How to Choose the Right Multifamily Property Data Provider 

A property data provider can serve as the backbone of a modern multifamily business. These multifamily property data providers offer a wealth of information depending on the needs of multifamily businesses. For instance, a locator or real estate agent in the multifamily space would benefit from having information on the properties within a specific location, their amenities, and the commissions they offer. 

As for multifamily suppliers, they would greatly benefit from having information about: 

• Onsite property managers 
• Regional Managers
• Management company of a multifamily community
• Services and amenities that communities offer
• Date of the most recent renovations
• Ownership entities

With the right data at their disposal, multifamily suppliers stand to maximize their profits by finding the most relevant leads, and keeping tabs on potential opportunities for their business. This is why the choice of your multifamily property data provider is so important. 

There are several choices when it comes to multifamily data, with each differing in its own way. This could result in vendors becoming overwhelmed in selecting the right solution for them. So, how does one choose the best multifamily data provider for their business? In this article, we’ll guide you through what you need to look for when choosing a data provider for your multifamily business. 

Whether you are a small multifamily supplier or a large company with multiple employees, you stand to reap the benefits of big data. But this can only occur by choosing the best partner that will provide you with accurate and timely data on the multifamily market, wherever you are in the US. 

But first, let’s take a look at why data matters in the multifamily space. 

The importance of data for multifamily businesses

In the previous section, we briefly mentioned how multifamily suppliers would benefit from having information about multifamily communities. Here, we will dive deeper into the importance of data for multifamily suppliers. The multifamily data can help suppliers:

• Evaluate multifamily property: Time is of the essence, and a multifamily supplier needs to be able to quickly evaluate and target properties that need its services. If, for instance, an apartment does not allow pets, a supplier that deals in pet services can exclude such properties from its prospect list. 
• Improve marketing and sales: The more you know about your leads, the better you can target them with your products and services as a supplier. For instance, if you are a supplier dealing in renovations and it has been years since a property was last renovated, you can target those on-site managers with your services.
• Save time: With multifamily data providers like SMART Apartment Data, suppliers no longer need to spend valuable time searching for on-site managers or regional managers of a given company. SMART Apartment Data’s database is always up-to-date, enabling you to get the contact information of who you need when you need it. 
• Enhance cold outreach: Cold leads can be difficult, especially if you don’t know who you are talking to and what challenges they might be facing. With an effective multifamily property data provider, you’ll know who you are talking to when you make the call, their past work history, and the housing classification of their multifamily property. With this information, you can build a relationship with your potential customers by positioning your services or product as a solution to their challenges. 

The benefits of accurate data are clear. In the next section, we will look at how to choose the ideal property data provider for your business.

What To Look For When Choosing Multifamily Real Estate Data Providers

If you are a supplier in the multifamily space, multifamily real estate data providers are the next best thing to an external partner. The ideal multifamily property data provider will work closely with your business and provide insights and tools that will help drive success for your business. 

This is what you want, but how do you determine which data provider is best for you? Here are some things to look for:

1. Data accuracy: The foundation of any good decision-making process is reliable data. Inaccurate or outdated data can lead to misguided strategies and potential losses. Therefore, it’s imperative to ensure that your data provider prioritizes accuracy. Always look for providers who have a track record of offering precise data and can back up their claims with testimonials or case studies.
2. Data relevance: Not all data is created equal. The information you receive should meet the needs of your supplier business and the multifamily industry. A good data provider will offer data sets that are tailored to your specific requirements, ensuring that you’re not wading through irrelevant information. For example, SMART Apartment Data enables you to create property filters by location so you can serve all the relevant multifamily properties in your area of operations. 
3. Data update frequency: America’s multifamily industry is in a constant state of flux. Companies are acquired, on-site managers change, and management companies in charge of properties are replaced with others. Therefore, you should opt for multifamily data providers who refresh their data frequently, ensuring that you always have access to the most recent and relevant information.
4. Customized reporting: All that data is meaningless if it cannot be used to generate meaningful and relevant reports. Therefore, when you are trying out a data provider’s product, check that it has the property filters that you want and need for your reporting.
5. Customer support: Even with the best data, you might have questions or require assistance. A reliable data provider will offer excellent customer support, ensuring that any concerns are addressed promptly and efficiently.
6. Cost-effectiveness: You don’t want to break the bank trying to obtain multifamily property data for your business. However, you also don’t want to just look for the cheapest option out there. Look for an affordable data provider that complies with all the previously mentioned points. Also, ensure you have a list of features you would like to see, and check that the provider has those features during the multifamily software demo.

The above points can be turned into a checklist of what to look for when choosing a multifamily property data provider. One thing to emphasize is that the cost of software should not be the sole deciding factor because the cheapest option may not always be the best.

To further discuss this, in the next section, we will mention how some free sources of data compare to paid data from multifamily data companies. 

Reach out to us to unlock the most comprehensive source of multifamily data and elevate your business insights.

How Free, Public Sources of Data Compare to Multifamily Real Estate Data Companies

Let’s assume a supplier decides to look for some free sources of data instead of relying on multifamily real estate data companies. What would their property data provider options be? Some examples of these property data providers in real estate include: 

• County assessor websites: These real estate data providers contain property and planning information specific to individual counties. They are a treasure trove of general governance data, land use, community trends, and law and justice policies. 
• City and county GIS websites: These are government-run websites that house a vast collection of earth data holdings. This includes maps, satellite images, historical data, and more. They are particularly useful for accessing historical weather data, climate changes, property value comparisons, geological patterns, and natural science patterns.
• State revenue/treasury office websites: These websites provide a comprehensive overview of the taxation system. They are the best free real estate data sources offering insights into taxpayers, their demographics, residential and commercial property tax records, income tax records, wealth patterns, and home-based investments.
• Census Bureau websites: These are a goldmine of data about population, social, and economic trends. They conduct surveys, such as the American Housing Survey (AHS), which offers comprehensive housing information. This includes details about housing conditions, population specifics, housing industry news, new residential construction, and housing costs.
• Local property listing sites: These are portals designed for real estate data aggregators and agents to search for available properties. They also list companies that assist in real estate transactions.

Now that we have a list of the free data sources, let’s analyze some cons that you might experience should you decide to use them: 

• Incorrect or missing data: These sources of data are free. Therefore, they are under no obligation to verify their data. This results in unreliable or unavailable data being uploaded to these free sites. 
• Website security concerns: Many free data sources have restrictions in place for general visitors. These constraints can include daily extraction limits or time-bound restrictions for data retrieval. Furthermore, some of these public sites may not be entirely safe to use, and any data file downloaded from the site risks having malicious software. 
• Untimely data updates: Different sites have different schedules for updating their property records. Some might update their listings quarterly, while others might do so yearly. A lack of transparency when it comes to this makes ensuring that the data is comprehensive and up-to-date a significant challenge.
• Content mining complications: Some free real estate data websites use watermarks or copyright marks on their pages. This can make extracting information challenging and raises concerns about the legality and ethics of using such data.

Note that none of these challenges are present should you—as a multifamily supplier—choose to partner with a reliable multifamily data provider, such as SMART Apartment Data. 

Looking for a Multifamily Property Data Provider? Choose SMART Apartment Data

SMART Apartment Data isn’t just another multifamily property data provider. It’s software designed with multifamily suppliers in mind. The multifamily supplier software is optimized to boost your sales opportunities by providing you with accurate and timely leads for your business. 

For instance, our extensive data coverage means that whether you’re looking for information on apartments, developers, management, or even property ownership changes, you can have it all. 

Furthermore, your business also gets the benefit of:

• A comprehensive multifamily database: With a vast database encompassing over 220K apartments, 14,000+ pipeline projects, 11,000+ managements, 90,000+ personnel and over 2000 developer contacts, you’ll never be short of information.
• Regular data research: Unlike many platforms that rely on automated systems, SMART Apartment Data ensures that its data is researched every 30 days by trained professionals, ensuring reliability and relevance.
• Extensive data points: The platform boasts over 200 data points, including 40 high-value amenities, ensuring users have a holistic view of the multifamily market.
• Additional multifamily details: From properties and units managed to office locations, personnel contacts, work history, and project statuses, every detail is meticulously captured. Additionally, we conduct quality checks and occasionally verify with a contact from the company of the data captured to ensure that all information in SMART is accurate and up-to-date.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the SMART Apartment Data Mobile App—available on both the App Store and Google Play Store—offers location-aware services to identify nearby opportunities, seamless integration with Google Maps, and easy contact options. Whether you’re an industry leader or a newcomer, SMART Apartment Data is the tool you need to stay ahead.

Explore the latest trends in multifamily data and analytics by reading our blog, or simply get started with our tailored data solutions for your business.