Go Ahead, Be A Nosy Neighbor

An online tool I use frequently during transactions is the city's online permit site. For my purposes, the site lets me look up the permit history on a property on which I'm either representing a buyer or seller. Many times, it takes a while for the 3R, or building permit history, to arrive from the city. So the online history lets me get a jump on things. But it's also useful when you see work going on in a particular house near you. Type in that property address, and you can see what they're doing--or realize what they shouldn't be doing.