1. What are your data sources?

Plot-Z collects data from public comps. To ensure high data quality, our first preference is to collect pricing from official leasing sites unless they are unavailable. This ensures the most accurate pricing, availability and concessions are being captured. See below for examples where the same property has different pricing and concessions on two sites.

Example 1 - Unit Availability at View at Lake Lynn

(1) Official Site - 63 units available
Source: https://www.viewatlakelynn.com/
Snapshot time: 1 Oct 2024, 4:45pm

(2) MLS - 29 units available
Source: https://www.apartments.com/view-at-lake-lynn-raleigh-nc/jgvpch4/
Snapshot time: 1 Oct 2024, 4:46pm

Official Site

MLS

Difference

Units Listed

63

29

+2.1X

Example 2 - Concessions at Avery Dania Pointe

(1) Official Site - 1.5 months free
Source: https://www.averydaniapointe.com/
Snapshot time: 27 Sep 2024, 12:12pm

(2) MLS - No concessions advertised
Source: https://www.apartments.com/avery-dania-pointe-apartments-dania-beach-fl/fc8qwet/
Snapshot time: 27 Sep 2024, 12:12pm

Official Site

MLS

Difference

Concessions

1.5 Months

None

1.5 Months

2. Which asking rent do you collect?

Plot-Z follows best practices from asset management teams- Our system collects only the lowest asking rent of each unit and their associated lease terms. When data is available, we collect the base rent of each unit, which excludes all additional fees and charges so you can compare apples to apples.

Example

For unit A304, the collected rent will be $1667, with a 15 month lease term
Source: https://www.oakstreetstationapts.com/

For unit 1-338, the collected rent will be $1899, with a 12 month lease term. The rent amount excludes any additional fees below.
Source: https://www.oakstreetstationapts.com/

3. How do you calculate effective rent?

4. How do you calculate concessions?

Plot-Z converts all advertised concession into "weeks" value. (Dollar value is also available upon request).

Concessions that do not affect base rents are excluded. However, these advertised concession text are still available for your reference under "concession_text", our data field.

Terms & Conditions. We also take into consideration terms and conditions for concessions to apply. They include the following but are not limited to: Minimum lease term, move-in date, concession expiry date.
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Unit-level or Property-level Concessions. We typically provide concessions at the property level. However, when unit-level concessions are available, we provide them as well for most accurate pricing.

5. Can you identify unit classification such as Penthouse, Townhouse, Urban and Loft units?

Yes. Under our "Classification" column, our users understand if a unit is a Penthouse, Townhouse, Urban or Loft unit. See more on urban units below.

Urban Units. These are units where 1 or more bedrooms do not have windows, and are most common in metropolitan areas. Some owners may market them as 1 Bed, and some as Studio. To ensure our customers have the best data, these floorplans are standardized in Plot-Z's database as Urban units.

Example

Floorplan advertised as 'Studio'. Bedroom does not have a window to the outside.
Source: https://www.artesianspringsapts.com/

Floorplan advertised as '1 BR'. Bedroom does not have a window to the outside.
Source: https://www.lineala.com/

6. How do you identify dens?

We differentiate dens from bedrooms with the following criteria
- A den does not need a minimum room size of 70SF, which is the legal room size
- A den does not need windows
- A den does not need to have a closet
- A den should be able to function as a home office
See below images for more examples of what our system identifies as "Dens"

Example

Unit is labelled as 2 Bed + 1 Den
Source: https://www.equityapartments.com/new-york-city/jersey-city/the-pier-apartments

Unit is labelled as 3 Bed + 1 Den
Source: https://thereserveatmaryvilleapartments.com/