Prospect Now or Reonomy?

Question

I am looking to invest in either Prospect Now or Reonomy to start looking for Multifamily deals. I would like to invest in Costar but I am not ready to make that investment yet starting off.  I was wondering if anyone has had any experience in these websites and could give me a little advice on which service would be a better investment?

Aaron Daniel · Answer

You can use the same model to underwrite both Multifamily and Retail. But the difference is that Multifamily is going off of the rents and retail is based on rents per square foot. It is very important to have actual financials to be able to underwrite commercial properties. If I dont have financials, Multifamily is easier to underwrite based off of assumptions than retail because I don't always know how big a retail space is by looking at the property and how much the owner is renting a space for if they don't tell me this information.

Cooper Rosario · Answer

I appreciate you circling back on the thread even years later. How has underwriting both multi and retail opportunities been? I am always curious, do you use the same repeatable model or are you always tweaking? And when it comes to retail, do you have a typical scenario you look for i.e. vacant space to lease up or something else? Thanks in advance -

Aaron Daniel · Answer

My reply was years late. But since I posted that question, I have been using reonomy and costar for at least a couple years now. I currently deal with multifamily 10-100 units and retail plazas usually. But your advice is good.

Bo Smith · Answer

Before you commit to either, honestly I'd start with free resources first. LoopNet for listings, then cross-reference with your county assessor website to get owner contact info - most properties over 5 units are there. Reonomy's good but expensive for beginners, Prospect Now has cheaper entry but limited data depth. What size multifamily are you targeting - 2-4 units or bigger commercial stuff?

Aaron Daniel · Answer

I started using Reonomy when I got into commercial and I would say that its probably the best platform for the most accurate owner information. CoStar and Reonomy are a must for commercial.

Crystal Caruthers · Answer

I'm curious about this, too.  I did trials with both, and they both seem to have good features, but I would love to hear from someone who has actually used them both.