Guides

How this actually works

Reference material on sourcing and tracing owner data. Written to be useful whether or not you buy anything here — including the parts where the answer is that you do not need us.

What skip tracing actually is
Skip tracing turns a property address into a way to reach the person who owns it. What the term means in wholesaling, what the process involves, and what comes back.
What comes back from a skip trace
Field by field, what a skip-traced file actually contains — and the four places where a row quietly becomes useless before you dial it.
Mobile, landline and VoIP — why the line type decides the campaign
Line type is the single most consequential field in a traced file, and most providers bury it. What each type means for reach, cost and sender reputation.
DNC and litigator scrubbing — what each one protects you from
The Do Not Call registry and the TCPA litigator list are two different risks with two different answers. Why one is a judgement call and the other never is.
How a tax delinquent list is built
Where tax delinquent data comes from, what the signal actually means about an owner, and why two providers' lists for the same county do not match.
Why a pre-foreclosure list is worth more in some states than others
The same list type behaves completely differently depending on whether a state forecloses through the courts. Why we warn before pulling pre-foreclosure in a judicial state.
Why a list goes stale, and how fast
Two clocks run on every traced file — the contact data and the underlying distress signal — and they run at different speeds. What that means for reusing an old list.
Hit rate, and the numbers worth measuring instead
Hit rate is the headline number and the least useful one. Four measurements that actually predict whether a list was worth buying.
Getting a file into your dialer without breaking it
The four things that go wrong between a CSV and a working call list — leading zeros, formatting, duplicates and opt-outs — and how to avoid each.
Choosing which county to work
Population is the wrong first filter. How to pick a county by the amount of the signal you plan to work, your ability to close there, and how worked-out it already is.
Order a county

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.

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