How Does DealMachine Compare to Propstream?

Driving for Dollars

Driving for Dollars is a pillar of both platforms, so we started our review driving for dollars. 

We drove around the neighborhood near our office, looking to test key features, including the map functionality, the ease of use when finding, adding, and tagging properties as leads, and the amount of real estate data associated with a property. We also looked at the ease of sending mail, skip tracing, and reviewing comps. PropStream performed well on these attributes.

SIMILARITIES

To start our comparison, we went to PropStream’s Drive tab and selected “Just Drive,” the equivalent of DealMachine’s “Free Drive.” The map opened to our location, and we started driving. The route was tracked automatically; properties were highlighted when you tapped on them. A lead card appeared with the property information, and we could add the lead to our “Favorites” list, which can be sorted later.

At this point, we were able to add tags, access skip tracing, send postcards, and review comps. All this functionality is available on DealMachine with no significant differences.

PropStream’s other Drive option, “Set Filters and Drive,” is similar to DealMachine’s “Quick Filters,” where you can set filters that will bring attention to specific properties on the map. You also have the option to filter by property type, price range, bed/bath count, and more.

DIFFERENCES

PropStream has the “Opportunity” tab, which shows the estimated value of a selected property and a line graph detailing how the property’s value has performed over the previous five years. It also provided a monthly rent estimate and some mortgage information if it’s available. This is an excellent feature, particularly for Buy and Hold investors. PropStream also offers a Docs tab, where on the mobile app, you can purchase the Assessor’s Map for small fee, look at a Comparative Market Analysis, or the Property Comps. All of these are essential tools for investors.

List Builder

The next feature we tested was list-building capabilities.

SIMILARITIES  

Both apps allow you to build property lists with a set of custom parameters. Both apps allow you to filter by location, occupancy status, property characteristics, and MLS information. On both platforms, you can see a map preview of property locations to get an idea of how large of an area you’re pulling into your list.

DIFFERENCES

There are some differences in the approach to how you build your lists. PropStream functions like a database. Using the search bar, you first set the county, city, or zip parameters. Then you select other filters you want to employ, and you conduct a search. The leads appear on the right-hand side, and you can either choose to add them all or go through and select them individually. You can add these leads to lists you’ve created or make a new list each time you search.

DealMachine’s approach feels less like a search engine. Inside the Map Tab, there's a button near the bottom that allows you to quickly build a list based on your current view. By default, every property that's in view on the map would be added to the list. To narrow down and determine which properties you'd like to be visually highlighted on the map (which are the properties that would be added to your list), DealMachine offers a choice between Quick Filters (common combinations of individual filters), Property Type, Bed/Bath, and the More button containing dozens of other individual filters. You could use combinations of any of these to dial in exactly what you're looking for, and zooming in or out increases/decreases the size of the area you're targeting resulting in a bigger or smaller list, respectively.

DealMachine has more advanced mapping functionality as it relates to list building. We allow you to draw custom areas on the map to pull leads within a particular area rather than just by the city, county, or zip code level. This drawing feature adds another dimension of customization to DealMachine's List Building function.

SUMMARY

PropStream allows you to look at the individual leads that come up from your search before adding them to a list that counts toward your monthly plan limit. This same process could be implemented with DealMachine using our map. 

Both apps offer essentially the same process, but DealMachine takes the win here for the enhanced map functionality.

Lead Management

So far, we’ve covered the lead-generation tactics. What about after you’ve added your leads to your system?  DealMachine and PropStream offer the same core functions, with slight differences that may be weighed differently depending on your investing strategy.

SIMILARITIES

Both platforms have a similar feel in your leads list. The list presents itself like a CRM, with columns detailing different aspects of each lead, such as lead status, owner information, and property information. Checkboxes on the left allow you to select leads individually or in groups. On both platforms, you can choose as many leads as you want and perform actions such as sending direct mail. You can filter your lead lists by specific parameters, and both platforms allow you to take leads and move them between lists. You can also import and export lists.

DIFFERENCES

When adding leads on the desktop in PropStream, you have the choice to add them to any list you’ve created or create a new one. However, on mobile, it only allows you to add them to your “Favorites” list. This feature is available on both DealMachine platforms. 

Unsurprisingly, the same additional filters PropStream offers for their driving for dollars and list-building function can also be applied here, which is a nice thing to have when you’re looking to drill down particular aspects of your properties. DealMachine offers our same filters here as well, which again are highly comparable to what’s provided with PropStream, but you still don’t have quite the same level of specificity that can be achieved with the latter. Those filters include parameters such as liens/bankruptcy/divorce status, of which DealMachine currently only has lien data.

DealMachine offers a search bar function, which allows you to do a global search across your leads. Any keyword typed into this search bar could be applied to any field across the board, everything from Owner Name to MLS status to Property Tags. PropStream only allows you to search within individual columns; for instance, if you were searching for “Marion” in the county field, it would only pull properties with Marion as the county. If you were to do this exact search in DealMachine using the search bar, it would pull properties from that county and also search for Marion in other fields like address or owner name. This is helpful to those who may be looking to search for broader terms without knowing which column/parameter to search in. 

PropStream has a cool "Contracts" feature with their leads, where you can assign contracts to properties in bulk or individually. This nifty feature gives you access to manage contracts you need with the click of a button. You can also generate a pdf of mailing labels to send your postcards or direct mail to these properties.

In terms of bulk actions, DealMachine has more functionality. With multiple leads selected, you can change the status of leads to move them through your pipeline, assign the lead owner on your team, or add/remove tags that help you categorize your properties. These are essential features to have, as it gives you more control over sorting through important aspects of your leads that PropStream does not offer. You also can’t filter your information by your tags or statuses.

PropStream has also introduced additional analysis features into their lead cards, such as a Rehab Calculator, an ADU calculator, as well as an Analysis button in the lead card. This opens up the window pictured below, where you can fill out highly detailed lead information to get an idea of what the numbers will look like and whether or not a given property is a worthwhile investment. This is a powerful tool for seasoned investors with a mind for data. 

SUMMARY

This category is neck and neck — with the additional bulk customization features and the global search function offered by DealMachine, members have a little more control over how they structure and sort through their lead lists. PropStream, of course, has slightly more data and a function where you can add folders alongside your lists to sort your leads in their platform further. However, this doesn’t seem to outweigh the ability to move any number of leads through your sales pipeline by changing statuses or sorting deeper with pre-made or custom tags. PropStream also has advanced analysis tools that savvy investors would likely enjoy having in their arsenal.

Team Functions

Next, we investigated the ability to create and manage teams. This is an important feature to have as you scale your operation.

SIMILARITIES

Both apps allow you to add members with different designations, such as a driver versus a team member with desktop and mobile access.

DIFFERENCES

PropStream’s “My Properties” tab shows a folder detailing which properties were added by individual users, which is helpful. Within PropStream, if you go to the "More" tab and then to "Mobile Activity and Drive Log" you can see the routes driven previously within your account. This is helpful to see where you've been before, and crucial to helping you figure out where to go next.

DealMachine offers specific information on drives, categorized by session. If you go to the Drive tab, it opens the map, which shows the routes that have been driven, and these routes change color based on how long ago they were driven. The right-hand side gives you a list of the driving sessions. For each session, DealMachine shows who did the drive on what date, the total hours driven, and the total miles. If you click into the session, you can see the leads added during the drive on that day. Aside from that, DealMachine also allows you to create and customize a special landing page specifically for recruiting drivers, which you could use to send to people wanting to apply or post directly in a job description.

SUMMARY

This one is a win for DealMachine, offering a little more capability and insight when monitoring your drivers’ productivity and ensuring things are up to par with your standards as a leader and business owner.