How You Can Use Real Estate Reports To Supercharge Your Business Decisions

Every decision made within your real estate company should be data-driven. However, only 25% of businesses use data to run their operations effectively.

The right real estate reports can help you make informed decisions about recruitment, coaching, and marketing investments based on a consistently clear picture of your company’s performance and agent production.

Internal data and reports can also provide necessary insight into company trends, pending commissions, and other critical aspects of your business.

Don’t repeat the mistake that 75% of businesses are currently making. Rely on real reports to inform your decisions.

In this article, we discuss where you can find reliable data to make the right decisions for your real estate business. We’ll also share how our tool can help you generate reports to supercharge your operations.

What Are Real Estate Reports?

There are two types of real estate reports you can rely on to make data-driven decisions about your business. The first is research conducted by third parties like the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

The second is custom reports that are generated by the tools and systems you use within your business.

The Latest Research and Resources

These real estate reports typically include information on the selling and buying of properties. Some types of real estate data may include:

Sale prices.
Transaction dates.
Property characteristics.
Interest rates.

Government agencies and online platforms often collect data on market trends, property location, existing home sales, mortgage rates, and transaction dates.

Other sources of reports include the National Association of REALTORS® and other trade organizations.

For example, the NAR has valuable reports on its website pertaining to:

The housing affordability index.
Pending home sales.
Existing home sales.
The outlook of the commercial real estate market.
The 2024 rental market.

These reports and resources can provide you with details about home buyers and sellers or the household income of typical real estate investors, for example.

Your multiple listing service (MLS) may also be able to provide you with some real estate data for the area in which you operate.

Analyzing real estate reports can give you detailed insight into how your business is performing compared to others, housing market trends, economic growth, and the practical steps you can take to improve your company.

There are several other ways your business can benefit from real estate data and reports:

➡️ Market analysis

Data can help you understand the current state of the market you operate in, including trends in property prices and demand. This can inform how you price properties, advise your clients, and identify opportunities for your business to outperform the competition.

➡️ Client consultation

Your clients rely on you for expert advice on selling or buying property. Using the insights provided in real estate reports, you can give your clients accurate information about market conditions, comparable sales, and property valuations.

This helps them make better decisions, and they’ll likely be more satisfied with your services if you can provide them with in-depth insight.

➡️ Competitive analysis

The market you operate in is likely to be highly competitive. You need your real estate business to stay a step ahead of the rest. You can do this by analyzing reports that pertain to competitor activity and pricing strategies. This can help you adjust your strategies to attract more clients and close deals.

➡️ Regulatory compliance

Real estate professionals carry the responsibility of adhering to numerous regulations and laws, often varying from one state to another. Accurate data and reports can help you ensure compliance with legal requirements within your business.

➡️ Marketing strategies

Effective marketing is crucial if you want to attract buyers and sellers and close more deals. You can use reports from the NAR or your MLS, for example, to identify your target market.

Data can also help you determine the most impactful marketing channels for your business to be present on and tailor your messaging to reach potential clients.

➡️ Negotiation support

Data can give you leverage when it comes to negotiations with buyers or sellers. You can use market-related data and comparable sales to justify pricing recommendations and negotiate the right terms on behalf of your clients.

Internal Custom Reports

While the data discussed above may help analyze the property market and determine how you can keep up with emerging trends, it doesn’t necessarily help you understand where your business is lacking and what you can do to improve.

The challenge with these sources of information is that they often don’t pertain directly to your business.

If you want in-depth insights into how your business is performing, you might want to consider investing in a tool that can help you extract data about your company to make informed decisions.

Transaction management software like Paperless Pipeline can provide you with custom reports where you can get insight into aspects of your business like:

How your agents are performing.
Pending home sales within your brokerage.
How many deals you’re closing.

These insights can help you make decisions about:

Where your agents may need more support or training.
When it’s time to hire more agents or administrative staff.
Your sales volume and whether you have the resources to take on more transactions.

How to Get the Right Reports for Your Real Estate Business

Investing in transaction management software like Paperless Pipeline allows you to adopt an even deeper, data-driven approach to business decisions.

Here are the two types of reports you can generate with our tool to gain insights into your real estate business:

📈 Download custom real estate transaction results

The first option on every Paperless Pipeline account dashboard is “Open Transactions”—and for good reason.

Closing real estate transactions is the key to your business’ success. This is why these property transactions should be at the heart of your process. However, you’ll find that the number of property transactions grows as you experience increasing success.

To make managing transactions simple, you can instantly filter results with seven attributes, including:

Status.
Label.
Side.
Location.
Date Range.

Additionally, you can sort your property transactions by seven different dates, including:

Close date.
Listed date.
Accepted date.
Status change date.

Once you’ve applied your desired filters, you can download the results you generated. You can also completely customize how you want these reports displayed.

For example, you can choose whether you want a report that shows only the columns of data that you see on your screen or if the downloaded report should contain all available transaction columns.

To download custom transaction reports:

Click the “Download” button on the Transactions page above the displayed results.

Select the option to either include displayed or all transaction columns.

The Advanced Search section allows you to combine search and filter criteria for all the primary transaction fields—including date fields—saving you the time it takes to exclude unneeded property transactions manually. Learn how to Build Custom Reports →

📈 Download comprehensive real estate transaction data reports

A comprehensive list of all your property transactions may be useful if you need more than a filtered view of your open transactions.

Paperless Pipeline allows admins to generate detailed transaction reports for the current year, the previous year, or the entire account. These transaction reports contain detailed information and, by default, include all data columns.

To generate a yearly report:

Click the desired spreadsheet option from the Downloads section of the menu on the left-hand side of the dashboard.

Download property transactions created in the current or previous year.

You can also click “Full Spreadsheet” to download property transactions, regardless of the year they were created.

Once downloaded, you can open your report using your preferred spreadsheet application.

From there, you can use macros, subtotals, filtering, and more to avoid repeating the same steps to customize your spreadsheets.

Want to see powerful tips and tools that will allow you to produce the exact data you need in a fraction of the time? Learn Spreadsheet Superpowers for your Pipeline Reports →

📈 Connect Paperless Pipeline to your other data tools

If you prefer using your current data processing or tracking software, you can use Paperless Pipeline to connect to Zapier and provide a consistent source of transaction reports and data.

Read our full guide on connecting Paperless Pipeline with Zapier for more information.

With Zapier, you can connect Paperless Pipeline to over 3,000 other apps. The seamless connection allows sending information from your property transactions to other apps with a simple status change.

Learn more about connecting Paperless Pipeline to your favorite apps →

Mistakes to Avoid Using External Real Estate Reports

Brokers and real estate agents can all benefit from using the latest research in their roles. However, there are some errors to avoid when relying on external data:

⚠️ Ignoring data quality

Not all the external sources of information you’re analyzing are created equal. You should carefully evaluate the quality and reliability of the data you use, especially when it comes to decision-making.

Ensure the reports you’re analyzing come from reputable sources and are up-to-date, as using inaccurate data could lead to the wrong decisions for your business and clients.

⚠️ Overlooking local market dynamics

As you already know, the real estate market can vary significantly from one area to the next. For this reason, try to avoid applying generalized trends to specific neighborhoods without considering the nuances of each locality.

Failing to consider local market dynamics can lead to inaccurate pricing recommendations and even missed opportunities.

⚠️ Neglecting client preferences

While data-driven insights are valuable, real estate professionals should also consider their client’s preferences, goals, and risk tolerances.

Not aligning data-driven recommendations with a client’s individual needs and preferences can lead to dissatisfaction, deals falling through, and even lost business opportunities.

Real Estate Pros Love Paperless Pipeline

At a recent Paperless Pipeline roundtable event, transaction coordinator Brian Owens of Successful Closings LLC explained why Paperless Pipeline is the backbone of his business.

“We work hard to have a good reputation,” explained Brian. “Our business is built on referrals, and our marketing is based on saying to agents we have a system in place; nothing is going to slip through a crack; we don’t have dropped balls.”

He says that to ensure they’re 100% on top of what’s next or what’s missing, all they have to do is glance at Pipeline and see the notes or the tasks.

Gain Deeper Insights with Transaction Management Software

The best decisions—both for your clients and your real estate business—are those driven by data.

Keeping abreast of the latest research and reports is an effective way to ensure you’re getting the right insights before making your next move.

However, external reports can be limiting and may not provide you with the in-depth information you need to run a successful real estate business.

Paperless Pipeline is the ideal tool to generate comprehensive custom reports that can help inform your business decisions.

However, reporting is just one small part of what we do. Your transaction coordinators, brokers, and agents will all benefit from how Paperless Pipeline handles property transactions. Our software ensures you’re always on track and that nothing falls between the cracks.

Visit our website today to get a free Paperless Pipeline trial and experience the rich data you can access to make informed business decisions.