How to read a Maricopa County assessor record.

Before you call an owner, make an offer or run comps, pull the parcel record. The Maricopa County Assessor’s Office publishes a free page for every parcel in the county. Here is how to read one like an investor.

1. Find the APN

Every parcel has an Assessor Parcel Number (APN). In Maricopa County it has three or four parts: the assessor’s book, map and item (parcel) number, sometimes followed by a letter when a parcel has been split. It looks like 123-45-678 or 123-45-678A.

You can find it three ways:

• Search the property address or owner name on the Assessor’s website or its parcel map viewer. You can type the APN with or without dashes.
• Read it off the owner’s Notice of Value or property tax bill.
• Find it on a recorded deed or title report.

Use the APN, not the street address, when you talk to title, the Recorder or the Treasurer. Addresses get misspelled; the APN doesn’t.

2. What’s on the parcel page

A residential parcel page usually shows:

• Ownership: the owner name, the mailing address for tax notices, and deed and sale details.
• Property (situs) address and the subdivision, lot and legal description.
• Lot and building facts: lot size, livable square feet, year built, pool, garage or carport and similar details the Assessor has on file.
• Valuation history: full cash value, limited property value, legal class and assessment ratio by tax year.
• Rental registration details, where the owner has registered the home as a rental.

Treat the building facts as a starting point. They can be out of date if work was done without permits, so confirm square footage and features before you lean on them for an ARV.

3. Owner name and mailing address

The mailing address is where the Assessor sends notices. When it differs from the property address, the owner probably doesn’t live there. Investors call that an absentee owner. Common clues:

• The mailing address is in another city or state.
• The owner is an LLC, a trust or a company rather than a person.
• The mailing address belongs to a property manager or another rental the owner holds.

These are clues, not facts. A different mailing address can also be a P.O. box, a relative’s home or an old address nobody updated. Check the legal class (below) and the sales history before you draw a conclusion, and follow do-not-call, texting and consent rules before you contact anyone.

4. Full cash value vs limited value

The record shows more than one value. They mean different things:

• Full Cash Value (FCV) is the Assessor’s estimate of market value. It can rise or fall with the market, and it is the value an owner can appeal.
• Limited Property Value (LPV) is the value property taxes are figured on. The Legislature created it in 1980 to limit tax increases. By statute (A.R.S. § 42-13301) it generally can rise no more than 5% a year unless the property changes, for example new construction or a change in use, and it can never be higher than the FCV.
• Assessed value is the LPV times the assessment ratio for the property’s legal class.

For investors: don’t use FCV as your ARV or offer price. The Notice of Value is mailed early in the year and the values are set well before the tax year they apply to, so in a moving market they lag. A big gap between FCV and LPV usually just means values rose faster than the 5% cap. Run real comps.

5. Legal class codes

Legal class is set by how the property is used, under A.R.S. §§ 42-12001 through 42-12009. It decides the assessment ratio, and for an investor it is one of the best occupancy clues on the page.

A class 4 home with an out-of-area mailing address is a much stronger absentee-owner signal than either clue alone. Class 1 and class 2 use different ratios that the Legislature sets and has changed over time; check the current figure on the record.

6. Sales history

Arizona sale prices are public. They come from the affidavit of property value recorded with the Maricopa County Recorder when a deed is recorded. On the parcel page, look at:

• Sale date: how long the owner has held the property. Long ownership often means more equity, but the record doesn’t show loans.
• Sale price: a $0, $10 or very low price usually means a transfer that wasn’t a market sale, such as into a trust, between family members or by quitclaim. Don’t use it as a comp.
• Deed type and recording number: use the recording number to pull the full deed from the Recorder.

7. What the record can’t tell you

The assessor record doesn’t show mortgage balances, liens, judgments or the home’s condition. Check recorded documents at the Recorder, tax payment status at the Maricopa County Treasurer (the Treasurer, not the Assessor, bills and collects property tax), and get a title report before you close.

Quick checklist

1. Search the address and copy the APN.
2. Compare the mailing address with the property address.
3. Read the legal class: 3, 4.1 or 4.2.
4. Note the last sale date, price and deed type.
5. Confirm size and features, then run your own comps.
6. Pull liens and taxes from the Recorder and Treasurer, and order title.

Then run the numbers with our free deal calculator, flip calculator or rental and BRRRR calculator.

Official sources

• Maricopa County Assessor’s Office: parcel search and map viewer
• Assessor FAQ: Notice of Value, Full Cash Value and Limited Property Value
• Assessor FAQ: residential rental registration
• Maricopa County Recorder: deeds and recorded documents
• Maricopa County Treasurer: tax bills and payment status
• Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 42 (legal classes, A.R.S. §§ 42-12001 to 42-12009; limited value, A.R.S. § 42-13301)

Published October 6, 2026 · Leverage Consulting LLC