Unlocking better real estate decisions with property data

December 5, 2024

Why should I care about property data?

confused about property data and how it helps real estate goals

Property data goes far beyond basic address components, pairing any verified address with an exhaustive list of attributes that help users reliably assess its strengths, weaknesses, and unique features.

Smarty’s bulk property data solution includes unique attributes that fall into three general categories:

Location data - precise geographical information about the property’s location and composition
Structural data - attributes that describe the structural profile and features of buildings and structures on the property
Financial data - information detailing a property’s value, ownership, and tax profile

Real estate data offers the clearest benefits in a few common operational areas.

Property valuation

Quality property data is the foundation for investment analysis. Investors use property data to evaluate investment opportunities, assess potential risks and returns, project rental income, and make informed decisions about acquiring or divesting properties.

In addition to table-stakes attributes like square footage and construction date, Smarty’s US Property Data includes attributes that identify a property’s unique selling points and help generate a more accurate in-market valuation, including property improvement value, specific home features (Swimming pool?! Green house?! BREAKFAST NOOK?!), construction style and materials, and property topography.

Notable data points: total assessed value, mortgage amount and rate, square footage, construction style, construction materials, heating and cooling system

Data blending

Good real estate operations depend on reliable data from a gaggle of sources, and keeping everything straight can be tricky.

Smarty addresses this challenge with SmartyKey®, a persistent unique identifier (PUID) assigned to every address. Smarty’s US Property Data product returns a unique SmartyKey for every property, which can be used to simply and reliably link datasets from different sources (say, an MLS and LOS) to a unique and system-agnostic identifier. Smarty also verifies and normalizes addresses to eliminate duplicates and entry errors from your workflow.

Risk assessment

Property investors, insurance agencies, and financial lenders analyze property data to identify risks that may impact the property's value, safety, and insurability. Property inspections play a big role in analysis but can be expensive and time-consuming.

Enter your secret weapon – a property data solution lets users build detailed, accurate property profiles long before an inspector sets foot on site.
Let's face it: client and broker-supplied information isn't always reliable. Whether due to honest mistakes, clerical errors, or optimistic embellishments, verifying these details can be a drag. Bulk property data from pre-verified sources takes the guesswork out of assessment and helps identify risk factors earlier in the underwriting or risk analysis process. Result? Less time, less risk, and bigger upsides.

Notable attributes: year built, construction type, roof type, foundation type, number of stories, square footage, property use

Targeted marketing campaigns

A bulk property data solution is a great way to analyze properties en masse to develop effective marketing outreach strategies. Are you looking to boost your HELOC business? Why not identify properties due for a new roof and market to their owners? Or maybe you’re looking to serve customers in need of a refinance. Easily pull mortgage rates and campaign to homeowners likely on the lookout for better terms.

Notable attributes: roof age, type, and materials, mortgage rate, mortgage amount, number of bedrooms, square footage, assessed value

Property attribute use cases for real estate

There are almost as many property data use cases as unique attributes (with Smarty, we’re talking 350+). As is the case with making a pizza or naming your firstborn child, the only real limit is your creativity. Still, in case it’s helpful, here are a few more attribute-based use cases that real estate whizkids use to make their orgs money and make their parents proud.

Elevation: Does your property have a view? Grab the elevation (taken at the base of the main structure) and property topography attributes and simulate sightlines until the cows come home!

Roof materials: Cross reference construction age with roof structure and materials to create effective lead lists for HELOC prospects in dire need of maintenance, repair, or replacement.

Prior sale amount: Easily assess changes to a property’s value since the last time it changed hands. Pro tip: use Smarty’s US Property Data: Financial dataset to pair recent sales with historical mortgage data and analyze a property’s financial profile over time.

A more complete profile of real estate data is at your disposal here. You can literally enrich any property for sale (or do your due diligence on a flip you’re hoping to fix) with property data. You can, and you SHOULD if you wanna be a boss.

Conclusion

According to Barc, over 40% of companies worldwide are already leveraging property data analytics to support their business decisions. So why aren’t you? After all, in real estate, knowledge isn't just power – it's profit, baby.

With a single API call, Smarty’s Property Data products offer real estate pros a direct route to better risk and investment assessment for 210+ verified US addresses (including 20M non-USPS addresses). Ready to learn what Smarty can do for you? You’ve got 350 reasons to say yes. Click here to chat with an address intelligence expert, or start your free trial today.

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