Hello! I'm thinking about taking on a new market for land, but I am spoiled by my current state's easy-to-use GIS that displays tons of information quickly for all counties on one system. What states do you know that have a great GIS? Or if you know of a state that has a notoriously difficult-to-use GIS that would be helpful, too. Thanks!
It's definitely a luxury to have a good GIS system provided by the state/county, but services like DataTree and Parlay can also help A LOT in terms of providing one platform that looks and acts consistently in all the areas where the data is available. Granted, if the GIS data doesn't exist or isn't connected with these systems, then you'll be sort of stuck... but usually you'll find it's available if you're signed up for a paid subscription service like this.
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@freesiapropco Hi! I've done deals in FL, VA, and NC and never coma across a universal, state-wide GIS. You really are spoiled. For the most part, I've found that systems can vary greatly from county to county with a slight correlation between quality of system and how developed the county is. So more rural counties tend to have crappy systems and vice versa. That being said, it can pay off to spend some time figuring out how to navigate a system that seems difficult at first, because a lot of other investors will see it as a hassle and skip the county all together, giving you a better opportunity to find profitable deals there. The only time I'll skip it completely is when the system is outright unusable (missing tons of info, overly inaccurate, and just not updated). These types of counties usually tend to be very rural, which isn't something I'm interested in anyway since I've run into trouble trying to sell in those types of counties. Hope that helps!
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@tjcooley Agreed, I'm spoiled! That's why I'm having a hard time making a move to another place. I tried another state once and PULLED MY HAIR out with their GIS. Went back to state #1 after that, cause it was less labor intensive to get a mailer out and do due diligence. But there are a lot of land flippers in this state I'm currently in, probably cause of its fabulous land and easy GIS system, so... Thank you for your insights!
I am a GIS professional in my day job. In general there is a correlation bt "big gov." and good GIS systems which also tends to correlate with population i.e. big cities or counties have >>> GIS capability than more rural areas. Nationwide both trends tend to correlate with the coastal vs. inland/flyover states i.e out east and in CA there's better GIS than the rural west.
That said, most counties have SOMETHING these days vs. 10-12 yrs ago when I started in GIS. The most frustrating IMO is non disclosure counties where they will not share ANY landowner or sales information publicly. These could also be more lucrative if you can crack the code though!
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I think this is actually more of a county issue than a state issue. Even within the same state, you'll find that some counties have a great GIS system and other counties have a horrible (or non-existent) one available for the public to use.
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