Costar vs Reonomy vs Crexi vs Others

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Costar vs Reonomy vs Crexi vs Others

Samuel S.
Rental Property Investor · Metro Detroit · Member since 2015 · 83 posts · 17 votes

Hey BP folks,

I am looking at getting a commercial real estate subscription so that I can start researching multifamily/ industrial myself and go direct to seller.

Was hoping to find out who the best company is to go through.  It seems that the general consensus is Costar, but have heard there are others like Reonomy, Crexi, CPIX, etc.

I would essentially be trying to locate properties that are currently on the market, old listings, and properties that may have never been listed, but show the owners information. 

Any insight or pros and cons of each would be greatly appreciated!!  For what its worth, I am located in the metro Detroit market.

Thanks!

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Brian Adams
Syndicator of Large Apartment Buildings · Glen Mills, PA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
3y

@Samuel S. I used Yardi Matrix to buy a 1,000 unit apartment complex. Yardi, I don't think, has a section for assets currently listed for sale, but I could be wrong.

As @E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker mentioned, you should have the sales rep give you a demo. Each software will have pros and cons and your budget will be a factor.

Before the demo, I would suggest you have a list of things you want to extract from the platform to help you go direct to the seller.

Here was my list when evaluating Yardi vs. CoStar. Several years ago, CoStar didn't have the best data for debt, so I went with Yardi.

  • Name of owner
  • Address of the property
  • Address of the owner
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Number of units
  • Last sale date
  • Amount of sale
  • When debt is coming due
  • How long owned
  • Self-managed
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  • E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker
    Rental Property Investor · Coral Gables, FL · Member since 2016 · 199 posts · 266 votes
    3y

    @Samuel S., you're asking a question similar to what kind of car should I buy, or what kind of dog should we get?  It's a matter of personal preference and you likely won't know that until you use the database.

    But, you are correct, there are many services out there.  CoStar is the most widely used and has the most mature set of reports, but it is also a bit controversial with their business practices.  I'd suggest asking several of the services for a demo of their systems to get a better idea of what you like.  And prepare a list of questions about the specific information you'd like to get out of the system.

    Having said all of that, a few more systems to check out or ask about include Axiometrics/RealPage, Propstream, ProspectNow (for owner data), Moody's/REIS, and others.  Another newer service is RockVal.  I have no relationship to any of these products and would urge you to look into these and others to see what fits your needs. 

    1Reply
  • Brian Adams
    Syndicator of Large Apartment Buildings · Glen Mills, PA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y

    @Samuel S. I used Yardi Matrix to buy a 1,000 unit apartment complex. Yardi, I don't think, has a section for assets currently listed for sale, but I could be wrong.

    As @E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker mentioned, you should have the sales rep give you a demo. Each software will have pros and cons and your budget will be a factor.

    Before the demo, I would suggest you have a list of things you want to extract from the platform to help you go direct to the seller.

    Here was my list when evaluating Yardi vs. CoStar. Several years ago, CoStar didn't have the best data for debt, so I went with Yardi.

    • Name of owner
    • Address of the property
    • Address of the owner
    • Phone number
    • Email address
    • Number of units
    • Last sale date
    • Amount of sale
    • When debt is coming due
    • How long owned
    • Self-managed
    7Reply
  • Samuel S.
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Metro Detroit · Member since 2015 · 83 posts · 17 votes
    3y

    @E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker @Brian Adams

     Thanks a ton for your responses!

    Everything you guys mentioned makes send, but I guess I am still very confused:

    My wife is currently a residential agent who has access to the MLS. One the MLS, it shows current listings, pending/expired/withdrawn listings, and allows for you to zoom in on a map and click a parcel to see who owns it.

    I was under the assumption that this was how the commercial systems worked as well.  I understand that each of the above mentioned systems have a different way to view/ analyze the data, however don't they all have the exact same data? I.e if an owner owns an apartment complex, that apartment complex and the owners information should show up on each system, no?

    For instance - I currently invest in 1 county.  First and foremost, I would like to run a report to see every single apartment complex, and every single industrial building within that county.  And also be able to pull the owners contact information so I can send direct mail. Secondly, I would like to see what is currently listed for sale and what has been listed for sale in years prior (withdrawn/ expired listings etc)?

    Based on this, and cost aside, would there be a recommendation for which database/ system would work the best?

    1Reply
  • E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker
    Rental Property Investor · Coral Gables, FL · Member since 2016 · 199 posts · 266 votes
    3y

    @Samuel S., to my knowledge, there is no national commercial MLS. Some of the mentioned databases have all of the public information from county assessors, but sales data is different. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

    0Reply
  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    3y

    @Samuel S. Don't think what you are looking for exists:(

    Commercial market is somewhat in the "dark ages" when it comes to sharing data. Think of the residential market before computers! 

    Most of the online commerical listings are ones the broker couldn't find a buyer for on their own, or via agents in their office, so they list in the hope someone buys.

    With commerical propertes you have three choices:

    1) Network with brokers to get on their lists, so they call you when they have something.

    2) Go direct to owners and compete with brokers. You can try direct mail or network with owners - many know each other.

    3) 

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  • Samuel S.
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Metro Detroit · Member since 2015 · 83 posts · 17 votes
    3y

    @Drew Sygit Appreciate the advice! I am shocked that commercial is that far behind residential. 

    I suppose my next question would then be what is the value for having a subscription to any of the above mentioned databases?  Would they essentially be the same as loopnet? Which database would be best for seeing property ownership?  And in all reality, what actually distinguishes one database from another?  I.e Costar vs Reonomy?

    0Reply
  • E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker
    Rental Property Investor · Coral Gables, FL · Member since 2016 · 199 posts · 266 votes
    3y

    That's the conundrum of your question.  There is no right answer except whatever is your preference and is why you need to get demos to see how they work.  Loopnet is definitely not what you are looking for.  Loopnet has mostly properties that haven't sold elsewhere and have been on the market a while.  I don't use it, but I've heard ProspectNow is very good for property ownership.  The problem with property ownership data is most commercial properties are owned by entities which can have names affiliated which are not the true owners.  Some databases do a better job of detective work in tracking down the true owners.  Part of the decision is what kind of reports do they have, how friendly and easy to use is the user interface, and, especially, how many and which databases does the service interface with and how well do they integrate the data from the various sources?  Again, it is a personal preference.

    1Reply
  • Max Rodriguez
    Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    3y

    @Samuel S. I'm with the Crexi Data & Intelligence Team.  Our Intelligence tool checks all the boxes of what you're looking for and then some.  If you would like, I can walk you through some of the features to see if it fits what you're looking for.  Let me know and we can connect.

    0Reply
  • Mohammed Rahman
    Real Estate Broker · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y

    Hey @Samuel S. - so I haven't used any of the companies you mentioned but have actually interviewed at Reonomy before and did a ton of research on them. 

    Like most data aggregators, all these companies can only give you the information that's already publicly available (they save you the time and headache of looking through county records manually). As far as I remember, the biggest complaint that kept bubbling up when I first started researching these companies was that customers would hope they would get more information than just the LLC name of the building owner.

    PropStream is another data aggregator that can also build lists and skip trace, it's the one I use. 

    0Reply
    • Casey Krueger
      Member since 2026 · 1 post · 0 votes
      1mo

      I totally get your frustration, Mohammed. Many brokers find that just having the LLC name doesn't give enough insight into the owner's intentions or background. A few brokers I know have had success by networking within local real estate groups or using public records to dig deeper.

      0Reply
  • Aamir V.
    Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2018 · 25 posts · 5 votes
    3y

    It's good that you are being specific about what you are - that's the issue I see with most online discussions and Google searches. You said you're looking for:

    * multifamily/industrial

    * current listings

    * old listings (do you mean sold?)

    * off-market

    * owners' information

    Based on this, I'd say you have a few good options.

    First, you have to play with LoopNet - it's easily the biggest.

    BUT, The CoStar Group is sneaky, and the way they work with brokers means that you will find MORE listings on CoStar.com. Also, you'll see more of the sold listings there. You only get "recently sold" on LoopNet, and the search is mediocre.

    The first competitor to consider is Crexi - it's basically LoopNet but smaller. You may as well check it out and use it similarly.

    So Reonomy is different. Its focus is on the data for all properties first, then on current listings. So it'll have the information you're looking for and valuable data to help you with diligence, including owner information. If you want to pay the fee, it may help you in your search. And it's more likely to help you with the off-market deal search as a result.

    1Reply
  • Max Rodriguez
    Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    3y

    @Aamir V. Just for the sake of accuracy in this forum, I wanted to comment that actually Crexi is now the largest CRE marketplace in the country. The data and intelligence tool is also quite robust in providing comps, market analysis, demographics, parcel and owner information, etc.

    0Reply
  • Juan Perez
    Member since 2021 · 1 post · 2 votes
    3y

    In my experience, most syndicators and commercial real estate investors do not have a commercial real estate subscription. Instead, they source their deals either from brokers (who have these subscriptions) or by using direct marketing. 

    To get deals from brokers, we apply the 80-20 rule: 20% of brokers have 80% of the good deals. Depending on your asset class, these are typically the brokers at big firms such as CBRE, JLL, Newmark, etc. These brokers will only send you deals if they like you and trust that you can close. If you're just starting, then partner up with an experienced operator so you can leverage their experience and build trust with brokers. 

    Direct marketing refers to reaching out directly to owners. How we typically do that is by sourcing a list of properties that has the owner's name and contact information, and then calling or mailing the owners. You can get these lists from someone with a CoStar subscription or from price-conscious sites like listsource.com. 

    If you haven't done so already, I suggest you get educated and mentored before committing to an expensive subscription that you may not end up using. There's lots of free educational content to help you get started. I like anything Rod Khleif, Joe Fairless, and Michael Blank put out.

    2Reply
  • Chris Russell
    Rental Property Investor · Gainesville, FL · Member since 2019 · 17 posts · 7 votes
    3y

    It sounds like you are trying to get data, what I would recommend first before going out and spending money on these high-priced data-based services is going to your market's County Appraiser site and filtering for what you're looking for. I know in my market I found all of the MultiFamily assets from 5 units through 100+ and the owners of them. From there go to opencorporates.com because most likely the assets will be in an LLC. From there you can find the agent's name and search for their contact info! Hope this helps

    3Reply
  • Matt Yarrington
    Investor · Outer Banks OBX · Member since 2020 · 26 posts · 12 votes
    3y

    Shout out to Juan Perez for the most helpful post in this chain.  Bringing it back down to 'just do the work' was the way to go.  Cultivating broker relationships with the 20% is gold.  

    0Reply
  • Manuel Angeles
    Lender · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 278 posts · 78 votes
    3y

    Both Reonomy and Costar have the ability to

    • Pull lists of Recent Sales to find buyers
    • Pull lists of properties with loans coming due

    I am using Reonomy to:

    • Find lists of property owners "likely to sell"

    I am using Costar to:

    • Obtain city market reports (based on Sales, Economy, Supply & Demand Trends, Vacancy & Rent, Deliveries & Properties Under Construction)
    • Run property valuations with for sale comps and lease comps
    • Search properties with +15% vacancy and 1-2 star ratings
    • Pull withdrawn and expired Costar listings

    I think Costar has more accurate data of ownership and contact information

    4Reply
  • Nate Marshall
    Real Estate Consultant · Evergreen, CO · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 736 votes
    3y

    Use an AI bot with Propwire and Privy and you're good to go. On and Off Market. I'm about to add my 1,341 lenders and 8,000 plus fund contacts to it so my people can generate interest from those who can fund the deals. 

    0Reply
  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    3y

    Costar without question. But subscription is $$$$.  Typically only makes sense for an agent or syndicator to have a subscription due to the cost.

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  • Jeff CopelandBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Tampa Bay/St Petersburg, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Samuel S.:

    I would like to run a report to see every single apartment complex, and every single industrial building within that county.  And also be able to pull the owners contact information so I can send direct mail. 

    This information is generally available for free, online from the County property appraiser / tax assessor's office. 

    In a few rare cases you might have to visit in person and pay for a list, but most have it online now. 

    Here is an example from Pinellas County Florida (click on downloads/reports/maps in the lefthand column - you can even download them as preformatted Avery address labels!) - Just find the equivalent for the county you are interested in. 

    It can take a little effort to learn how to manipulate the data, but for many it beats paying $2000/mo for Costar!

    (The actual cost varies, but it ain't cheap!)
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