Bad Propstream Data

[Trent Rogers]

So I got Propstream fired up and started pulling lists but I'm starting to think their data for our area is trash. 

Just spot checking the search results there are addresses I know are barely standing, partially burned, or boarded up, that they have categorized as "occupied". 

I have found things as simple as the last sale date is way off and it doesn't show the most recent sale like the tax records and Zillow does. 

When I pull failed listings for the past 8 months it comes back with 3....I find that hard to believe. 

I've even had it pull vacant land up as a SFH

I'm not really sure where to go from here because I could waist hundreds of dollars skip tracing and mailing with this data.

Any suggestions?

[Lydia R.]

There are some misconceptions about Propstream that I want to clear up. Propstream, like any other data provider or software, is a computer program that uses and 'interprets' data to help users build lists. 

Let me start with the vacant vs occupied. This software program isnt peeking in every window in America to find out if there are people sitting in the living room or not. It is analyzing data points and making some assumptions based on that. If the tax records indicate the mailing address is the same as the property address and the property has a homestead exemption filed, the system assumes and therefore displays that the property is occupied. Whether that's truly the case or not is another story. Vacant data is extremely unreliable because there are a limited number of readily available data points that can lead to the conclusion a property is vacant. Most large data providers and platforms are getting that data from the USPS postal database. That database is not regularly updated and the end result is an outdated "vacant" list. Do yourself a favor, take anyone's vacant data unless its directly from the city or the county. Instead request this information from the local code enforcement dept. Water shut offs, utility cancellations and others are how the city determines a property to be vacant. If the vacant data doesnt come directly from the city, its almost guaranteed to be inaccurate. 

What other criteria are you using for failed listings? I use Propstream nearly every day and its not a perfect system but it does have the capacity to provide useful information for building and creating marketing lists. What lists are you trying to build? Im sure I can help you be able find it.