# Cook County Residential Characteristics Scraper (`real-estate-api/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper`) Actor

Cook County Residential Characteristics Scraper is a Python tool to extract parcel numbers, building square footage, property ages, land use codes, and structural details from county assessor records. It exports structured real estate datasets into clean CSV or JSON format

- **URL**: https://apify.com/real-estate-api/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [real-estate-api](https://apify.com/real-estate-api) (community)
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### Cook County Residential Characteristics Scraper — Home Features and Building Data

![Cook County Residential Characteristics Scraper cover](https://images.bigibyte.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1260,height=540,fit=cover,format=webp/apify-actors-covers/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper-cover.png)

Collect residential property characteristics from the Cook County Assessor's public open data portal. Retrieve building details such as bedrooms, bathrooms, building square footage, construction quality, year built, and property identifiers. Filter records, explore dataset metadata, and export structured results as JSON, CSV, Excel, and other supported formats.

### Overview

This actor collects records from the Cook County Assessor's Single and Multi-Family Improvement Characteristics dataset.

It supports full dataset collection, filtered searches, and dataset metadata retrieval. Use it to organize residential building characteristics into an Apify dataset for property research, real estate analysis, and comparable property studies.

### Features

- Collect Cook County residential building characteristics.
- Retrieve property identifiers and assessment years.
- Extract bedrooms, rooms, and bathroom counts.
- Collect building and land square footage.
- Retrieve year-built and residential building type information.
- Extract construction quality and other building features.
- Filter records using custom conditions.
- Retrieve dataset column names, types, and descriptions.
- Export results in JSON, CSV, Excel, and other supported formats.

### Collection Modes

**All Rows**

Collects residential characteristic records from the dataset, up to the configured item limit.

**Filtered Rows**

Collects records matching supplied filter conditions. Use this mode to narrow results by tax year or other available dataset fields.

**Dataset Metadata**

Retrieves information about the dataset's columns, including their names, types, and descriptions.

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `mode` | String | Collection mode: `rows`, `filtered`, or `metadata`. |
| `maxItems` | Integer | Maximum number of records to collect. |
| `orderBy` | String | Field or expression used to order collected records. |
| `where` | String | Optional filter condition for the filtered mode. |
| `requestDelaySecs` | Number | Delay between collection requests in seconds. |

### Example Input

**Collect residential characteristics**

```json id="q3b6vt"
{
  "mode": "rows",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "orderBy": ":id",
  "requestDelaySecs": 1
}
```

**Filter by tax year**

```json id="x9k2mf"
{
  "mode": "filtered",
  "where": "year='2024'",
  "maxItems": 25,
  "requestDelaySecs": 1
}
```

### What Data Does This Actor Extract?

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `pin` | Property identification number. |
| `year` | Assessment or record year. |
| `card` | Property card identifier. |
| `class` | Property classification code. |
| `township_code` | Township code. |
| `tieback_proration_rate` | Tieback proration rate. |
| `card_proration_rate` | Card proration rate. |
| `cdu` | Property condition, desirability, and utility code. |
| `pin_is_multicard` | Indicates whether the property has multiple cards. |
| `pin_num_cards` | Number of property cards. |
| `pin_is_multiland` | Indicates whether the property has multiple land records. |
| `pin_num_landlines` | Number of land lines. |
| `char_yrblt` | Year the building was constructed. |
| `char_bldg_sf` | Building area in square feet. |
| `char_land_sf` | Land area in square feet. |
| `char_beds` | Number of bedrooms. |
| `char_rooms` | Number of rooms. |
| `char_fbath` | Number of full bathrooms. |
| `char_hbath` | Number of half bathrooms. |
| `char_frpl` | Fireplace count. |
| `char_type_resd` | Residential building type. |
| `char_cnst_qlty` | Construction quality description. |
| `char_attic_fnsh` | Attic finish description. |
| `char_gar1_att` | Garage attachment information. |
| `char_gar1_area` | Garage area information. |
| `char_gar1_size` | Garage size or capacity. |
| `scraped_at` | Date and time when the record was collected. |

**Note:** Some characteristics may be missing or vary between records.

### Example Output

```json id="v8n4cz"
{
  "pin": "01011000040000",
  "year": "2026.0",
  "card": "1.0",
  "class": "205",
  "township_code": "10",
  "tieback_proration_rate": "1.0",
  "card_proration_rate": "0.0",
  "cdu": "AV",
  "pin_is_multicard": false,
  "pin_num_cards": "1.0",
  "pin_is_multiland": false,
  "pin_num_landlines": "1.0",
  "char_yrblt": "1881.0",
  "char_bldg_sf": "1573.0",
  "char_land_sf": "11055.0",
  "char_beds": "2.0",
  "char_rooms": "5.0",
  "char_fbath": "1.0",
  "char_hbath": "1.0",
  "char_frpl": "0.0",
  "char_type_resd": "2 Story",
  "char_cnst_qlty": "Average",
  "char_attic_fnsh": "None",
  "char_gar1_att": "No",
  "char_gar1_area": "No",
  "char_gar1_size": "2 cars",
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-26T00:00:00+00:00"
}
```

### Use Cases

- **Property Research:** Explore residential property characteristics across Cook County.
- **Real Estate Comparisons:** Compare building sizes, bedroom counts, bathroom counts, and other property features.
- **Property Valuation Research:** Combine building characteristics with other property information for analysis.
- **Market Analysis:** Study residential building characteristics across different tax years.
- **Data Management:** Build structured property datasets for spreadsheets, databases, and internal tools.
- **Real Estate Analytics:** Use collected records in dashboards, reports, and research workflows.

### Working with Your Dataset

After the actor completes a run:

1. Open the actor's **Dataset** tab.
2. Review the collected residential property records.
3. Export the results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or another supported format.
4. Use the exported data for property research, comparisons, and analysis.

### FAQ

**Who is this actor for?**

It is useful for real estate professionals, property researchers, analysts, and developers who need structured Cook County residential building characteristics.

**Can I filter records by tax year?**

Yes. Use filtered mode with a condition matching the `year` field, such as `year='2024'`.

**What property characteristics are available?**

Records can include bedrooms, bathrooms, rooms, building square footage, land square footage, year built, construction quality, and garage information.

**Can I collect the entire dataset?**

You can collect records up to the configured `maxItems` limit. Larger collections may require multiple runs.

**Can I run it on a schedule?**

Yes. Configure an Apify Schedule to refresh the dataset automatically at your preferred interval.

**Can I export the collected records?**

Yes. Apify supports JSON, CSV, Excel, and other dataset export formats.

### Disclaimer

This actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or officially associated with the Cook County Assessor's Office or Cook County. It collects publicly available information. Users are responsible for how they use, store, and redistribute collected data.

### Is Web Scraping Legal?

Collecting information that is already public is generally legal. There is no single law that bans all forms of web scraping. The limits are the usual ones: do not break into accounts, do not take private or confidential data, and be careful with personal data and copyrighted works. A site's terms can also restrict how you access it. Facts such as a public name, price, or rating are not the same thing as republishing someone's article or photo.

This actor collects information from public pages. It does not log in and it does not bypass access controls.

For a longer explanation, see Apify's article [Is web scraping legal?](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/).

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to scrape.

## `where` (type: `string`):

SoQL $where clause, e.g. year='2024'

## `q` (type: `string`):

Full-text search ($q) across text columns

## `orderBy` (type: `string`):

SoQL $order (stable paging needs a unique order)

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many successful rows. Hard max is 1000.

## `requestDelaySecs` (type: `number`):

Seconds to wait between requests.

## `userAgent` (type: `string`):

User-Agent header sent with each request.

## `timeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Overall run budget in seconds.

## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Per-request timeout in seconds.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy. Leave off unless you need it.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "rows",
  "where": "",
  "q": "",
  "orderBy": ":id",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "requestDelaySecs": 1,
  "userAgent": "ActorResearch/1.0",
  "timeoutSecs": 300,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Dataset rows in the overview table.

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Full dataset for this run.

## `items` (type: `string`):

Dataset items as JSON.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("real-estate-api/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("real-estate-api/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call real-estate-api/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,real-estate-api/cook-county-residential-characteristics-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/BZbn1iy1hi6DJQc3Y/builds/pSZCXXAIoKSfRuo9s/openapi.json