Discussions

Hello,

I am merging the Rental Data (listings-level) dataset with the Listing and Property Mapping (LPM) dataset in RentHub in order to attach standard unit- and property-level identifiers (UNIT_ID, PROPERTY_ID) to individual listings, using the listing ID (ID) as the merge key. For context, I am working with listings in Los Angeles with posting dates between 2016 and 2023.

I have two questions:

1. After merging the LPM data onto the Rental Data (retaining all listings), a nontrivial share of listing IDs, particularly in 2023, do not have corresponding UNIT_ID or PROPERTY_ID values from the LPM dataset. Is there a known reason for this time-specific missingness?
2. I noticed that the main Rental Data listings file also contains UNIT_ID and PROPERTY_ID fields. Guidance from a previous thread indicates that these were added to the main dataset so that a separate join to the LPM dataset would no longer be necessary. However, in my sample, these fields in the main listings file remain quite sparsely populated, and I observe inconsistencies between the two sources. Specifically,
   • cases where the main listings file contains missing UNIT_ID or PROPERTY_ID values while the corresponding identifiers from the LPM join exist.
   • rarely, cases where the main listings file contains non-missing UNIT_ID or PROPERTY_ID values while the corresponding identifiers from the LPM join are missing. Could you please advise on this, and which source should be treated as authoritative?

Thank you very much for your help!

Best,
Alexis