The Washington records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: Under RCW 64.06 most sellers must deliver a Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 17) disclosing known material facts, based on the seller's actual knowledge, within 5 business days after mutual acceptance.
Washington sellers must give you Form 17, the statutory Seller Disclosure Statement, covering title, water, sewer/septic, structure, systems and environmental matters including flooding, based on what the seller actually knows. You generally have 3 business days after delivery to rescind. Some transfers are exempt — foreclosure, estate and bankruptcy sales among them — so an exempt sale comes with no Form 17 at all.
Sources: fennemorelaw.com · waspc.org
Your bill is based on the county's annual market-value assessment, not the seller's bill and not a value reset to your purchase price. Because Washington levies are largely budget-based, a higher assessed value alone does not raise your bill proportionally — the levy rate adjusts — but a sale does not freeze anything either.
Homestead: Washington has no general homestead exemption for all owner-occupants; property tax relief is targeted, notably the senior citizen and disabled persons exemption and deferral programs administered by county assessors.
Washington Sex Offender Public Registry (WASOR) is run by Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC). Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official Washington registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
RCW 64.06.010 exempts specified transfers including foreclosure or deed in lieu, transfers by a personal representative of a deceased owner, and transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy — in those sales you may get no disclosure statement and must rely entirely on inspection.
WASPC states Washington publishes only Level II, Level III and non-compliant or transient Level I offenders on the public registry; for a specific Level I offender you must contact the county sheriff — a clean registry search is not a clean bill.
What the Washington disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official Washington registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview