The 7 free public data sources every real estate investor should know
Most investors assume good data costs money. The big platforms have done an excellent job reinforcing that belief. But the truth is that every piece of data you need to find and underwrite a residential deal is already public. You just need to know where to look.
Here are seven sources we use at Scouq, along with how to access them and what each is good for.
1. County assessor records
Every county in the US maintains a public record of every parcel: owner of record, mailing address, assessed value, land use code, year built, square footage, and sales history. This is the foundation of any real estate data operation.
Access: Most counties publish data through their GIS or assessor portal. Search for "[county name] assessor parcel data download" or "[county name] GIS open data." The format varies: CSV, shapefile, or fixed-width text are most common.
What it is good for: owner lookup, absentee owner filtering (owner mailing address differs from property address), vacancy signals (PO box or out-of-state mailing address), assessed-to-market-value ratios, and building characteristics.
2. County recorder / deeds
Deed recordings are public. Every transfer of ownership, every lien, every lis pendens notice is a public document filed with the county recorder. Most counties now publish these as searchable online databases.
Access: Search "[county name] county recorder online records." Some counties use third-party services like Granicus or Tyler Technologies. A few require in-person lookup, but they are becoming rare.
What it is good for: confirming ownership, identifying recent transfers that might indicate distressed sales, finding liens and encumbrances before you make an offer, and identifying probate filings (look for grantee names like "Estate of" or "Trustee of").
3. PACER and state court records
Federal court records (PACER) include Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings, which often precede motivated seller situations. State court records include foreclosure complaints, probate filings, and eviction records.
Access: Federal records at pacer.gov ($0.10 per page, but the first $30 per quarter is free). State court access varies by state. Many states now have free public portals.
What it is good for: pre-foreclosure leads (notice of default, lis pendens), probate leads (estate sales often close below market), and bankruptcy leads where the trustee needs to liquidate real property.
4. HUD USPS vacancy data
HUD publishes quarterly estimates of vacant and for-sale housing at the census tract level, derived from USPS mail delivery data. The dataset includes counts of addresses with no mail delivery for 90 days or more.
Access: huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html. Free download, no registration required.
What it is good for: identifying neighborhoods with above-average vacancy, which correlates with off-market deal density. High vacancy in a submarket often means motivated sellers who have not yet listed. Combine with assessor data to find specific parcels.
5. FEMA flood maps
The National Flood Insurance Program publishes flood zone designations for the entire US. Knowing whether a property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (100-year floodplain) affects insurance costs, financing options, and resale value.
Access: msc.fema.gov. Free, no registration. Also accessible via the FEMA flood map service center API.
What it is good for: quick underwriting check before you invest time in a deal. Properties in Zone AE or VE carry mandatory flood insurance, which adds $1,000 to $3,000+ per year to holding costs. This is often a deal-killer that does not show up in listing descriptions.
6. Census Bureau ACS data
The American Community Survey (ACS) publishes annual estimates of population, housing tenure (own vs. rent), income, and housing characteristics at the census tract and block group level.
Access: data.census.gov. Free. The Census API is also available without a key for most endpoints.
What it is good for: market research. Before you buy in an unfamiliar submarket, look at the renter percentage (high renter concentration supports buy-and-hold), median household income trends (rising income is a rent growth signal), and vacancy rates (high vacancy may mean oversupply or demand problems).
7. BLS and QCEW employment data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes employment data at the county and metro level. The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is particularly useful: it shows employment by industry, which reveals whether a local economy is diversified or dependent on a single employer.
Access: bls.gov/cew. Free. Downloadable as CSV by state or county.
What it is good for: macro underwriting. A market heavily dependent on one employer (a military base, a university, a single manufacturer) carries concentration risk that affects long-term rent stability and resale. Diversified employment markets are generally safer for buy-and-hold. This takes five minutes to check and can save you from a bad market.
Putting it together
None of these sources is a complete picture on its own. The assessor file tells you who owns what. The recorder tells you the transaction history. PACER identifies distress. HUD/USPS flags vacancy clusters. FEMA tells you about flood risk. ACS gives you the neighborhood context. BLS gives you the economic backdrop.
Scouq ingests most of these sources automatically and surfaces the combined signal as a deal score. But even if you are not using Scouq, you can access all of this data yourself. It takes more work. But the data is free, it is authoritative, and it is the same data the big platforms built their businesses on.