Signals tracked for RealEstateAPI
The signal classes we read for RealEstateAPI, ordered by how close each sits to the moment a software team picks or switches a property-data supplier. Every account on the Accounts tab came out of one of these classes.
How we rank a signal
Two questions decide a signal's value for a property-data seller: how close is it to a supplier decision, and can the account carry a Growth, Pro, or custom contract. A changelog that names two providers and publishes a test result is close to the decision. A job posting that mentions data engineering is far from it.
One signal is a lead. Two independent signals at the same account is a qualified window. Spectora carries a provider switch, a published test, and a support article on the affected fields; a single funding note carries nothing but itself.
Closest to the decision
The classes that leadFirst-party records in which a software company names a property-data provider, a data-dependent feature, or a purchase, with a date attached.
Published provider tests and provider switches
A changelog, support article, or release note that names the incumbent provider, the field that was tested, and the result. The account has already done the comparison; the open question is who else gets measured.
From this screenSpectora, August 19, 2026: a company-wide ATTOM or RentCast switch, with RentCast published as the closer match to Zillow on square footage.
Pre-launch property-data features
A dated release clock for comps, AVM, ownership, parcel, or nationwide-search features that have not shipped. The supplier behind the feature is either open or freshly chosen, and the founder is usually the buyer.
From this screenREsimpli: AI comps from MLS inside a from-scratch 6.0 rebuild, four weeks out as of August 12, 2026, with no supplier named.
Provider contract changes
A renewal, expiry, migration, or consolidation with a current date. Carrot's public account of switching at contract expiry is the shape this class looks for; a technographic tag or an old provider mention is not.
Capacity and platform events
Data work follows the moneyDated commitments whose downstream is data-platform work. Slower than the first tier, but owned and dollar-backed.
Funded data-platform expansions with a written vendor rule
New funding directed at engineering and data teams, joined to a published methodology for comparing outside vendors on accuracy, coverage, and update frequency. Enough for a measured comparison, not proof that one is open.
From this screenApartmentIQ: $25 million announced August 11, 2026 for engineering, data, product, and go-to-market, beside a methodology that tests vendors head-to-head.
Property-product mergers and platform integrations
Two property products entering a named integration phase. Watched for the moment a shared data layer is chosen; held until a source names the upstream decision.
From this screenPurlin Enterprises: the Purlin and Final Offer merger is integrating real estate, mortgage, and title in one platform, with no upstream property-data decision public yet.
Compliance and format deadlines
A dated rule change at a named account. Useful only when the rule creates a new data need; a format change alone is not a purchase.
From this screenReggora: the UAD 3.6 deadline changes report format, and Reggora already names three data sources, so it is held rather than published.
Forced disclosure
Dated, complete, impossible to fakeRecords a buyer publishes because it must. The strongest class when the deliverable fits an API seller, and a trap when it does not.
Public procurement for property information
An open RFP for property reports, parcel, ownership, mortgage, or valuation data with a bid date. Read the budget section and the deliverable before treating it as an account: a report portal with agency-reference requirements is a different product.
From this screenLos Angeles Housing Department: live RFP for real estate information services, held because the anticipated budget is about $125,000 over five years for a 60-seat report portal.
Forced provider migrations
A provider sunset that pushes every product still integrated on it into a supplier decision this year. The Estated documentation deprecation during 2026 is the current instance; the class produces an account only when a live public source ties a named product to the sunsetting provider.
Confirming only
Never lead with theseData engineering roles
A posting that names feeds, scraping, warehouse work, or API exposure confirms the workload and the systems. It does not originate a window and never carries rank one alone.
From this screenApartmentIQ's live data engineering role, processing data for more than 10 million units, is used to confirm the account rather than to rank it.
Category membership, funding, and headcount
Being a proptech company, raising money, or growing is not a supplier decision. These inputs size the account; they never open the window.
What each account arrives with
- Company and the specific signal that surfaced it, linked to the primary source with its date
- The evidence ledger behind the summary, with what each record does and does not prove
- Decision owner with title and a checked work email, validation method and date included
- The line to open with and the claim to avoid, so outreach never says more than the record shows
Accounts whose window has not opened are timed and held, not sent. They re-enter the moment a dated change makes them useful.
Signal classes describe categories of public record and the cadence we read them on. Per-account claims live on the Accounts tab with their sources.