# Look up a property and its owner

> Documentation index: [llms.txt](https://westkite.com/docs/llms.txt). Every page is also at its URL plus `.md`.

Start from an address, make sure it's the right parcel, then read the records behind it. What comes back depends on what the county publishes.

## Ask

```text
Who owns 500 Howard St in San Francisco, and what did they pay?
Cite the sources, and say what's missing.
```

## What the assistant does

1. `search` for the address. If more than one property matches, it asks which one you mean.
2. `fetch` the property it picked for the full record: owner of record, sales, assessments and sources.
3. `get_property_ownership` for saved ownership research and the people connected to the owner.

For a filtered screen instead of one address, such as office buildings in Oakland held for more than 15 years, it uses `search_properties`.

## What a good answer looks like

- It names the property and parcel it found.
- Every fact has its source and date.
- The owner of record is kept apart from the people behind it. A registered agent isn't the owner.
- An assessed value isn't passed off as a sale price.
- Anything the county doesn't publish is called missing, not zero.

## Going further

To find the people behind an LLC, ask your assistant to research the owner. It sends you a review link before it starts. [How to find the owner of a commercial property held by an LLC](https://westkite.com/blog/find-owner-commercial-property-llc.md) walks through the method.