PropertyShark Overview
Founded by real estate investor Matthew Haines in 2003, PropertyShark has evolved over the past 20 years into an essential property research tool for the U.S. commercial real estate industry. Brokers, investors, appraisers, and other CRE professionals rely on its easy-to-use interface to conduct due diligence and business development while enhancing their property-level knowledge in some of the nation’s busiest markets.
In 2010, property management software giant Yardi acquired PropertyShark and grew it to over 4 million registered users. With a team of over 100 dedicated employees working constantly to ensure their data is accurate and up-to-date, PropertyShark is poised to continue growing its presence in new markets.
Overall, PropertyShark offers an accessible, user-friendly experience for individualized research and analysis of commercial properties, empowering investors, appraisers, and brokers to make more confident, informed decisions.
Our Take On PropertyShark
Best for real estate companies looking for a data analytics/business development/research tool
PropertyShark is a leading property research tool that was acquired by Yardi in 2010 and has since grown to over 4 million registered users. The platform offers the most recent data on property transfers, permit filings, and more to give users cutting-edge insights nationwide.
Pros- The platform’s user-friendly interface, combined with its wide range of features, makes it suitable for industry beginners and seasoned veterans alike.
- Sales data is refreshed every 24 hours to ensure users have the most up-to-date information to drive informed analysis and decision-making.
- The comparable sales analysis tool provides an instant estimate of value based on similar properties that were recently traded.
Cons- Some regions have less publicly available data, making it difficult to give all users the same experience expected in primary markets like NY or CA.
- While some CRM features are included, PropertyShark may fall short compared to competitors that focus on relationship management and outreach.
- PropertyShark doesn’t have all active listings, which can impact the prospecting opportunities of investors and brokers tracking certain markets.
Pros Explained
User-friendly interface: PropertyShark features an intuitive user interface with clear search functionality, interactive maps, and customizable reports making it easy for users to find what they’re looking for. Within a property report, key information is organized into category tabs, making it easy for analysts to conduct quick due diligence.
Comprehensive data: PropertyShark aggregates regional data from a wide range of sources, including public records, sales history, building permits, and zoning info. In major markets like New York, for example, this data can be found on various public records websites with outdated interfaces and siloed information. PropertyShark extracts these disparate data points and files them under a single property record.
Comparable analysis tool: After searching for a property and opening its report, users can click the ‘Find Comps’ button to see comparable properties that have recently sold. PropertyShark will take the average price per square foot of these transactions and compare them to the property in question to give users a quick and easy estimate of market value. Users can look through each comparable property report and even tailor search results to expand or refine their dataset.
Cons Explained
Limited geographic coverage: PropertyShark provides top-tier data in most key gateway markets, like New York, New Jersey, and California. However, the platform falls short when compared to competitors who may provide more comprehensive nationwide coverage.
Lacking CRM capabilities: While there are integrated CRM features, PropertyShark underperforms when compared to platforms with a sole focus on customer relationship management. Despite the benefits of an all-in-one property research platform, many professional users rely on PropertyShark for research and may choose to use a separate CRM solution.
Limited listings coverage: Properties can be marketed for sale or lease on various listing websites which makes it challenging for PropertyShark to track. This can impact an investor or broker’s knowledge of their market and ability to deliver the most accurate information to their clients.
PropertyShark Product Offerings
PropertyShark aggregates data from public records and offers unique insights on property ownership, sales history, zoning data, newly filed permits, and much more.
Property search and reports
The platform’s main feature is the property report, which outlines all available data on any property that a user searches for. Results for broader searches can be viewed as a list, table, tile, or map.
- The General tab of any given report provides a snapshot of key data on the property.
- The Documents tab shows deed transfers, loans originated, and any other filings pertaining to the asset.
- The Contact tab features the names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails of owners tied to the asset, making it a useful tool for identifying business development opportunities.
In 2018, PropertyShark began verifying its data to provide users with a better sense of how accurate results can be. Using its own team of researchers, PropertyShark diligently uncovers hidden LLCs while individually verifying phone numbers to ensure accuracy.
Interactive zoning maps
Maps are always beneficial for users looking to analyze adjacent parcels or identify trends from one block to the next. On each property report, an interactive map found in the left-hand corner allows users to zoom in or out on the streetscape of any given neighborhood, or even click on adjacent parcels to pull up their reports. PropertyShark has expanded this function to include maps showing toxic waste sites, active traffic zones, laundromat zones, and much more.
The development site grading tool, particularly useful in dense urban markets with a clearly defined zoning code (like New York City), allows users to view a detailed map that shows available air rights in a color gradient. This can be an effective, time-saving tool to gauge development activity where rezonings may have occurred to identify development opportunities.
Daily data refresh
PropertyShark uploads new data to the platform every 24 hours, so users always have access to the latest sales and filings at their fingertips. The platform also aggregates building permit data, allowing users to track construction activity, renovations, and development projects in specific areas.
Perspective of a PropertyShark user:
“Using PropertyShark daily for prospecting and business development, I’ve noticed a meaningful increase in the accuracy of ‘verified phone numbers’. Often times, there is a list of 5-10 numbers that are either outdated or incorrect, but PropertyShark’s team verifies and isolates the correct contact. Reaching the correct owner of a property on the first dial is a massive time saver for any investment sales broker.” –Andrew LeoGrande, RIPCO Real Estate
“Find Comps” button
With the click of a button, users can also quickly sift through comparable sales for any given property search while toggling criteria like distance, last sale date, total square footage, unit count, and much more. Comps data is critical for underwriting assets, making this feature a very compelling value-add.
Foreclosure tracker
Users can sort through properties that are in various stages of the foreclosure process to better track the markets they’re analyzing and uncover new opportunities. For example, an investor could use this feature to reach out to owners to gauge their interest in selling the property before the asset is auctioned off in court. This foreclosure data is refreshed daily to ensure users can act on new opportunities instantly.
User Experience
The PropertyShark platform boasts a user-friendly experience with property-specific reports and intuitive category tabs that help consolidate key data points.
- General users can quickly and easily access essential property info, including square footage and unit count, in the General tab.
- Real estate professionals can use the Documents and Contact tabs to locate the deed trail, including ownership history, loan records, internal transfers, and more.
Perspective of a PropertyShark user:
“As an investment sales broker in New York City, PropertyShark is my go-to platform for conducting diligence on any property, as well as finding owner contact info for business development. The interface on each ‘property report’ is easy to navigate and often fully populated with crucial data points for assessing value. I rely on PropertyShark to better understand a property and its history before contacting the owner(s).” – Andrew LeoGrande, RIPCO Real Estate
Customer Support
PropertyShark offers comprehensive customer support to users across tiers from Monday to Saturday. For assistance with the platform, users can either fill out a support form or reach out to a representative directly.
The training center also offers informational articles and weekly webinars to learn about new features or how to get the most out of the platform. These resources are offered for free to subscribers across tiers. Some of the upcoming webinars include topics such as: “How to Evaluate a Property’s Value,” “How to Research and Find the Owners of Properties,” “How to Buy Foreclosures & Distressed Property,” and more.
Pricing
PropertyShark offers a subscription-based pricing model with different tiers depending on the market(s) a user needs access to. The three tiers—Pro, Elite, and Platinum— come with different numbers of property reports each month.
Pro users looking for more functionality can upgrade their subscription to view and export verified contact info. Users can also save up to 17% by opting for an annual subscription.
Competitors
PropertyShark’s main competitors are Reonomy, CoStar, and Prospect Now:
Reonomy
Reonomy serves as a data provider using proprietary algorithms and machine learning. Its goal is to aggregate data from multiple sources and generate market insights for investors and brokers. It doesn’t simply aggregate data but is a machine learning tool using the power of AI to bring data together.
Check out CREDaily’s full review of Reonomy here.
CoStar
The CoStar Group has led the commercial real estate industry as the go-to property and owner database for investors, brokers, and real estate professionals for decades. The CoStar platform offers users access to available properties, market trends, property analytics, comparables, lease and sale listings, and research reports. CoStar also uses a similar monthly pricing model and commands a premium for institutional-quality service and support.
Prospect Now
Prospect Now is a property research platform focused on identifying off-market opportunities for buyers and brokers in both the residential and commercial sectors. The platform claims to incorporate predictive analytics to gauge the likelihood of an owner selling or refinancing within the next 12 months.
FAQs
PropertyShark covers all sectors of commercial real estate, including multifamily, retail, office, industrial, and land. It also covers residential property types such as single-family homes, co-ops, condos, and townhomes. The team is actively working to expand geographic coverage across all 50 states.
PropertyShark’s in-house research team is trained in reading documents, navigating property records, and digging through multiple sources to obtain contact information. Phone numbers are then verified and confirmed by calling directly.
PropertyShark offers an all-in-one platform for researching commercial properties, finding ownership data, and tracking contact outreach. The platform also provides access to ownership info beyond LLCs, sales data that are refreshed every 24 hours, a comprehensive comparable sales tool, and a complete set of documents for any property.
How We Evaluated PropertyShark
When evaluating PropertyShark, we looked at several factors, including:
- Pros and Cons: We examined PropertyShark’s unique features, including its user interface, available data, verified contact information accuracy, and more.
- Product and Service Offerings: We assessed the value PropertyShark provides users by aggregating data from various sources into a single property report for any property.
- User Experience: We looked at the intuitiveness of the onboarding process, the ease of use of the platform interface, and the likelihood that most commercial real estate professionals would be able to take advantage of the platform’s full functionality.
- Customer Support: We examined available customer support options and the free educational webinars available to all users.
- Pricing: We provided general guidance on pricing models and expectations and directed users to visit PropertyShark’s pricing page for clarity on subscription rates.
- Competitors: To help readers make an informed decision, we compared everything PropertyShark offers against other industry offerings from Reonomy, CoStar, and Prospect Now.
Summary of PropertyShark Review
Overall, PropertyShark is a powerful product for its target markets—like New York, New Jersey, and California—where transaction volumes tend to be highest and there’s plenty of data to go around. Most users value the easy-to-use interface and straightforward layout of each property report. The platform has also grown its features and coverage areas rapidly since being acquired by Yardi.
Real estate professionals rely on PropertyShark to analyze properties and ownership records and to identify and source new business opportunities. The platform presents key property-level data, such as building size, lot dimensions, and much more, on an easy-to-read dashboard with separate tabs that aggregate key information.
Users can also look forward to the continued development of PropertyShark’s embedded CRM features, which could help the platform stand out even more from the competition as an all-in-one property research and CRM platform.
Disclaimer
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