Public records scraper for building permits and property documents
Built for multifamily developers researching property permits.
“We are looking for a public-records research assistant to locate official permit records and plan documents for multifamily properties.…”
The receipts — real demand
“We are looking for a public-records research assistant to locate official permit records and plan documents for multifamily properties.”
Full dossier
Unlock the full dossier — free
Every corroborating quote, the source receipts, and the community echo. One email, no payment.
Why this is a gap
Surfaced from a high-intensity complaint with clear willingness to pay and a specific, reachable audience.
The market
Multifamily developers researching property permits need permit and property document data. Zero monthly searches indicate this is a direct-sales niche, not organic search demand.
Competition & the opening
Shovels.ai, BuildChek, PermitFlow, and general platforms (Apify, Outscraper, Scrapfly) already scrape public building permits and property records. Competition is 8/10; the gap is unclear because existing tools already serve this workflow—differentiation likely requires vertical focus (e.g., speed, specific county coverage, document parsing) or API reliability.
What's hard to build
Public records are fragmented across hundreds of county and municipal websites with different schemas, access restrictions, and anti-scraping rules. Many jurisdictions require manual lookup or paid subscriptions; consistent, legal scraping at scale demands regional partnerships or expensive licensing. Feasibility is 5/10 due to legal and infrastructure complexity.
Why now
Shovels and BuildChek are well-funded but costly ($200+/mo); public records are fragmented by jurisdiction; developers and small RE teams need affordable, transparent scraping for permits and plans.
How you'd monetize
$49–$149/mo for 100–1000 permit records/month + jurisdiction coverage selector;