It helps us to create a better comparable market analysis, find off-market deals (repossessed and foreclosed properties, estate sales, etc.), helps us understand the micro and macro conditions of the market in depth, find competitive insights to our advantage to negotiate when buying or selling a property and much more. These tools are very useful for both buyers and sellers.
JLR
JRL has been recently acquired by Equifax, this is a great tool to find all properties sold by realtors (Centris) and privately (for sale by owner). A lot of realtors use this tool to prepare their comparable as we can easily find:
Median prices;
Sales volume;
Bad debts;
Length of ownership of a building;
The real estate inventory of the area and socio-demographic profile;
Price per door ratio (for multi-unit dwellings);
Sales price to property assessment ratio;
Price per square foot ratio (single-family dwellings and condominiums);
The distinction between new construction and resale properties;
Market shares for mortgages, sales, prior notices, by building type, for a specific area and time period;
General real estate market performance.
In house studies
Main purpose: find the property history to do a market analysis and asses any legal risk. There are many more functions but it will be for another article.
The pros:
Friendly user interface
Easy to create all sorts of reports.
Automatic alerts for properties and areas
Export excel function
You can find off market deals such as repossessed and foreclosed properties, estate sales, etc.
One click comparable market analysis (good for a quick overview only)
The cons:
The database is limited to 1986 and up.
Pricey for non-professional use. Even though they offer a free trial, which is barely enough to do a good comparable, the cost ranges from 39$ to 109$ per month plus extra ongoing fees charged per transaction/search.
Their one-click comparable market analysis is more like a list of properties sold in the area for that specific type. They are using a radius basis function to determine the area which is a very bad thing to do for market analysis. There are a lot of adjustments to do to make it right.
Lack of details about properties sold. No pictures, no interior dimensions, no info about the conditions of the house, etc.
Some of the search requests are accessible only Monday to Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. since JRL is synched with the Le Registre Foncier Du Québec.
Overall, it is a great tool to use but it is not complete. As a professional, I won’t limit my market analysis with this tool only
Le Registre Foncier Du Québec
The history of all properties in Quebec queued from JRL database come from Le Registre Foncier Du Québec. This is the holy grail of properties database in Quebec. This is where the true hardcore knowledgeable realtor goes to find their in-depth search about properties.
Main purpose: find properties’ history to do a market analysis and asses any legal risk.
The pros:
Unlike JLR, this database can search for information about a property, way before 1986. You can get very handy intel here 😉
You can find off-market deals such as repossessed and foreclosed properties, estate sales, etc.
Free email alerts about new rules and market update.
Cheap! 1$ per search
The cons:
It is in French only
User-friendly interphase is non-existent. It is really bad.
Payment method is not efficient.
Lack of details about properties sold. No pictures, no interior dimensions, no info about the conditions of the house, etc.
The online land register of Québec can be consulted at the following times: Monday to Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
This database is the most complete database for a property. This is one of the top tools to use!
Mon Prospecteur
Even though JRL and Le Registre Foncier Du Québec can pull out the exact same information, Mon Propecteur has made it super easy. This is the ultimate tool to prospect off-market deals such as repossessed and foreclosed properties, estate sales, etc.
This website has created a power filter for Le Registre Foncier Du Québec which allows you to receive alerts about potential prospect deals.
Main purpose: find properties in financial distress not listed yet.
The pros:
Very user friendly user interface
Programable alert for potential prospects within the app
The cons:
French only interface
Don’t have email alerts. You have to connect to the site each time.
Very expensive. From 19$ for the Progresser plan up to 199$ per month for the Pro. I don’t suggest any plans besides the Pro plan. I have noticed that the cheaper plans offer fewer details and the alerts seem to be delayed compared to a Pro plan. When time is of the essence, this can make you lose a deal to another prospector since you are arriving too late. Even if you have the Pro plan, from my experience, there are a lot of people that are chasing the same prospect. Finding the deal is only 20-30% of the job. You still have to close it and this is the hardest part!
Statistics
To know the market conditions, trends and to use the data as a benchmark to make the best decision possible I use these two websites:
Main purpose: find statistics about the real estate industry.
The pros:
It is free
The cons:
Not easy to search
Something you have to extrapolate the data to get what you want
Both websites offer a different type of statistics which complement each other very well. It gives you a much better global view of the real estate market conditions. Numbers never lie!
All these websites can be used for many other purposes but I have discussed the main functions used when buying or selling. It is for you to explore their endless possibilities.
If you have different experiences or comments please share them below.
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About the Author
With my extensive background in finance, work experience and my love to share my knowhow, I have been able to make the most novice clients become a smarter and savvier buyer, seller or investor.