Depends on the job, sometimes yes. Of course deeds aren't the only item in the county records needed.
They have the index books that make the search incredibly easy.?ÿ The deeds are in the courthouse but you have to know the book and page to find them.?ÿ The indexes provide that info in a flash compared to doing the grantor/grantee approach.
For example, in one neighboring county courthouse I can scan every recorded action in a specific quarter section by looking at one or two or three pages of an index book.?ÿ A very busy quarter section with lots of mineral activity will be several more pages but still very easy to scan in a short amount of time.?ÿ Everything since the county was formed in the late 1860's, beginning with the patent record from the Government to the first landowner all the way up to present (yesterday or today).?ÿ Deeds, easements, miscellaneous documents.?ÿ You can trace the history of your specific tract and adjoining tracts, as needed.?ÿ We frequently have to study multiple adjoining or nearby tracts.?ÿ One recent project was in the east half of a quarter section which now has 50+ separate tracts.?ÿ I more or less looked at every tract at when it came to be created and what it came from and when.?ÿ Trying to do that in a State controlled by the title companies would be a nightmare in comparison.
I do my own research.?ÿ It's my neck in the noose.?ÿ No one else worries about my neck more than I do.
Wow, I guess I am spoiled here in NC. I just pull up the county GIS website and put in either an address or PIN number and I get a nice description with acreage, the owners name and links to the deed and plat (if one has been recorded).
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We have something similar but the descriptions are frequently garbage. The descriptions are a sort of shorthand created by someone within the county appraiser's office that typically are nowhere close to being the wording in the deed. An example would be: The north 396.9 feet of E2/NE4. The true deed description is a lengthy metes and bounds description that does not contain the number 396.9 anywhere.
We must access the document, whether it be deed, mortgage, easement, affidavit, etc. for not only the subject tract or parent tract but normally those relating to specific adjoining tracts.