# Harris County Property Records (`lmfamao/harris-county-property-records`) Actor

Search and retrieve Harris County TX property records including owner names, parcel addresses, market values, and exemptions from the official HCAD bulk data file.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lmfamao/harris-county-property-records.md
- **Developed by:** [Mao Z](https://apify.com/lmfamao) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $50.00 / 1,000 property record retrieveds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Harris County Property Records — Texas Parcel & Ownership Data

Search Harris County TX property records instantly — owner names, parcel addresses, market values, appraised values, exemptions, and more. Built on the official HCAD (Harris County Appraisal District) bulk data file, updated quarterly.

**From $0.05 per record** — no HCAD account required.

***

### Why This Actor

Real estate investors, title researchers, and data analysts need Harris County parcel data but the official HCAD website offers no API. Manually exporting records is slow and doesn't scale. This actor gives you programmatic access to 1.8+ million Harris County property records in seconds.

**What you get:** structured JSON with owner name, situs address, market value, appraised value, land/improvement breakdown, year built, exemptions, and property class — no screenshots, no PDFs, no web scraping.

**How it works:** queries the official HCAD quarterly bulk file (~150MB, 1.8M records) with fast in-memory filtering. Falls back to the ArcGIS Open Data REST API automatically.

***

### Pricing

**Pay-Per-Event (PPE):** $0.05 per property record returned.

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| `property_record` | $0.05 / result |

Platform fees apply. First 1,000 events free for new accounts.

***

### Quick Start

#### Input Parameters

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchType` | string | `bulk` | `account`, `address`, `owner`, `parcel`, or `bulk` |
| `query` | string | `""` | Search term (ignored for `bulk`) |
| `maxResults` | integer | `100` | Max records to return (1–10,000) |

#### Example: Search by Owner Name

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("your-username/harris-county-property-records").start(
    run_input={
        "searchType": "owner",
        "query": "SMITH JOHN",
        "maxResults": 50,
    }
)
print(client.run(run["id"].split("/")[-1]).wait_for_finish())
```

#### Example: Search by Address

```javascript
const Apify = require('apify-client');
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'APIFY_TOKEN' });
const { default: dataset } = await client.datasets.getOrCreate('harris-county-property-records');

const run = await client.actor('your-username/harris-county-property-records').start({
    searchType: 'address',
    query: '123 MAIN ST',
    maxResults: 100,
});
```

#### Example: cURL

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/your-username~harris-county-property-records/runs?token=APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchType":"parcel","query":"001001000001","maxResults":10}'
```

#### Output Schema

Each record is a JSON object:

```json
{
  "acct": "001001000001",
  "owner_name": "SMITH JOHN",
  "situs_addr": "123 MAIN ST HOUSTON TX 77001",
  "market_value": "250000",
  "appraised_value": "230000",
  "land_value": "80000",
  "improvement_value": "150000",
  "year_built": "1985",
  "property_class": "A",
  "exemptions": "HS"
}
```

***

### Search Types

| Type | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| `account` | Exact match on HCAD account number |
| `address` | Case-insensitive substring match on situs address |
| `owner` | Case-insensitive substring match on owner name |
| `parcel` | Exact match on parcel ID |
| `bulk` | Returns the first N records (no filter) |

***

### Competitor Comparison

| Feature | **This Actor** | zinc\_fish (HCAD Property Tax) |
|---|---|---|
| Data format | **Structured JSON** | Screenshots / unstructured |
| Data source | **Official HCAD bulk file** | Likely web scrape |
| No account required | **Yes** | Unknown |
| Fallback API | **ArcGIS Open Data** | None |
| Maintenance burden | **Low** (static quarterly file) | High (live scrape) |
| Approximate fail rate | **< 1%** | ~11% |
| PPE pricing | **$0.05/record** | Free / unspecified |

***

### FAQ

**Do I need an HCAD account?**
No. This actor uses the publicly available HCAD bulk download file — no login, no API key, no account required.

**How fresh is the data?**
HCAD publishes the full property bulk file quarterly. The data is current as of the most recent HCAD publication date.

**Is there a rate limit?**
No hard rate limit. The actor runs server-side in Apify's infrastructure. For very large bulk queries, allow extra runtime.

**What if HCAD changes their bulk file URL?**
The actor fetches the download page dynamically and parses the file URL. If the URL structure changes, the actor automatically falls back to the ArcGIS Open Data REST API.

**How many records can I return?**
Up to 10,000 records per run. For higher volumes, use the `bulk` search type and paginate across multiple runs.

***

### Related Actors

- [Dallas County Property Tax Records](https://apify.com/pink_comic/dallas-property-tax) — peer Texas county actor
- [US County Property Records (multi-county)](https://apify.com/inexhaustible_glass/us-property-records)

# Actor input Schema

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

Type of search to perform

## `query` (type: `string`):

Search term (account number, address, owner name, or parcel ID). Ignored when searchType is 'bulk'.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of records to return (1–10000)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchType": "bulk",
  "query": "",
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lmfamao/harris-county-property-records").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lmfamao/harris-county-property-records").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call lmfamao/harris-county-property-records --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lmfamao/harris-county-property-records",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/u0pqO6gun3bxYiyxf/builds/i143Z8F4sFSfv7MBW/openapi.json