Skip to content
Answer Stack
Open menu

What is the difference between a dynamic property list and a static property list?

✓ Verified Last reviewed by AnswerStack Next review due Jan 9, 2027

A dynamic property list saves a search, and a static property list saves a set of properties. Properties join and leave a dynamic list as their records change, because membership is recalculated from the filters you saved. A static list keeps the same properties until you or an automation changes it.

Static fixes which properties are on the list. It doesn't freeze what's recorded about them, so the owner shown for a property can still change. That makes a dynamic list the tool for finding and watching, and a static list or an exported file the tool for holding a campaign's set.

One property on each list, before and after it sells

Suppose a property sits on a dynamic list with two criteria: absentee-owned, and at least 50 percent equity. On May 1 you copy that list's properties to a static list and export the file. On June 10 a sale records. The buyer moves in, so the property no longer meets Owner Occupied set to No.

If the dynamic list is monitored, the property is removed automatically once the sale reaches its record, and the count in My Lists drops by one. If the list isn't monitored, nothing changes until someone opens it. Opening the list re-runs the criteria, and the property is gone from the results.

The static copy still holds the property. It points to the same record, though, and that record now shows the buyer as the latest owner. The file you exported on May 1 hasn't changed at all, and its row still carries the seller's name and mailing address.

So the static list and the export answer different questions. The static list tells you which properties were in the campaign. The export, together with the mail house's record, tells you who you mailed. The owner a static list shows today is the latest in PropertyRadar's data, and it still gets a county check before the next send.

One more arrangement keeps every property that ever matched. Seed a static list with a copy, then set an automation on the monitored dynamic list that adds each new match to it. The automation adds and doesn't remove, so the sold property stays on that list too.

Where it sits After the sale reaches the property's record
Dynamic list, monitored Removed automatically
Dynamic list, unmonitored Removed the next time someone opens the list
Static copy made May 1 Still on the list, with the buyer shown as the latest owner
File exported May 1 Unchanged, with the seller's name and address
Static list fed by a New matches automation Still on the list

How monitoring and data refresh differ from list type

List type decides what defines membership: saved criteria for a dynamic list, and the properties placed on it for a static one. PropertyRadar's guide to list types says dynamic lists are created from search criteria in Discover, while static lists change only when you add or remove properties or an automation does.

Monitoring is a separate switch. On a dynamic list it decides when membership is recalculated. The monitoring article says a monitored list adds and removes properties automatically. It also gets a current count in My Lists, the New Since filter, Insights, and alerts and automations. An unmonitored dynamic list re-runs its criteria only when you open it.

Neither setting changes how current the data is. PropertyRadar describes its data as refreshed daily, and monitored and unmonitored lists read the same records. A refresh changes the values on a record, such as the owner and the loans. Those changed values are what make a property join or leave a dynamic list the next time membership is evaluated. PropertyRadar doesn't publish how long a county recording takes to reach a property's record.

A static list can be monitored as well. That turns on the monitoring features for the list, automations included, and membership still changes only when you or an automation changes it.

A monitored list holds at most 10,000 properties, and the monitoring article says add-ons don't raise that cap. The account's total allowance is a separate number. The pricing page sets it at 10,000 monitored properties on Solo, 25,000 on Team and 50,000 on Business, and a property on several monitored lists counts once.

Suppose a search returns 14,000 properties. You can leave it as one unmonitored dynamic list, which the article says can exceed 10,000 records, or split it by ZIP code into two monitored lists. Monitoring stays on a list for at least five days before you can turn it off. How monitored lists surface new matches and owner changes covers the alerts that monitoring adds.

When each list type is the better choice

A monitored dynamic list is the better choice when the job is watching a market. New qualifiers arrive and properties that stop matching leave without a rerun. The New Since filter shows what joined after a date you pick.

An unmonitored dynamic list suits sizing a broad search before you narrow it. The criteria re-run each time you open the list, and its properties don't count against the monitoring allowance. In My Lists, a tilde before the count marks a list that updates when opened.

A static list is the better choice when a set of properties has to hold still. A campaign with several mail drops is the common case, because the third piece should go to the group that got the first, less any property that sold and anyone who asked to stop. Suppression is another. A fixed set of properties you've ruled out doesn't drift with the data, and the Exclude List criterion accepts static lists and monitored dynamic lists.

Only a dynamic list can be shared by link. The link carries the criteria and not the property data, so the recipient's list fills from current records. A static list has no share link, and it travels as an exported file.

Freezing a dynamic list: the copy and export steps

PropertyRadar has no setting that converts a dynamic list to static in place. Its list management article gives a copy, and the original dynamic list keeps running unchanged.

  1. In My Lists, open the List Settings gear on the dynamic list's card and choose Copy.
  2. Choose Copy the properties to a new static list. The default name is the list's name followed by "Copy", so rename it with the campaign and the date.
  3. Export the static list from Connect, then Export to File, as .csv or .xlsx. Store the file with the campaign.
  4. To get that file again, open the profile icon, then Purchases, then Purchase History, and choose Download.

The re-download returns the same file without counting against the monthly export quota. A new export of the same list does count.

The Copy menu has a second option, Open these criteria in Discover. Use it when you want to change the criteria without disturbing a list you've already mailed from. Edit the criteria, then save the result as a new dynamic list.

To keep the static list growing with later qualifiers, monitor the dynamic list, open its Automations, enable New matches and add the action Add to a static list. The automations article describes an action that adds and none that removes, so take properties off by hand. A single property can be added by hand as well, with Add to List from the grid view, the property card or the My Lists section of the property profile.

A three-drop mail campaign, worked through

Suppose an investor on the Solo plan saves a dynamic list of absentee-owned, high-equity properties in two ZIP codes, and it returns 4,000 properties. Monitoring it fits inside both limits. Before the first drop, the investor copies the properties to a static list and exports it once, which uses 4,000 of Solo's 10,000 monthly exports.

That export starts going stale as owners sell and move, so it isn't the mailing file for drops two and three. Before each later drop the investor opens the static list, where each record shows the latest owner and mailing address in PropertyRadar's data, and compares it with the original export. A recent sale may not have reached PropertyRadar's record yet, so check the county for any property where the timing matters. A property whose owner has changed comes off the list. So does anyone who asked to stop receiving mail. Each removal goes in the campaign log with its reason. An owner who has only moved stays on the list with the new address.

Suppose 35 properties change owner and 12 owners ask to stop before the second drop, then 28 and 9 before the third. The three drops go to 4,000, 3,953 and 3,916 properties, which is 11,869 pieces in all. The log holds a dated reason for each of the 84 removals.

Export allowance is counted separately from mail pieces. The first export used 4,000 records once, and it can be downloaded again without using more. A fresh export of the static list before drops two and three would use 3,953 and 3,916 records in the months those exports are made.

The dynamic list keeps changing while the campaign runs. Set New Since to the export date to see the properties that joined afterward, and put them in a second static list that starts at piece one. The list a property sits on then identifies its starting group, and the mail house's dispatch record shows which pieces it was sent.

Revision history

1 revision since publication
Originally published