Market Research: How to Analyze Counties Using the Drill Deep Feature

Choosing the right counties is one of the most important steps in a land investing business, but doing it one county at a time can be slow and inconsistent.

The Drill Deep tool on Land Portal lets you cross-analyze multiple states and counties in a single comparison table, using key metrics like days on market, months of supply, population density, and more to quickly see where your money is most likely to move.

Instead of bouncing between views, you can set your criteria once, instantly see which counties qualify, and then jump straight into building a list from your top picks.

In this article, we’ll walk through the exact steps shown in the video above so you can follow along and start using Drill Deep with confidence.

Step-by-step: How to use the Drill Deep tool

1. Open the Drill Deep tab

In the left sidebar, click Market Research.

At the top of the screen, select the Drill Deep tab (next to Heat Map, Market Search, and Market Comp).

This opens the Drill Deep comparison table where you’ll do your analysis.

2. Select the states you want to analyze

Click Filter to choose the states you want to work with (for example, Ohio, Alabama, and Georgia).

Click Apply at the bottom of the Filter windpw.

You’re now building the universe of markets you want to compare, instead of looking at the entire country at once.

3. Choose the metrics that matter to you

In the table header, review the available columns, such as:

Count
Median Price (MP)
Price per Acre
Sell-Through Rate
Days on Market
Number of Counties / ZIP Codes
Months of Supply
Absorption Rate
Population / Population Density

If you’re unsure what a column means, hover over the column header to see its tooltip.

These metrics are what you’ll use to filter and shortlist your best counties.

4. Expand a state to see all its counties

Click the dropdown arrow next to a state to expand it.

Review the list of counties that appears under that state, along with all their metrics in the columns.

At this level, you can already eyeball which counties are performing better, but the real power comes from filtering.

Click the Filter button.

This opens a filter panel where you can define your exact criteria for each state.

6. Set your performance filters

In the filter panel, enter your criteria.

For example:

Days on Market: less than 100
Months of Supply: between 1 and 2 (or up to 2.5 if you want to broaden your results)

Make sure your filters match your buying strategy (for example, fast-moving markets with low inventory).

7. Apply the filters and review your matching counties

Click Apply to run the filters.

Wait for the table to refresh and show only the counties that meet all your criteria.

Review the resulting counties side-by-side:

Compare sell-through rate
Compare months of supply and days on market
Check population and population density for any outliers (for example, a density that’s too high for your strategy).

8. Drill deeper into ZIP codes (optional)

If you work on entitlements, developments, or more granular projects, switch the view:

Open an County tab to see the Zipcodes.

If needed, change the asset type from Land to All at the top so you’re not limited to only raw vacant land.

Review the ZIP-level metrics the same way you reviewed counties to find precise pockets of demand.

This step is optional but powerful if you need more granular targeting.

9. Jump directly into list building for a chosen county

Once you’ve identified a county that fits your criteria, click on the Build a List button and Land Portal will automatically open the list-building / filters screen for that county with your selected criteria already populated.

From here, refine your property-level filters, such as:

Acreage range (e.g., 2–5 acres)
Any other property attributes that match your business model.

You’ve now moved from high-level market selection straight into building a targeted list without re-entering all your filters.

Repeat the process with other states or criteria to build a pipeline of strong counties that match your strategy.

The Drill Deep tool turns market research from a slow, one-by-one process into a fast, data-driven system for picking markets that match your exact investing criteria.

By setting your filters once, comparing counties side-by-side, and then jumping directly into list building, you can go from idea to actionable mailing list in just a few minutes.

To put this into practice, open the Market Research → Drill Deep tab inside Land Portal and start testing your own county criteria.

And if you’d like to see it all in action as you go, hit play on the video at the top of this article and follow along step by step.