Leads have long been the lifeblood of a real estate professional’s success strategy. Yet they’re also the bane of many an agent’s existence—too expensive, impossible to manage and often a dead end.
That’s why Brian Tepfer and his team have set out to change this vicious cycle of lead generation. As the CEO of real estate data provider PropStream, the 25-year industry vet is spearheading the roll-out of not only highly legitimate leads, but an AI-powered engine designed to help agents convert those leads effectively and efficiently.
According to Tepfer, this necessary evolution of traditional lead gen requires rewriting the script.
“I’m always careful now not to say ‘leads,’ but to say ‘opportunities,’” explains Tepfer. “When you say lead gen, people often think of passive lead gen, like Zillow leads. We provide data that allows agents to find their next sale, their next investment—their next opportunity.
We’re using machine learning and AI to help people identify qualified opportunities.”
PropStream’s latest innovation creates what Tepfer describes as a lead generation ecosystem. With the company’s July acquisition of BatchLeads and BatchDialer, PropStream’s rich data is now married with an AI-powered lead and marketing platform. As Tepfer says, this now closes the loop, enabling real estate professionals to search, identify and effectively connect with those who are most likely to transact.
Tepfer explains that by utilizing high-level skip tracing from BatchLeads, PropStream significantly increases connectivity opportunities for real estate professionals, helping them avoid the time suck of chasing bad email addresses and phone numbers.
BatchDialer then further enhances that connectivity by using live AI integration to create scripts on the fly so that anyone dealing with a prospect knows what to say next. Instead of being locked into an awkward pre-determined script, BatchDialer provides contextual responses in real time, helping agents have more authentic and productive conversations.
“You will have a live transcript that will create contextual prompts based on the prospects’ responses,” explains Tepfer. “It really acts as almost a live-support coach that helps them through the phone call.”
PropStream’s lead gen ecosystem enables real estate professionals to search, identify and connect with those most likely to transact.
Carving a Path to Success Despite Uncertainty
The lead gen ecosystem that PropStream has created solves several key pain points for real estate professionals as they head into a still uncertain year ahead. As stubborn challenges continue to impact the real estate landscape, such as interest rates and the lock-in effect, the urgency to uncover those who are most likely to move is more important than ever.
“The first pain point that we solve is finding qualified properties,” says Tepfer. “The traditional way of canvassing neighborhoods, it’s—for lack of a better word—the spray and pray approach. Agents go everywhere and hope they get something. Instead, real estate professionals can use our software to help them find those qualified people who need to list. This also helps agents hone their marketing cost to those most likely to convert.”
PropStream generates opportunities using key data points that indicate someone is likely to move based on life changes, such as death, divorce or retirement. PropStream also gives real estate professionals the chance to help homeowners in financial distress, thanks to the program’s ability to predict pre-foreclosures. As Tepfer explains, this allows an agent to help a homeowner out of a tough spot before the situation gets worse and irreparable damage is done.
According to Tepfer, PropStream’s ecosystem is designed to help agents succeed no matter how 2026 pans out, uncovering business for agents in any market environment. As he explains, it’s about knowing where to look, and with a nationwide database, 160 million parcels and 165-plus unique filters that can be stacked, the opportunities available through PropStream are there for the taking.
“You can find homeowners whose interest rates are going to change, creating affordability issues, if they have liens, or you could look at people’s equity and how long they’ve been in their home—you can find those patterns or those situations where people are going to be likely to transact,” says Tepfer. “There’s no predicting what the market’s going to do, but I think the most successful agents know that there are still opportunities out there. Real estate’s still moving.”
Tepfer also emphasizes that agents need to be able to strike when the iron’s hot, whenever that may eventually be.
“I believe that the market is at a tipping point—something’s going to give,” says Tepfer. “There’s so much pent-up demand that as soon as there’s any shift in interest rates or affordability, we’re going to see a big explosion of transactions. The more that you are in the system, the more that you understand your market, and understand the data out there, when that shift happens, you are already at an advantage.”
To help ensure real estate professionals are ready to seize the opportunities available through PropStream—now and into the future—Tepfer and his team are doubling down on training.
“If customers are going to invest in our tools, we want to ensure they get the most out of them,” he explains. “We have weekly live webinars and classes. We are one of the few companies that have a full U.S.-based live support team. If you pick up the phone to make a call, you’re going to get a live person. We invest a lot in training and user education.”
Standing Apart in the AI Arena
As is the case for many companies in 2026, AI will play an increasing role in PropStream’s offering. However, as AI becomes an even more frequently used buzzword, the risk of getting drowned out increases. That’s why having a competitive edge when it comes to AI is essential, Tepfer explains.
“I think a lot of companies jumped on the AI bandwagon and really just provided chatbots—it’s not contextual to help someone do their job,” he explains. “We view AI as an assistant and a tool, not something to replace the real estate professional, but to help them make better-informed decisions that lead to more deals. What we do well, and what sets us apart, is the way we approach AI from that lens—not to be gimmicky just to say we have AI, because that doesn’t help our users be more successful.”
For those real estate professionals who are reluctant to embrace AI, Tepfer says, learn, persevere and stay the course.
“It’s akin to saying, ‘I’m going to join the gym because I want to get stronger,’ but only going to the gym one time and still expecting to achieve your goals,” says Tepfer. “What gives people the most success is consistency and dedication. They need to put that time in every day. Real estate agents who don’t use AI will be at a massive disadvantage from those who adopt it.”
While Tepfer refrained from tipping his hand, he confirmed that there is indeed more to come from PropStream in 2026.
“Our biggest focus is utilizing evolving machine learning algorithms, current AI methodologies and the most innovative tools on the market to help our customers,” says Tepfer. “We are constantly looking toward innovation, utilizing the tools and technology of our acquisition to make our platform better.”
