Just how easy is it to find out who owns property where? Like the real estate adage says, what matters is location, location, location. Throughout the country, there are about 3,600 recording jurisdictions, typically counties, that keep files on real estate transactions. Some counties post their records online—and some don’t. Poorer, more rural communities are less likely to have their records online, while wealthier, more urban counties tend to be more technologically savvy. Armed only with a high-speed internet connection, we were able to dig up these boldfaced names—and properties.

Beverly Hills

L.A. Models founder Heinz Holba purchased a 7,688-square-foot home in 2005.

Frank Sinatra’s last home, on Foothill Road, sold for $6.5 million in 2003.

Peter Falk has a 6,836-square-foot home near the Los Angeles Country Club.

Palm Beach

Ivana Trump has a house just off South Ocean Road, for which she paid $4.4 million in 1994.

Rush Limbaugh’s compound was appraised at $35 million.

Venus Williams bought a home in Palm Beach Gardens in 1998 for $525,000; in 2000, she added her sister Serena as a co-owner.

New York

Edgar Bronfman Jr. owns an 11,805-square-foot townhouse on East 64th Street—and did some exterior renovations last spring.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has lived on East 79th Street since 1986.

In May 2005, Rupert Murdoch and his wife, Wendi, spent $44 million for a spread at 834 Fifth Avenue, purchased from the estate of Laurance Rockefeller.

Malibu

Goldie Hawn owns a 3,849-square-foot house on Broad Beach Road.

Just up the street resides X-Men producer Avi Arad, who purchased his home in 2003.

Michael Balzary—better known as Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers—bought a home in 2002, with a $1.7 million mortgage loan.