All Forum Posts by: Ariel Herrera

The most accurate would be to scrape the direct source you are looking to retrieve data from. For example, if you are pulling data for pre-foreclosures then directly web scraping the county foreclosure website will be as up-to-date as you can get.

You can use sites like Browse AI to set up a scraper without code and have data written to a spreadsheet. Takes less than 1 hour to set up and is low cost.

How many units for multi-family (i.e. residential 1-4 or commercial 4+)? Also for what region?

Data quality can vary by software depending on the region. For example, one software may have more up-to-date data on Dallas, TX than another.

Deciding which software to go with depends on the type of leads you are looking for as well as data quality. Softwares can have differing "freshness" of data based on locations they support.

For example, one software may update their pre-foreclosure list for Akron, Ohio 1x a week and another 1x a month. The more up-to-date or "fresh" data the better. More up-to-date data can allow you to be one of the first individuals to reach out to a lead. Thus, a higher conversion rate. By trialing these softwares for a given region before committing to one you can make a direct comparison on data quality.

If you are just starting out, then I'd recommend to go free first and extract leads directly from public and/or county websites. This can also help familiarize yourself on the manual process before deciding what the best automated / scaled process is.

Hey Nick 👋 although I’m not an expert on both markets - based on your goal being appreciation another factor you may want to look at is migration trends.

Redfin posts data on migration trends by city. By the numbers it looks Durham is a more desirable market for an influx of residents across the US - https://www.redfin.com/city/4909/NC/Durham/housing-market

Welcome to the BP community Ben! Great to hear the goals you laid out for yourself. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to learn more on house hacking (could be a great way to get started), I can share my experience

I started with house hacking in NJ. My location strategy was being close to train transportation to capitalize on the large commuter base traveling into NYC. Also, I reviewed Google News to find new development projects since I sought appreciation over cash flow. 

This led me to a town called South Amboy in NJ. They had received funds to build a new ferry port for commuters, a new luxury apartment building, and redevelopment project for the waterfront area. After a year I rented out the property and have since used a HELOC to invest in other rentals.

You can check out my episode on the Bigger Pockets Rookie Podcast - EP 349 for more info

San Antonio is a pretty solid market to invest in that we've seen investors do well in. In comparison to Houston, TX it has slightly lower median cash flow (screenshot).

Here's a free app to explore city market metrics - https://marketcityanalysis.streamlit.app/

We've seen real estate investors do well in San Antonio. For deciding where to invest in San Antonio you can check out our Neighborhood Grade Map - https://www.loom.com/share/881e4b16638449e681346885b2f37e95?...

We review a multitude of data sources to provide a real-time view into a real estate market

While a data-driven approach is useful to narrow down all the options, having boots on the ground (i.e. agent or contractor) is always important for due diligence

Finding neighborhoods to invest in by local experts is always #1, however if you want to explore a data driven approach to finding neighborhoods for investment then you can check out our Neighborhood Grade Map - https://www.loom.com/share/881e4b16638449e681346885b2f37e95?...

We review a multitude of data sources to provide a real-time view into a real estate market

Teaming up with folks with boots on the ground is always #1, however if you want to explore a data driven approach to finding neighborhoods for investment then you can check out our Neighborhood Grade Map - https://www.loom.com/share/881e4b16638449e681346885b2f37e95?...

We review a multitude of data sources to provide a real-time view into a real estate market