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I'm looking in a few different markets, and I love older homes. I couldn't help but notice that a lot of homes are listed as built in 1900. Was 1900 that big og a year for construction? Or is it more listing agent laziness or maybe that was something they "fixed" with Y2K, and you just can't enter a year before 1900. More confusion. I can probably search the deeds online, but you would be amazed at how many municipalities don't have their databases up to speed. Any clues?
It's probably not a database thing, but a recordkeeping thing. Here in Charleston the built on date is an approximation to the nearest 10 years. One place we own was built in 1920 according to National Historic Register research, but the county lists it at 1930 because it wasn't finished yet when they counted up houses in 1920 but was there in 1930.
Likewise for 1853 - a count of what was built and where was done that year, and if it showed up on that record but not the one before it the build date according to the county was 1853.
Sometimes owners know when a house was built and sometimes they do not. When an owner does not know an agent will typically depend upon public records that are available online and in person. In my area the oldest date available in the county database is 1899. If it's a historically significant house built prior to that, the owner probably knows the year it was built. To find out dates prior to that year, one would need to spend hours researching land records that may or may not be an accurate reflection of building dates. Assessing for taxes yearly and building permits seem to be a 20th century task.
It's likely not related to Y2K as most county database were built or updated after that.
Sometimes owners know when a house was built and sometimes they do not. When an owner does not know an agent will typically depend upon public records that are available online and in person. In my area the oldest date available in the county database is 1899. If it's a historically significant house built prior to that, the owner probably knows the year it was built. To find out dates prior to that year, one would need to spend hours researching land records that may or may not be an accurate reflection of building dates. Assessing for taxes yearly and building permits seem to be a 20th century task.
It's likely not related to Y2K as most county database were built or updated after that.
The factors that lead to more detailed record keeping are almost always driven by government / regulation.
Call your county tax records office and ask. Let us know what happens. There are several reasons these things happen, one being poor record entry whenever they put this online.
Or it could be a record keeping error/issue in the Courthouse. Here where I am the default date is 1940, there was a fire or flood or something that destroyed a lot of the records.
We've traced our house to the 1913-15 era using the MD Archives and fire insurance maps (at that time the houses were named, not numbered) while the County Courthouse records have it at 1940.
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Sounds right...
