Guides.
How the data works, written by the people who build it. Each guide explains a source, what it contains, where it is reliable and where it is not, so you can decide what to buy before you talk to anyone.
- What is in a property record?
The fields in an assessor and recorder file, where each comes from, what is reliably filled and what is not, and how the parcel key joins them.
- How automated valuation models work.
What an AVM is, what it is trained on, why accuracy varies by market, how to read a confidence score and how to run a fair test before you license one.
- ZIP code demographic data: where it comes from.
The Census, HUD crosswalks, licensed consumer data and parcel-level property files compared for ZIP-level demographics, home values and rents, with the ZIP-versus-ZCTA problem explained.
- Real estate license data, explained.
What a regulator's license roster contains, how statuses and license types differ by state, why expirations cluster, and how monthly deltas become recruiting and compliance signals.
- Short-term rental data, explained.
What short-term rental listing data contains, how occupancy and revenue are estimated from observed calendars, why aggregation across platforms matters, and how a listing is traced to a parcel and owner.
- How insurance x-dates are derived.
Why a home insurance policy renews on the purchase anniversary, how the recorded sale date becomes an x-date, what refinances and escrow do to confidence, and how to use the renewal window.
- A guide to building permit data.
What a building permit record contains, why permit data is a county-by-county patchwork, which jurisdictions name the contractor, and how permit history becomes roof age and contractor rankings.
- How to verify a phone is a live mobile.
Line type, carrier and activity checks explained, why a portability database matters, how name-on-phone matching produces strict and wide cuts, and where DNC and litigator scrubs fit.
- Point-in-time data for backtesting.
What point-in-time integrity means, how look-ahead bias creeps into property and labor panels, why snapshots beat current-state tables, and how public-record panels are built for research.