Where do the value and rent estimates come from?
When you add a property the app pulls an estimated market value and rent from public property data providers, along with details like year built, size, and tax history.
Estimates are a starting point, not an appraisal. RentCast data is fetched once, during initial property setup, and saved for reuse. The lookup needs the street, city, state and ZIP code; for a single unit, use its number or letter (for example 4B) rather than a description such as Rear Upper. Lookups have a monthly limit, so if no data comes back, enter the details yourself. Later visits and Reload saved data use the stored information; new RentCast refreshes are paused. You can edit the market value and rent yourself, and reloading keeps your edits.
Rental start: if you lived in the property before renting it out, tell us when it became a rental. Open the property, go to Details, and confirm or change the date in the Rental start card. We assume a date from your first lease (or the closing date if there is no lease yet) and ask you to confirm it. Months before that date are left out of the budget, dashboard, Annual Report and Schedule E, so your time living there never counts as rental expense.