dams, landfills, oil and gas, public land, trout waters(opens in a new tab)
The environmental record drawn as map layers — Part 201 sites and tanks, brownfield restrictions, Wellogic wells, the dam inventory, licensed and historic landfills, well surface holes, conservation land and designated trout water
- USGS — National Hydrography Dataset(opens in a new tab)
Streams, drains and water bodies, including the ones with no name on a road map
- National Park Service — National Register of Historic Places(opens in a new tab)
Listed buildings and the boundaries of historic districts — which is what decides whether an exterior change needs review
02 / Look it up yourself
56 official sources, grouped by the question
All of it is public. It is spread across a dozen agencies and most of it is written for administrators rather than buyers, so each one carries a line on what it is good for — and, where it matters, what it will not settle.
Records, taxes and ownership
- BS&A Online municipal directory(opens in a new tab)
Tax history, assessed and taxable value · Parcel and building characteristics · Sales history and special assessments where published
Not for: Not every municipality participates. Confirm anything material with the local assessor or treasurer.
- Michigan statewide county parcel directory(opens in a new tab)
The correct county parcel and GIS system for a property · Parcel boundaries and county mapping resources
Not for: Parcel records are maintained by individual counties, not the state.
- Kent County property search(opens in a new tab)
Parcel, tax, assessment and ownership records in Kent County
- Ottawa County property search(opens in a new tab)
Ownership, parcel records, taxable value and legal descriptions
- Michigan property-tax information(opens in a new tab)
Taxable value versus assessed value · Principal Residence Exemption rules · How to estimate what taxes become after a sale
Not for: A seller's current tax bill is not your future tax bill. Taxable value uncaps on transfer.
Flood zones and natural hazards
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center(opens in a new tab)
Official flood zone for an address · Flood Insurance Rate Map panels and Letters of Map Change · Whether a lender is likely to require flood insurance
Not for: Property outside a mapped high-risk zone still floods. Ask about drainage, past claims, elevation and what the neighbours have seen.
- FEMA National Risk Index(opens in a new tab)
Community-level exposure to flooding, wind, winter weather and more
Not for: Community-level only. It says nothing about a specific parcel.
- USGS water data(opens in a new tab)
River and stream gauge history · Historical water levels and groundwater data
Erosion, bluffs and shoreline
- Michigan High Risk Erosion Area maps(opens in a new tab)
Whether a parcel sits in a designated high-risk erosion area · 30-year and 60-year setback information · Whether EGLE review may apply to building or septic placement
Not for: A designation is about long-term recession rates, not today's appearance. Bring in a surveyor and a geotechnical engineer where slope or movement is visible.
- EGLE shoreland management(opens in a new tab)
Critical dunes, environmental areas and coastal regulation · Shoreline permit requirements
- USGS landslide hazard maps(opens in a new tab)
Known landslide activity and slope susceptibility
Not for: A screening layer, not an engineering opinion on your slope.
- NOAA Great Lakes water levels(opens in a new tab)
Lake Michigan levels now, against the long-term record · How far the lake has swung between its recorded highs and lows
Not for: Lake level sets beach width, not bluff stability. A wide beach in a low-water year says nothing about where the water reached in 1986 or 2020.
- USGS EarthExplorer historical aerial imagery(opens in a new tab)
Aerial photography of the same shoreline going back decades · Beach width, bluff position and vegetation, compared across years
Not for: Imagery shows what happened, not what happens next. Recession is uneven, and a neighbouring parcel can behave completely differently.
- Michigan Association of Conservation Districts(opens in a new tab)
The local conservation district for this stretch of shore · Shoreline restoration guidance, invasive species and available grants
Wetlands and buildable land
- Michigan EGLE wetlands map viewer(opens in a new tab)
Potential wetland areas, land cover and soils · National Wetland Inventory layers for a parcel
Not for: Potential and approximate only. Regulated wetland can exist where the map shows none — only an onsite EGLE evaluation or a qualified delineation establishes boundaries.
- EGLE wetlands program(opens in a new tab)
Regulations, permit categories, consultants and mitigation
- US Fish & Wildlife wetlands mapper(opens in a new tab)
National Wetlands Inventory classification and type
Not for: Federal screening. Does not replace Michigan EGLE review.
Soil, drainage and septic
- USDA Web Soil Survey(opens in a new tab)
Soil types, drainage class and seasonal water table · Slope, ponding and flooding tendency · General septic and foundation limitations
Not for: A screening tool. It does not replace a perc test, soil boring, septic evaluation or geotechnical work.
- Ottawa County environmental health(opens in a new tab)
Septic and well permits, records and transfer evaluations
- Kent County environmental health(opens in a new tab)
Septic permits, well records and inspection history
Wells, groundwater and drinking water
- Michigan water well viewer(opens in a new tab)
Nearby wells, depths and construction · Wellhead protection areas and nearby contamination sites
- Michigan Wellogic(opens in a new tab)
Detailed well, pump and abandoned-well records · Well geology, water levels and plugging records
- EPA drinking water(opens in a new tab)
Standards, contaminants and private-well testing guidance
Contamination and nearby hazards
- EGLE MiEnviro portal(opens in a new tab)
Environmental permits and pending applications · Wetland, floodplain and shoreline permit records · Compliance and violation information
- EGLE RIDE mapper(opens in a new tab)
Remediation sites, leaking underground storage tanks, cleanups
- EPA cleanups in my community(opens in a new tab)
Superfund, brownfield and federal cleanup locations
- EPA Envirofacts(opens in a new tab)
Whether EPA holds records for facilities near an address · Air, water, waste and toxics releases by location
Radon and indoor conditions
- Michigan indoor radon program(opens in a new tab)
Testing guidance, mitigation information and the state map
Not for: The only way to know the radon level in a specific home is to test that home.
- EPA radon(opens in a new tab)
Health information, testing and real-estate transaction guidance
Zoning, master plans and what is coming
- Michigan GIS open data(opens in a new tab)
Boundaries, roads and public mapping layers
Not for: Statewide layers. Zoning itself is local.
Permits, violations and certificates
Deeds, easements and access
Roads, drains and transportation
- MDOT Mi Drive(opens in a new tab)
Current construction, closures, incidents and cameras
- MDOT projects and studies(opens in a new tab)
Planned highway, bridge and corridor projects
- MDOT maps and traffic data(opens in a new tab)
Traffic counts, road jurisdiction, rail and bridge information
Broadband and mobile service
- Michigan broadband map(opens in a new tab)
Reported availability, providers and connection types by address
- FCC national broadband map(opens in a new tab)
Address-level availability, advertised speeds, mobile coverage
Not for: Service near a property does not mean the provider will connect that house. Get it in writing.
- FCC mobile coverage map(opens in a new tab)
Reported mobile coverage by carrier
Not for: Test your own phone at the property, inside the house.
Schools, safety and community data
- MI School Data(opens in a new tab)
Performance, graduation, attendance and district finances
- Michigan Parent Dashboard(opens in a new tab)
More than twenty measures for Michigan public schools
- Michigan public sex offender registry(opens in a new tab)
Search by address, city, ZIP, county and radius
- FBI Crime Data Explorer(opens in a new tab)
Agency-reported crime statistics and trends
Not for: Reporting is incomplete and inconsistent between agencies. Contact the agency for current information.
- US Census QuickFacts(opens in a new tab)
Population, housing, income and education figures
Dams, pipelines and airports
- National Inventory of Dams(opens in a new tab)
Nearby dams, hazard classification and ownership
Not for: Hazard classification describes the consequence of failure, not the condition of the dam.
- Michigan dam safety program(opens in a new tab)
State dam regulation, inspection and emergency resources
- National Pipeline Mapping System(opens in a new tab)
Gas transmission and hazardous-liquid pipelines, operators
Not for: Public maps may omit local distribution lines and are not a legal location.
- MISS DIG 811(opens in a new tab)
Utility locating before excavation
Not for: Not a survey, a title review or an easement investigation.
- FAA airport data(opens in a new tab)
Airport records, runways and facility information
Lakes, dunes, docks and land use
- Michigan critical dune areas(opens in a new tab)
Whether a parcel is in a regulated critical dune area · Restrictions on excavation, construction and vegetation removal
- EGLE inland lakes and streams(opens in a new tab)
Permits for docks, dredging, filling and shoreline work
- EGLE joint permit application(opens in a new tab)
The single application covering wetlands, lakes and streams, floodplains, dunes and high-risk erosion areas
- Michigan DNR inland lake maps(opens in a new tab)
Lake depth, contours, fishery and public access
- Michigan Right to Farm(opens in a new tab)
What legally operated farms nearby may do — noise, odour, dust, night work, spraying
- EGLE oil, gas and minerals(opens in a new tab)
Wells, drilling records and mineral regulation
Not for: Whether mineral rights were severed is a title question. Confirm it in the commitment.
Insurance and verifying professionals
- Michigan Dept. of Insurance and Financial Services(opens in a new tab)
Homeowners and flood insurance guidance, company verification
- Michigan LARA licence search(opens in a new tab)
Verify builders, engineers, surveyors and real-estate licensees
- Michigan corporations search(opens in a new tab)
Business status, names and registered agents
- LexisNexis C.L.U.E. report(opens in a new tab)
Insurance claims filed on a property in the last seven years · Water, flood, foundation and wind claims an inspection will not surface
Not for: Only the current owner can request the report on their own property. Ask the seller for it — a refusal is itself information.
03 / The bench
When it stops being a website question
Public records establish what is on file. These are the people who establish what is true on the ground. Rennie coordinates them as part of the work.
Licensed surveyor
Boundaries, encroachments, topo and elevation certificates
Geotechnical engineer
Bluffs, slopes, retaining walls, settlement, major additions
Wetland consultant
Any suspicion of regulated wetland on a build envelope
Environmental consultant
Former industrial or agricultural use, nearby cleanup sites
Soil evaluator / septic installer
Perc tests, system design, replacement-field capacity
Well contractor
Depth, yield, construction and abandonment records
Shoreline or coastal engineer
Erosion, armouring feasibility, beach and bluff work
Marine contractor
Docks, lifts, seawalls — condition and replacement cost
Structural engineer
Cracks, movement, framing questions, seawall impact
Real estate or land-use attorney
Easements, riparian rights, entity purchases, disputes
Title company
Exceptions, restrictions, reservations and access language
Insurance agent
Flood, waterfront, prior claims, vacancy and rental use
Home inspector
Condition, systems and the starting point for everything else
Appraiser
Value questions a market analysis cannot settle
Important
The information and links here are for general education and preliminary research. Online maps, databases and public records may be incomplete, outdated, approximate or wrong. They do not replace a survey, title examination, inspection, environmental assessment, zoning verification, insurance review, legal advice, engineering evaluation or direct confirmation from the appropriate government agency. Verify everything material before purchasing, building, renovating or changing the use of a property.
Rather not
do the reading
Put an address in and the research agent pulls all of it for you — records, taxes, hazards, zoning, history — and shows its working.