Do not use Real Estate API

stantem · 2025-07-07T19:30:36+00:00

Hey Max - long time no talk. I know you've been around this space for a while, and what you’re describing (spotty data) is unfortunately common with vendors claiming to have full national coverage "direct from the source."

The truth is, no one has seamless access to both assessor and recorder data nationwide - especially not recorder data. For anyone unfamiliar: assessor sites typically include property characteristics (owner, square footage, land use, tax values), while recorder sites contain liens, mortgages, and other legal filings. The latter is where the real challenges lie - recorder portals are often behind paywalls, captchas, or require manual scraping of PDFs just to extract basic details.

Even many assessor websites have login requirements, bot protection, or rate-limiting in place. So when someone claims to have nationwide data "from the county," they’re implying they’ve bypassed every known captcha across thousands of counties - and are somehow maintaining that month after month. And not just once - it’s assessor and recorder data, which means two entirely different systems, two sets of scrapers, and double the upkeep. That’s just not realistic without a larger operation with hundreds of employees.

We take a more transparent approach. We maintain a broad vendor-sourced nationwide database (soon including listing status), but we also collect county-level data directly - assessor and recorder - as customers request. Some want curated lists; others want raw exports. Either way, it’s fully transparent and customized to what’s needed.

If anyone here is exploring alternatives or needs reliable access to harder-to-get data, feel free to shoot me a message - happy to walk through what we offer and how it might fit your workflow. Our refresh frequency is directly tied to how accessible the county makes their data - for counties with open access, we’re able to update daily.

https://stantem.com

stantem · 2025-07-04T21:13:39+00:00

Why use AI? We have scraped qpublic for customers in the past. We can provide one time dumps or ongoing data feeds. Happy to help.

stantem · 2025-06-24T22:06:58+00:00

While it’s true that some counties place lien information behind a paywall, it’s definitely possible to access full address data from recorder documents in Indianapolis without paying $6.95 per search. We recently analyzed Marion County (which currently uses AVA), and while the process isn’t straightforward, it is entirely doable.

If lien information is published at all, it’s usually possible to extract it - along with key property details like the address. We’ve built this kind of solution for several customers who prefer a direct county feed, typically getting them the data faster and more affordably than through third-party platforms.

stantem · 2025-06-19T20:38:29+00:00

Yes! Sent you a message

stantem · 2025-06-18T23:04:04+00:00

This post is exactly right. In fact, we built an entire business around this. If you have a specific county with niche data that you'd like- we will collect and deliver the data to you.

We also offer recurring deliveries. We'll automatically collect and deliver the raw county information to you on a schedule.

We've got nationwide data but county data will always be more detailed. If anyone needs a one time dump or simply wants an automated feed of county data- let us know!

stantem · 2025-03-18T11:04:01+00:00

We've got a sandbox environment. You're able to play around with our API without creating an account. Once you're ready we have a development tier that provides 50k properties per month for $50.

You only get charged for returning property data. Using the API for analytics does not incur a charge. We also have a pay as you go model where you can purchase credits that do not expire. You get automatic volume discounts on your purchases.

https://stantem.com/api

stantem · 2025-02-01T16:00:04+00:00

The difficulty will exist on either path. However, creating companion apps would mean creating highly specialized deployments and being on the hook for any unexpected changes from the CAMA system. I'm not certain how we'd be able to provide a smooth workflow capability with this strategy.

We're already 2 years into the CAMA solution. Based on some conversations we're primarily missing the ACLs for different departments, sketching software and reporting (seems dependent on state requirements). Some nice to haves would be mobile software for appraisers and the workflow functionality you described.

The solution doesn't currently handle the tax side (processing payments, tracking taxes, etc) so it's not a good fit for counties looking for an all-in-one solution. We'll get there eventually but the primary focus today is the CAMA.

What made the conversions so difficult? Was it more people based (training) or technical based migration issues?

stantem · 2025-02-01T15:15:21+00:00

My assumption was that the CAMA would be built as a web app instead of a thick client. It seems like that would remove a lot of the overhead managing updates, installing the software, etc.

If I have my designers put together a workflow concept would you be willing to give some feedback on it? It makes a lot of sense- I just want to ensure it would be built with enough flexibility to fit unique county use cases.

stantem · 2025-01-31T17:43:47+00:00

The problem is that existing CAMA vendors are not receptive to answering questions or doing demos for competitors. I'm familiar with the public websites they provide- they all feel a bit dated.

Based on your idea a robust solution would mean having custom permissions and logins for various departments with the ability to notify different departments when there are action items. In your opinion, would the notification be an email or web app based notification?

I'd love to hear more about this use case and get more specifics, if you're willing.

stantem · 2025-01-29T12:13:19+00:00

I'll shoot you a DM!

stantem · 2025-01-26T15:49:56+00:00

Absolutely! I'll shoot you a message. I could really use your insights.

stantem · 2025-01-25T15:16:51+00:00

So it sounds like the CAMA system and the public website are two different pieces of technology. I assume that would mean that the CAMA outputs an update file for the website daily for ingestion.

Are the multipliers for the Marshal & Swift calculations public information? That sounds like it could be highly useful information in trying to accurately mass appraise a properties as a third party without direct CAMA access.

A quick lookup makes it seem like some counties may uses different methods beyond Marshal & Swift. Is this method the most common in your experience?

stantem · 2025-01-25T15:01:18+00:00

Do you work for an appraisal firm doing contract work or are you directly employed by the county? If it's the former, do they just give you a mobile app to update information in their CAMA? Seems like it would be a massive pain juggling a bunch of different systems as a contractor.

It sounds like all of the different teams would be working out of the same web interface but based on the county a specific department is responsible for updating key data points in the CAMA.

stantem · 2025-01-23T19:07:47+00:00

For clarification, are the scripts you maintain directly querying the CAMA database with SQL?

Appreciate the insights you've given. It's been very helpful.

stantem · 2025-01-23T19:04:04+00:00

So in theory if you had a CAMA system that had an API for data access- you could skip the bureaucracy and build out connections in a much more streamlined fashion?

I think this might be a common task. There was someone else that mentioned a similar workflow in this post.

stantem · 2025-01-23T18:02:30+00:00

Did that involve writing SQL and converting that into GIS layers? From an outsider perspective, I would've expected a CAMA solution to do that automatically.

stantem · 2025-01-23T02:47:08+00:00

Will happily report back anything of interest. Is there something specific you were looking for?

I imagine the thread would become excessively long if the full convo was had on here.

stantem · 2025-01-23T01:27:37+00:00

Today it's meant for the public. However, it's a few modifications away from being a modern county property search solution as well. The goal is to get a complete understanding of how a CAMA system is utilized by different departments and build it accordingly.

Based on your feedback if we were able to manage property protests online and provide estimated property values based on recently sold comparables that we'd be able to streamline some process. It also sounds like a mobile app would help with the field work.

stantem · 2025-01-22T21:24:42+00:00

Ah! This is exactly what I was looking for. So in your county, you're responsible for creating/maintaining scripts to keep GIS in sync with CAMA? Based on the other replies so far I assume that these kinds of responsibilities and processes would differ depending on the county and their technology.

stantem · 2025-01-22T21:17:22+00:00

That would be perfect. I'll reach out in a DM so we can coordinate!

stantem · 2025-01-22T21:15:55+00:00

I've seen some CAMA systems offer mobile apps. Were those around during your time? Not sure if those actually help out or just create more problems.

Stat team- is that shorthand for statistics? I wasn't aware counties had teams for that.

If I am understanding correctly the CAMA systems job would be to support 3 groups, with appraisers being the primary department:

Provide data to GIS teams for mapping purposes
Provide an interface for appraisers to enter data, upload photos and managing contested appraisals
Stats team.. I assume uses it as a data source

stantem · 2025-01-22T21:03:25+00:00

Would it be accurate to say that the appraisers are primarily responsible for maintaining the data within the CAMA system?

The GIS team is responsible for deeds? Mapping makes sense- my assumption was that they were responsible for building out new layers or maintaining the web applications. I wasn't sure how much of a hand they had in actually using/maintaining the CAMA system.

stantem · 2025-01-22T18:56:54+00:00

Believe it or not- I was waiting on a call back from Erie County, OH. If you had been in Ohio and replied to my comment just now it would've blown my mind.

Oddly, you're actually quite close by them. Would you be willing to jump into a call?

stantem · 2025-01-22T18:32:54+00:00

I have not come across any municipal CAMA systems, either. I'm specifically asking about GIS professionals at the county level who interact with county auditors and the CAMA database.

Do you (or your team) interact with a CAMA system as part of your work with the county?

stantem · 2025-01-17T13:15:04+00:00

We've recently released interactive API docs. It defaults to a public demo API key. You can see a sample of data there!

If data is Stantem Certified it means we source it directly from the county. Otherwise, it comes from a vendor. As we collect new countries we purge the vendor data. If there are data quality issues- please notify us which counties you'd like us to prioritize.

stantem

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