TL;DR On Our PropStream Review:
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- PropStream provides detailed property data beyond MLS, including mortgage, tax history, foreclosure details, and direct owner contact information, enabling investors to uncover off-market deals and analyze properties with precision.
- The platform offers tools to locate pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, auctions, and vacant properties with detailed analyses and contact info, facilitating strategic investment decisions by pinpointing high-potential opportunities.
- PropStream features an integrated marketing platform for direct outreach to sellers and automates lead list management, ensuring investors focus on viable deals with minimal manual effort, supported by excellent customer service.
What’s your competitive advantage as a real estate investor?
Perhaps you have the best network in your local market, and know every contractor, every lender, every wholesaler, every other investor. Or maybe you do your own repairs, and have a team of workers at your beck and call.
If you don’t know what your competitive advantage is, you’re in trouble.
But what if you can buy a competitive advantage? What real estate investing tools are out there, that can give you a leg up over other investors?
PropStream is used for finding and analyzing off-market real estate deals. Although the app is not free, PropStream does have a free trial period to check it out for yourself before making any commitment, And the software comes with a pretty impressive features to help you find and analyze off-market deals before any other investors.
PropStream Features: What Does It Offer?
Mind you, I’m a licensed Realtor, with direct access to the multiple listing service (MLS). Yet even having access to a local MLS has its limitations. Namely, it is location specific.
What if I want to look beyond my state for “that one amazing deal?”
So, I tried out the PropStream app.
Being someone who loves to be in the know, I like me some details! And frankly, PropStream real estate app delivers on details.
It provides mortgage details, tax information and tax history for each property. Like Zillow, PropStream provides you with estimated property values and rent prices. But the data doesn’t end there.
Here are some of the statistics, trends, and analytics provided by PropStream’s real estate investing software:
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- Property details (bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, etc.)
- Foreclosure details
- MLS details, as available
- Comparable property listings (sold and current)
- Tax information
- Mortgage information
- Transaction history
- Owner details
- Detailed documents and reports as they are available. And if you want premium reports, these too are available at a small per-report cost.
What didn’t I like about the property search feature? I noticed that after searching several addresses, the PropStream app can get “sticky.” I cleared my cache, and that did the trick.
Pre-Foreclosures and Foreclosures
In any given neighborhood, the PropStream software will display all homes in the foreclosure process, and in pre-foreclosure. And in many cases, will offer up more details than I have seen anywhere else.
You can then hone in on exactly where the home is in the foreclosure process. For instance, someone in the beginning stages may be looking for a quick sale at a discounted price.
PropStream also provides real estate analysis of local foreclosures:
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- Default amount
- Type of default
- Last updated
If you want to delve a bit deeper, click on the address and voila! Data delight.
Auctions & Vacant Homes
Invest in real estate through auctions? Select the area that you want to invest in, and PropStream can list all upcoming auctions along with estimated value of the property, and default amount (if a foreclosure auction).
Click on the address and to find the auction date, time and location.
What about finding properties that are sitting vacant? Another avenue to identify potential sellers willing to sell low is finding properties that are simply costing their owners money, sitting empty. Instead of “driving for dollars,” track down vacant properties without leaving your living room.
PropStream includes contact details for the owners of the vacant homes, so you can reach out and make an offer. Get to them before anyone else does!
Liens vs. Free & Clear Properties
Even if a seller just wants to walk away, they can’t hand over the property if it has liens attached to it.
The PropStream software displays exactly what liens are listed on public record for each property. No waiting on the title report! This little feature, well perhaps not so little, provides the lien type and amount. Want more specifics? Once again, click on the address and lien details and there you have it:
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- Creditor name
- Amount of the lien
- Date of recording
- Debtor Name
- Court case number
Useful information to know, before making an offer!
Alternatively, you can search for only free-and-clear properties with no liens attached. These property owners have the flexibility to sell for whatever they like, and may be open to a lowball offer – especially if the property is sitting vacant and costing them money.
You run searches to find homes that are high in equity and vacant. Think about the many uses for this tidbit of information!
That’s the name of the game in real estate investing: finding sellers who are willing and able to sell low.
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Rehab Costing
What about estimating and calculating rehab costs?
Powered by BlueHammer, this handy-dandy calculator is a rehabbers dream. Save the property address to your saved properties (more on this later), and you can:
- Search by type of repair or rehab
- Decide on complete rehabbing or a smaller job
- Choose quality of materials
- Get estimated cost for the job
- Cost for a professional to do it
- Cost as a DIY project
*Warning: While I loved this calculator, there were some projects that I noticed were a bit off-price. Now, I am not in any way a contractor, however I am familiar with the costs of some projects as a landlord, property manager and Realtor.
For example, the estimated cost on a project to replace kitchen flooring seemed a bit low.
Marketing Automation
Among PropStream’s best features is its marketing platform.
Real estate investors can contact sellers directly by email, postcard, or ringless voicemail. You can skip trace owners who have abandoned their properties.
Best of all, PropStream can automate your list of leads for you, so you don’t have to manually manage and scrub it. After you set up your parameters, they automatically add properties to your list based on your filters, and remove outdated entries. You can even set up your account to automatically contact property owners as properties get added to your leads list.
Bear in mind that contacting sellers comes with a small fee per email, postcard, or voicemail sent. Full Propstream pricing details below.
Customer Service
I had a question. So, I emailed PropStream’s customer service at 3:55 PM and received an email back with a direct number to call an agent at 4:40 PM for live, personal assistance.
One more reason why I was impressed with PropStream’s real estate investing software.
Additional Features
Want to send out a mass mailing?
In creating a campaign, you can add recipients, send out email blasts, set up mass postcard mailings, auto-voicemails, and a feature coming soon is automated online advertisement campaigns.
Some of these items do carry surcharges, heads up!
PropStream’s Shortcomings
There is not a real estate investing software app, website or any technology product without its flaws. And PropStream does come with some.
There is a bit of a learning curve, to learn the system. However, there are instructional videos, and quite frankly, I found it fun to investigate the many features. What can I say, I love playing around with real estate investing software! Everyone has their quirks, right?
While the instructional videos were helpful, it would be nice to have a search function in the Help Section. That way, I could just find precisely what I needed help with instead of browsing and viewing entire videos.
I also found the font to be on the small side. Mind you, my eyes aren’t perfect, but it would be nice if there were adjustable settings to change this.
Finally, there’s PropStream’s pricing, which isn’t negligible.
PropStream Pricing
The baseline PropStream subscription costs $99 per month. While they doesn’t typically offer discounts, you may occasionally find a PropStream discount through special promotions. For that, real estate investors get access to national data on PropStream’s website and their mobile app. That data includes county records and MLS comps, over 120 lead filters (like pre-foreclosures, divorces, tax liens, and many others), and an integrated marketing platform.
With that platform, the marketing tools include professional postcard mailing (for as little as $0.40/postcard), automated email campaigns ($0.02 each), and ringless voicemail delivery ($0.10 each). PropStream also helps you with skip tracing, starting at $0.10 per skip trace.
For an additional $27 per month, you get access to PropStream’s List Automator tool. Based on the criteria you enter for the types of properties and leads you’re interested in, it automatically updates your list of leads for you, pulling up new leads for you daily and scrubbing out old leads. With their marketing automation tools, you can have PropStream reach out to these leads automatically with postcards, emails, or ringless voicemails if you like. The tool monitors up to 2,000 properties for you.
If you work with a team and need multiple logins, you can add team member logins for an extra $20 per month. However, if you ever need to know how to cancel PropStream subscription, you can do so through your account settings.
PropStream vs. Free Real Estate Investment Analysis Tools
You’re almost certainly familiar with Trulia already. Sort through a mixture of data, location, price-points and so forth and find listings for rent or sale.
Then there’s its sister company Zillow. A great free resource, referred to as a “real estate marketplace search engine.” Zillow will not only search, but also has a proprietary formula to pop out a “Zestimate” for any property: Zillow’s estimate of a home’s worth. While the figures are only statistical guesses, there is no exact science for estimating value anyway, right?
Along with these resources there is Realtor.com. It’s been around since 1994 and is the official website of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). And though it provides a ton of information for free to the public, it limits its best information for licensed Realtors.
Looking for foreclosures? There are many free and paid resources available to real estate investors, such as RealtyTrac. And if you are so inclined, you can even visit each mortgage lender and most have lists of foreclosures. But RealtyTrac charges for its best data.
Is PropStream Worth It?
On average, MLS fees cost approximately (drum roll please) $200 – $300 per location per year-give or take. Multiply that by 51 states, (using the low end of $200) and you get $10,200. Annually. That is a monthly price of $850.
And in most states to even have access to the MLS, you will need to be a licensed real estate broker or agent. With all the attendant courses, licenses, and ongoing education requirements, plus the legal obligation to disclose your real estate license to sellers.
At $99 per month, PropStream suddenly looks like a steal.
For active real estate investors, profits from one deal on a retnal property found using the PropStream real estate software can literally wipe that cost out. But only if you’re a serious investor!
And as real estate investing tool, it’s tax-deductible for you. But make sure you check with your accountant before deducting any expenses.
If you’re not sure whether the cost will be worth it to you, try it before deciding. PropStream offers a free seven-day trial period, for you to completely experiment with the PropStream software.
So, you can play around with it and see if you like it or not.
What real estate investing tools do you use to make market and property research easier?
Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are the authors own and not influenced by the developing company or its affiliates in any way. SparkRental does maintain an affiliate relationship with some real estate investing tools that we review, including Propstream.
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How reliable is there lien search? I buy houses in online auctions.. I don’t want to take big risk so would you be able to advice me on this?
Hi Komal, it’s based on courthouse records, so it’s as reliable as the public records are… hope your local bureaucrats are good at their paperwork!
I’m interested in buying land. Using this software will I be able to locate land lots for purchase?
Hi Bertha, yes it includes foreclosures and tax sales for land. Definitely scope out the free trial before committing, and make sure it includes all the data you want.
Hello Bertha,
In Propstream, you can filter searches on a bunch of property types including land.
I was I’m the middle of the presentation when I got dropped out! Couldn’t get back on!
Prop Stream has a great customer support. You can email them at support@propstream.com and they will assist you.
Hi there.
What is the max price that we can search ?
I don’t want anything below one million. Could I search for properties over a million upto 20-30 Million ?
Also can I search apartment complexes and hotels too ?
If this software could then I would like to sign up
Thank you
Hello Komal,
Propstream’s lien information is pretty accurate. There is a free trial with absolutely no strings, so you can actually take a look for yourself.
What I’d like to know is how they are obtaining and selling MLS data without breaking any of the 700-800 MLS data usage licenses?
Haha, that I couldn’t tell you Jimmy. A negotiated lower licensing fee perhaps? It’s a great real estate investing tool for serious investors, although probably more than the occasional once-a-year real estate investor wants to spend.
This sound like the tool to get me started. I want to get strsted
Keep us posted on how Propstream works out for you Michael!
I have never heard of propstream. Thanks you, I will be looking further into it!
Glad our Propstream review introduced you to a new real estate investing tool Edwin! Let us know what you think of it if you try it out.
What percent of your mailings to absentee owners that were downloaded from propstream have you found come back with wrong addresses? I have used listsource and would like to find something more accurate. I know nobody will ever get 100% accurate addresses.
Hello,
Question..I’m interested in real estate investing and wanted to know your opinion on propstream vs. REI Pro?
Thanks
Hello Demarko,
I am not too familiar with REIPro. I do know that it has a good CRM feature. However, when it comes to researching properties and property info, REIpro doesn’t compare, in my opinion.
Hi,
I was hoping you might be able to compare Flipster.com to Propstream?
Hey Tom, we’ll take a look at Flipster and perhaps do a review similar to this Propstream review!
Have you done a review of Flipster? I see your comment was from 2019. I’m in it now, 8/2022, and do not recommend it.
Hi Tom,
I’m with Flipster as I type this and I’m looking to leave. Hence the reason I’m reading this review for Propstream. My experience with Flipster is as follows: Lists are extremely outdated and some do not even apply to what you’re searching.
Examples: Pulled a list for
Cash Buyers and what I received were people who simply had equity in their homes. They never heard of Jerry Norton or Flipster, not investors at all and would not buy a home for cash to flip or wholesale. Most didn’t even know what wholesaling is. Most were extremely concerned how I got their info. A lot were no longer in the home anymore.
Private Lenders: Same exact result as Cash Buyers. Some even laughed and said “Why would I lend money to a complete stranger.
Pre-foreclosures: Went through the first 50+ in the list I received and copied the Case #’s into the County foreclosure lookup website and NONE of them were in foreclosure let alone pre-foreclosure.
Vacant Homes: Went through the first 50+ and NONE of them were vacant homes. They were owner occupied.
Absentee Owners: Same result as Vacant homes.
Flipsters lists are not worth the time for they are extremely inaccurate, outdated and simply false information.
I do not recommend Flipster.
Thanks for the feedback about Flipster Selina!
Hey!
1. Does PropStream give redemption period information on a property? Such as when a redemption period ends on a property…
2. Does PropStream provide the option to search for bank-owned properties?
Hi Donnell, I admit I’m not sure about the redemption period. As for bank-owned properties, my experience in recent years has been that lenders outsources their REOs to real estate agents, so they end up just being listed publicly. A few small local banks still keep email lists of investors, but I don’t believe Propstream has any way of accessing these unlisted, private REOs from small local banks.
I’d give their free trial a go and see if it provides the data you’re looking for, with no obligation to pay if you don’t like it.
Prop Stream does give the ability to search for bank-owned properties. As far as redemption period info, I’m not sure. I’d give their free trial a go and see if it provides the data you’re looking for, with no obligation to pay if you don’t like it.
Yes it gives the redemption period.
can a person pull up leads in Propstream like delinquent taxes? Or properties going through probate? I need better leads to mail to other than absentee owners.
Hey Gordon, you can pull up leads in Propstream for delinquent taxes. As for properties going through probate, I don’t believe so, but I could be mistaken. They have a free trial period, I’d give it a whirl and see if it fits what you’re looking for.
Hello Gordon,
Prop Stream provides lien information which includes liens from tax authorities. Hope that helps!
Interesting feature set, and I actually don’t think the Propstream pricing model is bad given the amount of tools included. Giving it a try over the next week.
Hi, would Popstream work in Ontario, Canada?
Hello Emily, Unfortunately, PropStream does not contain property information in Canada.
Hi Emily, I’m looking for the same service in Canada. Any luck finding a Canadian option? Thanks!
Can I use my IPad Pro and IPhone
Hi Johnny, yes you can use Propstream on your mobile devices.
I had Propstream for 1 year and I could not get it to work properly on my Ipad and Iphone. I see in your questions section you say it works on all mobile devices. I was thinking of renewing my software but that is what’s keeping from buying your software. Can you tell me what happened on my end?
Hello Laura, Prop Stream has great customer service. Call them and they will assist you: call 877-204-9040
Can you search for apartment buildings with this software?
Yes, you can search based on various criteria such as “5+units” .
How many motivation points does Propstream have compared to REIpro?
Hi Ben, what do you mean by motivation points?
What are the differences between Propstream and Dealmachine? I’ve been looking into getting one of them.
Hi Raul, DealMachine is designed to make driving for dollars easier – when you’re physically in front of a vacant or run-down home, you snap a photo with the DealMachine mobile app, and they pull up the property’s information and let you automatically send the owner a letter or text message.
Propstream is online software, that helps you research distressed properties which may potentially have a motivated seller. Foreclosures, deaths, divorces, tax liens, etc. in a local area. You use it more on your computer, at home.
Hope that helps!
Hi I’d like to know if there is proof of funding letter on pop stream? Also is $99 include all the tools software that I need? Is there any other charges after I join?
Can Popstream send out post cards.
Does Prop Stream provide full and complete info? How is the risks of them missing some liens/ unclear title? How am I protected against any wrong info?
How often do you get updates from Ocean County NJ records?
Do you have an additional cost for your skip tracing and if you do what is the cost
Hey thank you so much for the info. How do yo feel about using comps on propstream to make offers? Are Propstreams comps legit because Zillow are it and miss.
You have to take all home valuation data with a grain of salt. Real estate values aren’t a fixed, clear cut number; they’re an estimate based on a host of factors. Use the data from Propstream as part of your due diligence, but don’t lean on it as your only source of comps or property valuation data.
Any thoughts on Propstream vs Connections Investors PIN 5? Have you reviewed PIN 5 I think they may also call it PIN Plus..
Pin 5 just launched in June, so I am sorry to say I am not familiar with it. Prop Stream has been around and constantly improving and adding features for years. Prop Stream has a free trial period so you can give it a whirl.
Connected Investors info seems to be outdated to me. The supposed vacant properties aren’t vacant and other properties were already sold meaning I was too late to the punch.
Can I buy and sell US property on PropStream if am not a USA resient?
Hi David, you can use Propstream even if you aren’t a US resident. It’s worth mentioning that Propstream is not a platform for buying and selling, it’s a platform for identifying off-market opportunities for deals.
can i get a list of fsbo or frbo in propstream?
Hi David, Propstream does give you access to properties listed on the MLS (including FSBOs), but the real value in Propstream is finding off-market deals not currently advertised as “for sale” at all. It helps you find motivated sellers (those in foreclosure, with tax liens, judgments, divorces pending, etc.).
Hi how does propstream compare to the Real estate world wide SMART app ?
Hello Jaimee, I am not too familiar with the Smart App. However, you can compare for yourself by signing up for PropStream’s free 7 day trial.
Is PropStream better than PropertyRadar?
Hi Branden, I am not familiar with Property Radar. However, Propstream provides a free 7-day trial so you can compare them.
Does PropStream provide phone numbers and if so does it scrub the DNC
Hi Paul
As far as I know PropStream does not include phone numbers.
Hi, would PropStream contain information on property in Europe or does in only work for the USA?
Hi Landry, I believe they cover the USA only.
does it market to social media
Hello Dave, As far as I know, currently that is not a feature.
PropStream itself is pretty good but the service and help center is absolutely terrible. I’ve spent 10s of thousands of dollars with PropStream and I can’t seem to get any support on questions outside of their basic how to’s.
This is just one of many examples but I’ve got over $200 worth of lists I skip traced two weeks ago but the lists aren’t showing in my account. I’ve asked support three times to look into it and add it back. Not only have they not done it, I haven’t gotten a SINGLE RESPONSE after their first one telling me where to look for lists “like I’m bran new to this and haven’t skip traced 100 lists with them before SMH.”
Thanks for the feedback about Propstream Liz!
Hi, is there any similar software for the United Kingdom you can recommend?
Unfortunately I don’t know of any software in the UK for finding distressed properties, sorry I can’t be more help!
Propstream is no longer providing Sold data nationwide. From my perspective that cuts the value of Propstream in half or at best by a third. Propstream recommends using the active and pending value in lieu of the actual sales amounts – they obviously don’t understand nor effectively used the data to justify an ARV.
In my view, the value of Propstream lies in finding distressed sellers (such as those in foreclosure or tax sale). I can find MLS data on other sites like Zillow or Realtor.com, for determining market values of properties.
The article states there is a learning curve. If you have used Propstream, how long is the learning curve? If the learning curve is beyond the 7 day free trail, then it would not be worth my time at all. Thanks.
Hi Sam, you can get the hang of Propstream’s core features within a few minutes. These include searching for homes in foreclosure, tax sale, etc. within a certain area, setting up mailings, and so on. They offer a ton of features, but each individual feature is very easy to figure out. You should have no problem figuring out the features you’re interested within a half hour.
I have had Propstream for 4 years. The one thing I’d warn you about it don’t skip trace there. Lots of Old numbers, wrong numbers, disconnected numbers. Their lists are good and the ARV is accurate about half the time.
Thanks for the personal perspective Mary!