Hi RPI, Thank you for your insights, very useful piece of information, I'll be sure to check the online mapping tools and also take a greater interest in the services that councils offer.

Kind Regards

Peter

Hi Terry, thank you very much for your answer, I've checked it out and it's a great resource. Not only can I find out who owns a property, it serves to unlock a treasure trove of other useful information as well. Answers many of my questions in a one stop shop. For those of you who have been reading this thread, I have tracked down the relevant resource in each state. So here it is: 

1. Northern Territory

Northern Territory Land Information System ( NTLIS )

http://www.nt.gov.au/ntlis

2. Western Australia

Landgate

http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au

3. South Australia 

Land Services Group

http://www.landservices.sa.gov.au

4. Victoria

Land Channel

http://www.land.vic.gov.au

5. New South Wales

Formerly known as LPMA

http://www.lands.nsw.gov.au

6. Queensland

Dept of Enviroment & Resorce management

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au

7. Tasmania

Dept of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Enviroment

http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf

 Thanks again Terry, very much appreciated. Sometimes answers may seem as obvious as the nose on your face to some , not so to others who don't know the answer, that's why it's important to ask questions in order to further your learning, no matter how stupid it may seem, there is no such thing as a stupid question !

Kind Regards

Peter  

Hi Rick, it worked OK for me, just click on the link in Nigel's post, type in say: "Townsville" – will bring up a list of suburb matches, then click on the relevant one say: "south townsville", then you should get a list of all the properties that have sold in that area and the prices that they sold for. For me I'm  just not sure how complete the list is though !

Thanks Nigel, I assume that is the council relevant to the property. Do Real Estate Agencies have to report the sale price of a property to the Government ? If yes, do you know what department and can that information be accessed. ? Peter

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for the reply, the reason i ask is more from a due diligence curiosity view point than anything else, instead of getting an estimate of outgoings from a REA, i'd prefer exact numbers from a source that bypasses the need to ask the REA in the first place. Ideally, i'd like to know as much as possible about a property, before i even speak to the selling agent. IE. Who owns the property, private or corporate, how much they paid for it, how long they have owned it, the costs associated with owning it etc etc. I figured if there was a way to source rates info on properties that were for sale, the info contained in the rates notice would answer some of the above questions as well as cutting out the need to try and get the required info from the selling agent, that may or may not be entirely accurate. 

PS. I'll take your advice on board and ring the council on Monday.

Kind Regards

Peter