01.19.2026 PropStream
Disclaimer: PropStream does not offer legal advice. This article is for informational purposes only. Do your own research and/or consult a legal professional before driving for dollars.
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Key Takeaways:
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The fundamentals of driving for dollars haven’t changed in decades: spot a distressed property, find the owner, and make an offer. However, real estate data software can streamline the research process, making this time-tested prospecting strategy even more effective.
What Is Driving for Dollars?
Driving for dollars is an off-market real estate prospecting strategy. It involves driving around neighborhoods to search for distressed, neglected, or vacant properties—all signs of potential selling motivation. By identifying such properties early, you can reach out to the owner with a purchase offer before they list the property on the open market.
That said, driving for dollars is no longer just about what you can visually observe. Today, you can combine your visual observations with real-time location, market, and ownership data, all accessible from your smartphone via PropStream’s mobile app.
Why Driving for Dollars Still Works in Today’s Market
Despite how long it’s been around, driving for dollars remains an effective way to find off-market deals. After all, once a property is listed on the MLS, you’re competing with many more buyers. This then puts upward pressure on the purchase price, sometimes even leading to bidding wars.
However, if you approach homeowners with a compelling offer early (e.g., a cash purchase or fast closing), they may bypass the listing process altogether, giving you a competitive edge. And when home affordability is tight, you may need all the competitive advantage you can get.
Who Should Use Driving for Dollars Today
Driving for dollars can be a great prospecting strategy for all kinds of real estate professionals.
For example, wholesalers can use it to find off-market deals early, buy-and-hold investors can use it to acquire local rentals, and real estate agents can use it to win listing opportunities. If your goal is to find off-market deals, driving for dollars is a tried-and-true method.
How PropStream’s Mobile App Enhances Driving for Dollars
Now that you understand the benefits of driving for dollars, here’s how to take it to the next level with PropStream’s mobile app:
Finding Properties While You Drive
Hit the “drive” button in the bottom menu of the PropStream app. This will give you two options: “Set Filters and Drive” and “Just Drive.” Both allow you to log driving for dollar routes.
In “Just Drive” mode, you make your own route and save properties of interest along the way. In “Set Filters and Drive” mode, you first apply a search radius and property filters and then drive to properties that meet your search criteria.
Applying Filters Beyond Visual Clues
You can apply the same property search filters on the PropStream mobile app as you can on the desktop version. Among others, these include:
- Occupancy (vacant, non-owner occupied)
- Property characteristics (type, size, year built, HOA/COA)
- Ownership details (years owned, owner location, transfers)
- MLS status (on/off market, days on market)
- Pre-foreclosure and bank-owned indicators
- Liens, bankruptcy, divorce, and tax delinquency
- Valuation, equity, and mortgage data
By defining your ideal lead profile up front, you can optimize your driving routes and validate visual signs of distress with actual data.
PropStream has over 165 search filters and 20 pre-built "Lead Lists" (like vacant properties, pre-foreclosures, or failed listings.
Evaluating Properties in Real Time
Imagine you’re driving for dollars and come across a property with signs of distress, such as overgrown grass or boarded-up windows.
Instead of going to the county record office to learn more about the property and its owner, you can tap on the property in the PropStream mobile app map view. This gives you access to details on the property’s ownership, sales history, condition, and more. You can even get its estimated value based on comparable properties nearby (aka “comps”).
By having all this information in the palm of your hand, you can decide faster whether a lead is worth saving, boosting your overall productivity.
Saving, Organizing, and Acting on Leads Faster
Here’s what a typical workflow looks like when you come across potential off-market opportunities while driving for dollars with PropStream:
First, you save properties of interest to your drive route. You can do this as you go or before you start driving, depending on whether you choose the “Just Drive” or “Set Filters and Drive” mode.
You’ll also have the option to record your driving activity. At the bottom of the app, you’ll see a blue status bar highlighting the duration and distance of the drive. Once the drive is over, tap the “End” button to stop the drive and name the recording so it can be saved to your drive log. All of your recorded drives will be available on the “More” page for you to revisit later.
From there, you can analyze past drives to finalize lead lists, skip trace owner contact information, and launch postcard and email marketing campaigns—all within PropStream.
Why PropStream Makes Driving for Dollars More Effective
PropStream makes driving for dollars more effective by combining mobility, data, and action.
For one, you can weed out non-opportunities faster by only driving to properties that meet your search criteria. Secondly, you can research properties on the spot by assessing their ownership history, liens, comps, and more, all within the PropStream mobile app. This can eliminate a lot of manual research and note-taking, allowing you to evaluate more properties in less time.
Ultimately, PropStream helps you focus on quality leads, so you can work smarter, not harder.
The Bottom Line
The truth is, driving for dollars didn’t disappear. It evolved.
Today’s real estate investors don’t just drive neighborhoods with their eyes open. They drive with data, filters, and the ability to perform instant analysis, transforming local observations into scalable opportunities.
The trick is to pair your driving routes with quality data. Fortunately, this is easier than ever.
With the PropStream mobile app, you can identify off-market opportunities by filtering for potential selling motivations, analyzing individual properties on the go, and turning every drive into a smarter lead generation session.
