The Best Lot Line App
Land Portal isn’t really a lot line app at all, it’s an investor tool. So the functionality and feature-set is much more sophisticated.
There comes in time in every land-buyer’s life when they will need a lot line app. It’ll happen to you.
Common situation: You see an amazing property online and drive out, maybe an hour or two in the car. You think you know where the property is, or you assume the seller will have made it obvious. But no. There are no markings, no landmarks, no signs, no flagging tape, no nothing. So where is the property?!
A lot line app is a smartphone app that overlays your real-time GPS location over a map of the corners and boundaries of all the different parcels nearby. That way you’ll know exactly where you are in relation to each piece of land without any reliance on in-person markings or signs.
There are many apps that do this, but the “Rolls-Royce” of the bunch is Land Portal.
Land Portal is the best because it aims much higher than other apps. It’s primarily a tool for medium- and large-scale land investors, so its functionality goes beyond mapping software. And that means a few important things for Home Base shoppers like you:
#1. It has more serious map layers. In addition to parcel layouts and satellite images (which are common), Land Portal also pulls in data that’s tougher to find, like wetlands, flood zones, road frontage measurements, and much more. The software can even generate a portfolio report to show you other properties with the same owner.
#2. It has built in “skip tracing.” This is just a fancy word for “finding a phone number.” It’s useful in many situations but here’s an example: You drive out to view a property and you’re disappointed with how it looks, however the neighboring property looks great. With integrated skip tracing you can instantly call up the owner of the great-looking property and see if they’d be willing to sell instead. Congratulations, you just found an off-market deal that nobody else knew about.
#3. You’re never going to need the higher pricing tiers. Because a Home Base buyer has simpler needs than a professional investor at scale, you’re not going to need to bother with Land Portal’s Pro or Enterprise tiers. You could maybe make the argument for the step-up Advanced tier, which includes topographic slope filters, water filters, comp reports which can estimate the fair market value of any property, and a few other nice-to-have’s. But 99% of you will be very well served by the Starter tier.
#4. All U.S. states are included automatically. Most lot line apps will charge extra if you need mapping for more than one state. It’s a huge pain if you’re located in the northeast or anywhere near a state border. With Land Portal all 50 states are included at once.
The company is currently offering free one-week trials to all new subscribers, and all of our subscribers receive $20 off their first month (Starter and Advanced tiers) when you activate your Home Base Herald account. All lot line apps are useful, but if you want the very best one then click here to start your free trial today.
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