CoStar for prospecting. $275/month broker deal.
Hi there.  I was wondering what people's opinions are about CoStar in regards to prospecting.

I have doing more commercial real estate and right now I have multiple listings and I think I will have two more coming in a few weeks.  


I was using ProspectNow for prospecting commercial clients but it is clunky and the information was very inaccurate.  I never got a person on the phone who was right when I called.  I know there is no 100% correct service for any data, but for the time invested I didn't get much.

ProspectNow is "cheap".  It cost me $120/month for 2 counties (they gave me a deal, it's normally 1 county).  I get 500 "credits" meaning each lookup costs one credit.  My state has the second most amount of counties in the country, at 159.

The thing is, I also need a place to do my listings.  My brokerage has  great Costar deal which lets me get the entire state for $275 a month.  Normally it would be $995 a month but with my brokerage we get it at a discount.  This will serve two purposes.

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1.  Prospecting, which really sold me as I'm good on the phone and like calling people.  If I can get one deal I can pay for a year of this easily. My other commercial deals I got from Vulcan which serves as a primarily residential dialer.  My state has 180,000 properties and 20,000 leases so I figure I can get something with it if I use it regularly.
2. Listings.  They said I can post as many as I need.  I'm currently using the free version of Loopnet and I know that if I want to grow I will need to give my listings even more exposure besides that and the MLS.  

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Even the "cheap" plan on Loopnet is like $100 or so a month for 3 months.  If I combine that with my ProspectNow I'm not too far off from my CoStar deal.  They said they are the second largest information gathering group behind the census bureau and I know that they have the most compared to other competitors but they are regarded as very expensive.  With this deal I decided to try it (I just hate being locked in for a year).  


Has anybody used it for prospecting?  What were their thoughts on it?  


Thanks.
[{"id": "fyin3on", "text": "If you though prospect now was bad information, well, get ready to be disappointed. \n\nCostar = loopnet, so see if you have to pay for both.", "replies": [{"id": "fyinp81", "text": "Nope.  Just CoStar.  Loopnet is optional.\n\n  \nThere's no 100% accurate information and even Prospectnow admitted you pay for what you get (to a point).  I use Vulcan for residential which is by far the most accurate, but you still get some wrong numbers.  Prospectnow claimed to be 70% or so accurate which I highly doubt.  \n\n\nInformation collection is expensive and I'm used to going through bad numbers.  It just becomes a question of money/time.  Plus I can use it for listings and the other information they have for the entire state.  Other agents agree it's a very good deal.  I just wasn't sure how prospecting was on it.\n\nThanks.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fyislct", "text": "I strictly use it for prospecting. I target 500 or so properties, so background checks through costar and call the on file contact. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't but it's the best tool I have. The mobile app allows you to look up anything, anytime anywhere. If you can afford it 10/10 recommend.", "replies": [{"id": "fyituu6", "text": "That's what I'm hearing.  CoStar is the best, but it isn't perfect.  None of them are perfect anyways though.  The price I'm getting it at $275/month for the entire state makes it a bargain compared to even the cheaper competitors.\n\n  \nPlus I get it for listings on top of that so it seems like a huge benefit.  I just hate being locked in for a year.", "replies": [{"id": "fykq3jl", "text": "Pay it, eat the cost, write it off. If you\u2019re gonna pay it in taxes anyways might as well use that money for something yourself?", "replies": [{"id": "fykqbsj", "text": "Absolutely and that makes perfect sense. Thanks!  Do you find you get listings from using it?", "replies": [{"id": "fylvwgf", "text": "I drive around neighborhoods with my costar app, look up anything I pass that looks empty/unused, pull it up on costar, screenshot it &amp; save it to research fully later. Sometimes you\u2019ll find a for rent or for sale by owner signs but costar is great also for letting you know if another broker has a property or not. I wouldn\u2019t get any of my listings without it but getting listings is 90% networking no matter what.", "replies": [{"id": "fym1z28", "text": "Gotcha. I do a lot of calling and get listings that way but I will definitely add your strategy along with it. I so drive to certain destinations depending on what I need in that area though. It helps to see what's around.\n\nThanks.", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fyit37e", "text": "costar also owns most commercial, land, and business opportunities. Each site wants at least $150 min like 6 month. If you sell it first month you return you like 5 bucks. They got the monopoly. A few appraisal companies (large) have stopped subscribing to Costar citing high cost is a reason.", "replies": [{"id": "fyitwkp", "text": "When you say each site wants $150/month, do you mean like the competitors?", "replies": [{"id": "fyiunc5", "text": "5 competing sites or overlapping want $150/mo/ website. Some is 6 month min. Commercial listing agent needs to foot the bill/", "replies": [{"id": "fyivdd8", "text": "Yes.  Even the cheaper ones have a high cost.  I'm getting $275 for mine.  Listings plus prospecting, which is why I even considered it.  I get it for the whole state vs just a certain area.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fyizwt1", "text": "CoStar is a joke. Lol", "replies": [{"id": "fyjhvmp", "text": "Are there better alternatives if you're getting CoStar at a great price? I understand some are cheaper but CoStar appears to have the most info.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fyoihh6", "text": "I use prospectnow, but do not rely on any of the contact (phone or email) information to contact propertty owners. I take the name and address of the owner/llc/lp then use lexis nexis to look up actual contact information. \n\nIt is very time consuming, but seems to work. I have access to costar, would that be a better alternative? I sell multifamily btw.", "replies": [{"id": "fypgq4a", "text": "Yes.  I find that the ProspectNow information has a lot of inaccuracies or that it's behind a corporation anyways which would require some substantial digging.  It ultimately comes down to using your time to cost ratio in your favor.\n\nCostar has the largest amount of information in general, second behind the census bureau. In my state we have 180k listings (active and inactive) and we have 20k leases.  They have multifamily too, but there are cheap alternatives that vary in quality by area.\n\nI'll be getting it for $275 a month so it's worth it for me.   What does Costar cost in your area?", "replies": [{"id": "fypx2zg", "text": "I'm not sure how much we pay, and I have only used it just a handful of times, and those times are mostly for pulling comps.  \n\nWhen you use Costar, what is your workflow like? One reason why I do like Prospectnow is because it allows me to add notes with correct contact info, create reminders, and create groups (different buyer and seller groups).", "replies": [{"id": "fyqu5v3", "text": "Ah okay.  It's great that you  have it then,  especially if the expense is so minimal that you don't think about it.\n\nWell I use Vulcan (calling dialer) along with my CRM usually.  Vulcan is how you describe, great workflow because I just pin it and type into the notes and then paste it into my CRM system when I'm done talking to the client.\n\nProspectnow had a note section but I always thought the interface was pretty clumsy tbh.  Notes were nice to have but I always used my  CRM when I got a good lead.  It was a really small space to type.\n\nWith CoStar I would likely just use Microsoft Word like I normally do with commercial and just pin it with the app in a minimized window and take notes.  When I'm finished I just paste it all to my CRM system where I prospect from there.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]