In less than two weeks, you can go online at a new Web site and learn all about real estate in Raleigh County.

What’s more, with the County Information Portal, as it is called by its creator, MountainCAD of South Charleston, Internet users may get a cornucopia of data, such as the exact location of hospitals, day care centers, banks, bakeries, car washes and the like.

“It’s a product that we’ve set up to make searching that data base very easy,” explained the firm’s vice president, Rex Thaxton, in unveiling the site Wednesday to members of the county assessor’s staff.

“It brings back all the results in tabular form, all the data base information.”

If a county so desires, the site can fetch maps, sketches and building footprints, photographs, scanned deeds or any information tied to them.

“It allows anybody to do property research from their own office or from their own home,” Thaxton said.

“Previously, you had to drive to the courthouse to do your research and now you get to sit at home and not waste your time or gas getting to the courthouse to do that.”

The site springs into action for the public Nov. 4, the date for a special Web site launch preview at the Mountaineer Conference Center, adjacent Country Inns & Suites.

Assessor Drema Evans hailed the innovation as one that will save time and eventually require fewer personnel to run her department.

“It’s going to help tremendously,” she said. “We’re really excited about it.”

Not only will Realtors and attorneys reap benefits from the site, but the assessor said it can prove to be a handy tool for the average citizen as well.

For instance, she explained, a homeowner interested in selling a domicile can key in all the vital information, listing it as a three-bedroom, brick, tri-level, with so much square footage, and once plugged in, the prospective seller can fetch comparable sales to give him an idea of into what range his home should fall.

In existing practice, Evans said, she must hire temporary help in the summer to wade through a heavy volume of mail, but once online, property owners can file assessments that go directly into Charleston.

She foresees the real estate section of her department as one of perpetual growth, since parcels will be growing, or splitting up, and on average, between 5,000 and 6,000 are added annually.

“But I can foresee my personal property division getting smaller with the computer age,” the assessor said.

Is paying taxes online an ultimate convenience? Perhaps, but that is an issue for the sheriff to decide, she emphasized. And what about online voting? The technology is there, but again, Thaxton said that choice is out of his hands, as well.

Judy Harrah, another official in the assessor’s office, described the Web site as one that gives the public access into all aspects of the office, from personal property to appraisals, dog tags, homestead exemptions and the formula used to ascertain the value of a motor vehicle.

“There’s just a wealth of information on all aspects,” Harrah said. “It’s a good-looking Web site.”

Thaxton demonstrated the Web site to the assessor’s staff, prompting a number of questions, as well as suggestions.

For one thing, Evans called for inclusion of mineral maps, telling him, “Why would we not want the mineral maps on there? I think the lending institutions could really use it.”

Thaxton advised her to proceed with adding such information since there is no such barrier to including it.

Harrah was impressed with the ability to pinpoint a limitless number of entities — from banks to barbers to hospitals to day care centers.

“That could be a useful tool for a lot of things,” she said. “Very useful.”

Thaxton told the staff the county’s mapping is a thing of pride.

“Everything lines right up with the property,” he said. “It’s nice-looking mapping, better than most. Probably better than all.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com