Are any of you using code enforcement data for sourcing?

Question

I’ve been looking more at code enforcement and complaint data lately, mostly because the usual distressed lists feel pretty picked over.

What’s interesting to me is how often the same properties keep showing up with repeat issues or long-open cases
before they ever show up on the usual lists. Not saying every one is a deal, obviously. Some are just noise. But it does seem like there’s something there if you can sort through it.

The part I’m still trying to figure out is how useful this is compared to the usual stuff like tax delinquency, absentee ownership, pre-foreclosure, etc.

Are any of you using municipal data like code violations, complaints, vacant registrations, or permits in your sourcing? Or are most people still mainly working the standard lists?

I’m wondering whether this is something other investors are actually using, or if it’s still too messy for most people to bother with.

Kerry Noble Jr · Answer

I use code violations

Kerry Noble Jr · Answer

I do pull em manually.....

it is a hard task to track em but it can be done

Dominic Mazzarella · Answer

Yeah, that’s been my experience too. It’s definitely useful, but doing it manually gets old quick.

The hard part, I think isn’t finding one violation here and there. It’s tracking it consistently enough to notice repeat issues, long-open cases, and which properties keep showing up over time. I feel like that gives me better data to work with.

Dominic Mazzarella · Answer

Yeah, that’s been my experience too. It’s definitely useful, but doing it manually gets old quick.

The hard part, I think isn’t
 finding one violation here and there. It’s tracking it consistently 
enough to notice repeat issues, long-open cases, and which properties 
keep showing up over time. I feel like that gives me better data to work
 with.

Dominic Mazzarella · Answer

Nice. Are you pulling them manually from city/county sites, or do you have a cleaner way to track them?

That’s the part I’ve found annoying. The data can be useful, but every municipality seems to handle it differently. Some make it easy, some bury it, and some give you records that need a lot of cleanup before they’re useful.