Owner-Occupied
A property is owner-occupied when the person who holds title lives in it as their primary residence. In county records, occupancy shows up as a mailing address that matches the property address — and, in many states, a homestead exemption on the tax roll.
Why occupancy status matters
Occupancy splits every list in two. Owner-occupants sell for life reasons — space, schools, retirement, equity — and usually list with an agent. Absentee owners sell for portfolio reasons and are the classic off-market target. The pitch, the channel, and the timeline all differ, so occupancy is typically the first filter applied to any drawn area or imported list.
How to read it from records
Two checks, both public: does the tax-bill mailing address match the property address, and does the parcel carry a homestead (primary-residence) exemption? A match plus an exemption is a confident owner-occupant; a distant mailing address with no exemption is a confident absentee. Edge cases — snowbirds, recent movers, family trusts — sit in between, which is why good tools show the underlying fields instead of just a label.