Are you wondering about PropStream software and its features? Read our article to find out more and see if it’s the right tool to opt for.
Getting into real estate means you’ll be investing quite a sum of money into a property and expecting a good return from selling it or renting it out.
Table of Contents
- What Is PropStream Software?
- PropStream Software Features
- PropStream Software’s Rental Data
- PropStream Software Rental Strategies
- PropStream Software Pricing
- The Best Alternative to PropStream Software
However, buying rental property can be a lengthy and thorough process (that is, if you do it manually). Thanks to new real estate investment tools and technology that keeps on evolving, investors who adopt it early obtain a greater competitive advantage than those who don’t. One of the tools that can be helpful in your investment journey is PropStream software.
The new technologies typically fall into two categories: tools you can use to find the best deals on properties and software for property management.
With real estate investing becoming mostly online nowadays, there are many tools at your disposal that offer different capabilities. Today, we will be taking a closer look at the PropStream software and its capabilities when it comes to real estate market analysis. Moreover, we will cover how Mashvisor can assist you better and meet your needs.
Let’s dive into it.
What Is PropStream Software?
In the real estate investment software market, PropStream is a platform that serves as a source of real estate data across the US. It is targeted at brokers, realtors, real estate investors, and anyone else who’s in need of property data.
Its main features can be divided into three main categories: property research, lead identification, and marketing.
The platform offers information about newly listed properties in the target markets, and it further customizes those offerings using its detailed targeting criteria. The said criteria allow investors to filter properties according to what they’re looking for.
Investors use PropStream real estate software to find property owners who are looking to sell. The platform’s database adds new leads, including residential, industrial, commercial, and other types of real estate.
There’s a variety of filters investors can use to search for properties and narrow down their focus in the sea of property data. With the paid package, searches are unlimited and can be narrowed down more to show expired listings, involuntary liens, past transaction details, etc.
Additionally, there’s also the marketing feature. Investors can use it to reach out to prospective homebuyers, advertise (to a certain extent), and track marketing results and statistics.
Related: The Ultimate Investment Property Search Tool
PropStream Software Features
PropStream software has a search tool that allows investors to find properties for sale across the US.
Finding investment property is considered the most time-consuming and challenging task in real estate. If done manually, it can take days or even weeks to find a property worth investing in. Looking in online directories, searching social media, looking up names on white pages, and rummaging through tax records can be quite tedious.
PropStream software comes with a built-in search tool to help investors find income properties for sale according to different criteria. The criteria include office, residential, commercial, transportation, recreational, agricultural, industrial, and vacant land. They can also search by property type, like single-family houses, multifamily houses, townhouses, and more.
1. PropStream Property Finder Tool
When looking to invest in a rental property that you plan to put on the short term rental map, PropStream doesn’t really offer Airbnb data or properties with high rental potential.
Instead, investors can use PropStream’s property finder tool (for both rental and buy-and-hold deals) to locate undervalued or distressed properties. Distressed properties (those burdened by bankruptcy, preforeclosure, involuntary liens, or divorce) are an excellent way to get a discount on your short term property.
However, PropStream software doesn’t provide the tools or data to find short-term rental properties that can bring you some profits in the future. You can use the PropStream software for rental comps, average days on the market, and investment potential, which are all essential pieces of information for short term rental analytics.
However—when it comes to real estate for beginners and the PropStream software— they encounter problems related to finding the short-term rental potential of a property. It is not strange since new investors are not that familiar with real estate calculations and projections.
Related: How to Find the Best Area for Airbnb Investment
2. Rental Property Analysis With PropStream
Knowing the best markets to invest in is what is most important to an investor. And by “knowing,” we mean understanding all the KPIs (key performance indicators) of a real estate property and what to pay attention to. PropStream real estate software can provide information such as:
- Market snapshot (Number of open liens, overall neighborhoods, on or off-market counts, etc.)
- Current vs. historical inventory
- Average number of days a property sits on the market before being sold
- Sales price trends in the market
- Average price per square foot
- Google Earth Street views and mapping
Just like Mashvisor, PropStream software offers an analysis of the investment potential of rental properties in the US. Software like PropStream pulls its real estate data from MLS records, county recordings, and private data sources. They update info such as:
- MLS listings
- Foreclosed properties and real estate owned (REO)
- Preforeclosure filings and public auctions
- Free and clear properties
- High equity
- Vacant properties
- Non-owner occupied properties
- Linked properties
- HOA and mechanic’s liens
- Tax liens
- Mortgage information
- Cash buyers
- Divorce filings
- Deceased owners
- Bankruptcy filings
- Senior owners
- Rental values
- Flippers
If you use Mashvisor instead as your PropStream alternative, in addition to the information listed above, you also get access to short term rental information, such as:
- Short term rental occupancy rate
- Short term rental daily rate
- Short term rental cap rate
- Short term rental income
- Breakdown of startup costs, closing costs, and recurring rental expenses
Related: What’s the Best Airbnb Analytics Platform?
3. PropStream Software: Instant Comparables Feature
PropStream’s Instant Comparables feature helps investors take into account the average values of similar properties from the same neighborhood to determine the real value of the property they’re interested in. The platform uses data it pulls from several listings, and the data includes:
- Distance from the subject property
- Last sale date
- Square footage
- Date range
- Number of bathrooms
- Number of bedrooms
Opposed to PropStream software’s Instant Comparables, there’s Mashvisor’s Rental Comps, with a few additional perks.
Mashvisor’s Rental Comps provides short term rental comps (besides long term rental comps) that allow you to find out how much other landlords are charging for renting a similar property. Moreover, it will help you optimize your rental pricing for the best return on investment, helping you keep your ROI high and vacancy rate low.
4. Rehab Estimator Feature
Software like PropStream includes a Rehab Estimator that is beneficial to both wholesale real estate investors and house flippers. The real estate calculator found here is the same one used by insurance companies for estimating actual home rehab costs with high accuracy.
The tool includes all types of repair and improvement works, such as plumbing, electrical, flooring, and roofing. It can generate two different estimates by using local labor and material costs. It will help investors realize the true cost of rehab if they hire a contractor to do it or if they do it themselves.
5. Property Deal Analyzer
PropStream’s Property Deal Analyzer is intended for those who want to get their hands on detailed information on the investment and transaction process of a certain deal. It can help you calculate deal figures such as:
- Property expenses
- Total purchase price
- Detailed mortgage analysis
- Mortgage amount
- Cash flow
- Projected (traditional) rental income
- Tax information and deductions
The tool also provides general market performance in the area you choose, sought-after home trends and features, nearby property sales prices, local rental price trends, etc.
On the other hand, Mashvisor also contributes short-term rental information and its Mortgage Calculator. Whether you’re paying for a property with a mortgage or in cash, it produces different results.
With Mashvisor’s real estate calculator, you can even calculate your mortgage payment to better forecast your cash on cash return and how long it would take to pay off the property.
Additional Features
If you wish to send out many emails, it is possible to do so with PropStream. You can enter names, set up bulk postcard mailings, send mass emails, and save auto-voicemails. An additional feature is automatic web marketing (advertisement) campaigns when launching one.
PropStream Software’s Rental Data
Both PropStream and Mashvisor lie on the foundation of big data. Compiling lots of raw data doesn’t mean much if the platform is not powerful enough to analyze and present it accurately. Let’s focus on PropStream’s data reviews and data accuracy.
Software like PropStream can handle nationwide property data and daily updates on new transactions, county records, and more. Moreover, PropStream’s data APIs can assist in the powering of real estate CRMs and analytics apps across the sector.
In addition, PropStream’s national property data is gathered from county documents, MLS records, and private information sources. The platform provides access to a comprehensive database of about 153 million properties accessible.
Assume you seek data on cash deal sales data, along with the owner’s contact information for a specific property. In such a situation, you can employ one of PropStream’s cash sales criteria within a specified radius to get the contact information for the specific homeowner.
Such contact details can then be utilized for prospecting and marketing purposes, e.g., direct mail, postcards, and more.
However, when it comes to data accuracy, a few users have found it lacking. As per users’ reviews, it can happen to display that some properties are way above the estimated value.
PropStream Software Rental Strategies
Whether we’re talking about buy-and-hold, house flipping, investing in short term rentals, or wholesaling, PropStream software can be reliable. It allows investors to quickly find properties across the country due to organized data and advanced filtering.
Real estate investors can make use of it to find the following:
- Hot investment markets
- Costs of flipping
- Comps in specific areas
House flipping and buy-and-hold strategies can bring a substantial return on investment, but short-term rentals can also be very lucrative. They typically produce a much higher ROI, especially if you nail the location right.
Even if a seller simply wants to walk away, liens on the property prevent them from doing so.
The PropStream software shows which liens are on the public record for each asset. Therefore, you don’t need to wait for the title report. This minor feature reveals the lien’s kind and quantity. And if you want further specifics, just tap on the address and lien information once again, and there you will get the following:
- Debtor name
- Court case number
- Amount of the lien
- Date of recording
- Creditor name
You can also search for solely free-and-clear homes with no liens connected. The landowners are free to sell for any price they want and may be willing to accept a bargain offer – particularly if the property is unoccupied and costly to them.
PropStream Software Pricing
Enough about the capabilities and more about something that affects anyone interested in real estate investment software. Right, the price.
PropStream software price is $99 per month per 10,000 properties. It is the only subscription option available to users, and it includes the following:
- A 7-day free trial
- Nationwide property search (up to 10,000 monthly property data exports)
- Targeted property lists
- Unlimited property searches
- Rehab Estimator PropStream reviews
- Property Deal Analyzer
- Instant Comparables
- Marketing tools
We also need to take into consideration that there are upgrades (if you want to make more than 10,000 property data saves/exports). You can use the platform to help with making smart data-driven decisions, but it lacks information on the short-term rental market.
Moreover, automated email campaigns ($0.02 each), professional postcard mailing (for as low as $0.40/postcard), and ringless voicemail delivery ($0.10 each) are among the marketing tools available. PropStream also offers skip tracing services priced at $0.10 per skip trace.
PropStream’s List Automator tool is available for an extra $27 per month. The tool instantly updates the list of prospects for you according to the settings for the types of homes and prospects you’re interested in. It brings up new connections every day and clearing out old leads.
In addition, you may let PropStream automatically contact the leads through emails, postcards, or ringless voicemails using their advertising automation capabilities. The tool can keep track of up to 2,000 assets for you.
The Best Alternative to PropStream Software
Unlike PropStream Software, Mashvisor has tools like the Property Finder for locating properties with high profitability as short-term rentals.
Mashvisor is a viable PropStream software alternative that comes with a few handy real estate investment tools that lean toward long term and short term rental investors. It can be seen in the features and data they bring forward.
For example, when you look at a specific neighborhood, there are separate tabs that show information for long term rentals and short term properties.
In each tab, you get data on:
- The number of rental property types
- Occupancy rate by rental size
- Rental size distribution (studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, etc.)
- Occupancy rate stats (median, minimum, maximum, etc.)
- Rental income stats (median, minimum, maximum, etc.)
- Historical rental income in the last 12 months (per rental)
- Historical rental income in the last 12 months (average for the neighborhood)
Beginner investors have the Property Finder tool at their disposal, which enables them to find the most lucrative short term properties for sale. You can also search for off-market properties, foreclosures, and MLS listings in any city. The criteria you can use to narrow your search down include the following:
- Property type
- City and neighborhood
- Budget
- Minimum number of bedrooms
- Minimum number of bathrooms
- Financing method
- Short term rental cap rate
- Short term rental cash on cash return
- Short term rental income
Then, hit search and watch Mashvisor present you with listings that match your criteria and in decreasing order, according to short term rental cash on cash return. By clicking on a property you like, you will find yourself on a page that presents you with the investment property analysis.
Data Accuracy: PropStream vs. Mashvisor
As we already mentioned, PropStream real estate software pulls its data from MLS records, county recordings, and private data sources. It also obtains its data through different channels, but it exports the information for verification by comparing it to other sources. Some of the sources include Roofstock, Auction.com, Airbnb, Zillow, and Realtor.com (among others).
Mashvisor uses multiple sources to obtain its data. Then, it exports the data to verify its accuracy by comparing it with multiple sources. Some of its sources are Realtor.com, Airbnb, Auction.com, Roofstock, etc., to name a few.
Furthermore, Mashvisor uses the median price when calculating average house values. The platform’s approach is deemed more reliable, robust, and accurate because it eliminates outliers that may distort the real estate market analysis. Also, Mashvisor takes Airbnb into consideration, pulling data from long-time Airbnb hosts (with more than three reviews).
Moreover, Mashvisor jumps in here again because, with its Airbnb data, you can use it to build a profitable short-term rental strategy. With Mashvisor’s detailed information, you’ll be able to calculate whether it’s more profitable to go down that path. Just be sure to check where in the US Airbnb is actually legal.
Related: 20 Cities With No Airbnb Legal Issues
Mashvisor Pricing
Opposed to PropStream, Mashvisor offers three subscription options:
- Lite ($39.99/month) – Estimate long term and short term (Airbnb) rental rates, forecast rental ROI, and use investment opportunity score powered by machine learning.
- Standard ($74.99/month) – All of the features in Lite, plus you can discover the most profitable properties and markets, compare properties, export 20 searches to Excel monthly, and compare properties side-by-side.
- Professional ($99.99/month) – All of the features in Standard, plus you can find multifamily and foreclosure properties, export 60 searches to Excel monthly, and upload and analyze property listings.
With the most expensive option being equal to the PropStream software cost, it makes Mashvisor a much more affordable option for real estate analysis and finding properties across the US.
As far as investment property analytics, time-saving methods, and pricing, Mashvisor is the more cost-effective option.
Not to mention that if you wish to use more tools and additional PropStream features, you must pay for each individually. On the other side, Mashvisor has all the features and tools covered in the Professional plan. So, there is no need for additional costs.
Start your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor now.
Conclusion
PropStream software is one of several types of real estate tools and solutions available on the internet. As a result, determining which one will best meet your needs might be difficult. In addition, each tool comes with a drawback.
To understand the technology, there is a somewhat steep learning curve. There are, however, instructive videos. Although the videos are useful, a search tool in the Help Section would be ideal.
Nevertheless, we’ve come to an end. And hopefully, this detailed article was of help when it comes to choosing the best real estate tool for you.
We’ve made a comprehensive overview of PropStream software, its advantages and downsides, and how it can help in buying rental property.
Also, we mentioned where Mashvisor could jump in to help, thanks to its more comprehensive database. Furthermore, the Mashvisor data reflects the actual performance of real estate and rental comparables in each area. And besides, nothing less is anticipated from the market’s leading provider of rental and real estate data in 2022.
To get access to our real estate investment tools, click here to sign up for a 7-day free trial of Mashvisor today, followed by 15% off for life.