January 15, 1999

Buying real estate? Selling? Browsing? Checking out your boss's lifestyle or your new sweetie's abode? Whatever your reason, Fairfax County's Department of Tax Administration http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/dta/re/ has the goods. Enter a street address (or tax map reference number, whatever that is) to get the owner's name, property type, legal description, most recent sale date and – the real kicker – assessed value. There's enough detail to satisfy the most ardent speculator or dedicated snooper with descriptions of construction, water/sewer/gas/electric connections, room count, dwelling dimensions, roof composition, acreage, construction quality and much more. To comparison-shop or "meet" the neighbors, just key in a street name with no house number.
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Gabriel Goldberg gabe@acm.org