Skip tracing for buy-and-hold investors
Buy-and-hold is the patient version of this business, and the outreach that suits it looks different from a wholesaler's.
Who you are looking for
Frequently another landlord who has had enough. A rental that has stopped being worth the trouble produces a very particular pattern: taxes slipping, an out-of-state mailing address, an owner who has not visited in years.
Long-running arrears are a better signal than a single missed cycle here. You are not looking for a crisis, you are looking for someone who has quietly disengaged.
The mailing-address column does most of the work in identifying that, and it is in every file.
Why the slow campaign wins
The person who will sell you a rental at a price that works is rarely ready the week you call. The campaigns that produce these deals are the ones where somebody called, was told no, made a note, and called again the following year.
That means your own records matter more than the list does. The second conversation converts far better than the first, and only you have it.
It also means a smaller list, worked properly, beats a bigger one. You are building a relationship list, not running a volume play.
What to watch
Contact data decays continuously, so a file you come back to in a year should be re-traced rather than re-dialled. The addresses have not moved; the phone numbers have.
Keep your own opt-out list and check every import against it. Someone who told you to stop last year must not be in this year's campaign, and no vendor can know that for you.
Leading with a circumstance that has since resolved — arrears that were paid — is the fastest way to end a conversation, so re-pull the signal too.
Questions people ask
Can I pull just absentee owners?
We sell three list types — tax lien, tax delinquent and pre-foreclosure — rather than everything a data platform can filter for, because those are the three we have worked enough to stand behind. The mailing address in each file lets you identify absentee owners after delivery.
How often should I re-pull the same county?
For this strategy, rarely. Working your existing list further through is usually worth more than a fresh copy of largely the same names.
Does unused credit expire?
No. It rolls over for as long as the account is open, which suits a strategy that runs in quarters rather than weeks.
Other roles
Pick a county and a list type, or send your own addresses. Mobile numbers only, litigator and DNC scrubbed, and anything the county does not hold is credited back.