Thoughts About CoStar?
Hey guys, we're looking to get a database that has contact information (phone, email, addresses) for commercial parcels/properties in Los Angeles &amp; Orange County. 

We have CoStar coming in this week to give us a presentation. 

1) Have you had good experiences with CoStar?

2) Do you have a database that you'd recommend that isn't CoStar?

Thank you in advance. 
[{"id": "cjpdoju", "text": "Nothing really comes close to CoStar in terms of depth/amount of information. It has many other uses as well and aggregates public data.\n\nAs a tenant rep broker, the tenant data isn't always the most reliable (by any means) but no one else does it better. They are really the giant in this space after purchasing LoopNet and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon (although some competition in this space would be nice).", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjphfmy", "text": "As a broker here are the reasons why I hate CoStar\n\n1) They don't allow you to edit your own listings - you have to call or email their \"researchers.\"\n2) They don't have a land lease category.\n3) 7/10 listings are inaccurate or completely outdated. I've found properties with 5-6 different brokers listed and none of them turn out to be the ones with their signs outside.\n4) You can only log in from one computer.\n5) They expect you to give them all the data about your deals but then try to sell it back to you.\n7) Most importantly they refuse to honor the contract we signed 5 years ago before they gobbled up LoopNet.\n\nSome good things about Costar:\n\n1) Because the listings seem to never be updated you can find some opportunities that may be 7 years old and would have been ancient history on Loopnet or your local MLS. Even though everything might be inaccurate on the listing you still get some information on the property and can sometimes snag a good lead.\n\n2) Shopping Center search option is great for tenant rep for retail clients\n\n3) After reading your post a second time it's probably fine for your purposes (definitely still going to be some outdated info.) It's handy to have easy access to the owners contact info when the \"listing brokers\" aren't returning your calls or haven't had anything to do with the property in years.\n\n\nSo yeah, nothing's perfect but they're really your only option unless there's some company that does what you need locally in your market.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjphntl", "text": "CoStar is prob the best but very pricey, depending on your office... You could try Xceligent. My brokerage adopted Xcel as soon as they went live, there were too many kinks so we dropped them, but I feel they have probably worked a great portion of them out. Give either a call, they will come give you a demo for free. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjpoheo", "text": "I use costar almost daily in Arizona and I can say that its 50/50 in terms of accurate information.  If its inaccurate you can have a researcher find out the real info, maybe.  Sometimes google is your best friend, or even a letter.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjq94sh", "text": "I used to work for CoStar as an account rep...when they come in to give you the presentation, ask to see the data they have in your specific city/region of interest or at least a sampling of it. As another person has said, if and when you sign up with them you can contact the researchers and get on them to fill in any gaps or bad info. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjubder", "text": "For my business, its critical.  There are a lot of reasons I get frustrated with it (price, a little frustrating customer service, data reliability, etc), but its net positive. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjuq0xv", "text": "I know you're not asking about apartments, but for multifamily I'm actually pretty happy with Axiometrics.  Office/retail/industrial, though, CoStar is unfortunately the \"better of evils.\"  Btw, I'm not sure if anybody has mentioend this, but the purpose of CoStar is not necessarily contact information ... it's best utilized for trends/indicators when aggregating a large swath/market", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjwtip5", "text": "It really depends on the market how good the data is.  And you have no way of knowing until you have it in place for a while. If you can talk to other brokerages in the area, you might be able to get a better idea. \n\nOnly alternative now is Xceligent which has coverage in LA.  Again, would have to ask around about how good the data is.\n\nCould also check out ProspectNow if you just want basic building and contact information.\n\nBut there are alternatives to both CoStar and Xceligent in the works since there's a lot of dissatisfaction with both services.  I know of a few that will be rolling out later this year.  So I'd suggest if you do get either, don't get a long-term contract (and check the contracts as CoStar can really lock you in!).\n\nFor comps, you might want to check out CompStak, a \"crowd sourcing\" site. Kind of controversial for some, but lots of agents like it/use it in the markets they cover.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ck0l9j6", "text": "Ppr, an offshoot of costar is also pretty good, but it is more for submarket trends and quick comps and not as intense as costar.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]