What is skip tracing in real estate?
Skip tracing is finding a property owner’s contact details, such as phone numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses, from their name and property address. Investors use it to reach owners who haven’t contacted them.
One thing first: a traced list is not a list of motivated sellers. No list, no software, no app, no gadget, no AI can target motivated sellers (why). What a list gives you is people who can potentially become motivated. Tracing lets you reach them before anyone else does, and before they hit Google. Point them to your website and let the motivated ones choose you.
It costs money for every record you trace, and most of the value comes from who you trace. The rule of this guide: don’t pay to identify everybody. Decide who deserves contact first.
What skip tracing returns, and what it doesn’t
| You may get | Good to know |
|---|---|
| Phone numbers (mobile and landline) | Often several per person; some are old or belong to someone else |
| Email addresses | Useful for follow-up; often less reliable than phone numbers |
| Current and past mailing addresses | Helps reach owners who moved away |
| Relatives or associated people | Useful for probate and inherited properties, used carefully |
What it won’t tell you: whether the owner wants to sell, whether the number still works, or whether you’re allowed to call or text it. Those are on you.
Match rate is the share of records that come back with usable contact details. It varies by provider, by how clean your list is (names and mailing addresses), and by the owner. A trace that returns a wrong or dead number isn’t a lead, so data quality matters as much as price.
Why qualifying first changes the math
Say your farm area has 10,000 absentee owners, and after checking signals, equity and the property, 1,200 of them are worth calling. Trace all 10,000 and you pay for 8,800 records you never should have called, then spend days filtering the numbers. Trace the 1,200 and you reach the same people you actually wanted.
Compare the two ways
Your numbers stay in your browser. Example values are this guide’s worked example; replace them with yours.
The trace fee is only part of it. The bigger cost of tracing everyone is your team’s time calling people with no reason to sell, which pushes up your cost per deal without producing deals.
The rules for calling and texting
This part protects you. Calls and texts to owners are regulated, and penalties are counted per call or text. The main rules in the U.S.:
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| National Do Not Call Registry | Before marketing calls or texts, scrub your numbers against the registry, and re-scrub regularly (at least every 31 days). Honor every request to stop. |
| Consent for automated calls and texts (TCPA) | Autodialed or prerecorded calls and marketing texts to cell phones generally need the person’s prior express written consent. Damages can reach $500 per call or text, up to $1,500 if willful. |
| Calling hours | Call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the owner’s local time. |
| State rules | Several states have their own do-not-call lists and stricter rules on calls and texts. Check yours. |
| Identify yourself | Say who you are and why you’re calling, and keep a record of opt-outs. |
This is not legal advice. Rules change, and they depend on how you call or text. Have an attorney who knows telemarketing law review your outreach before you start, and use a dialer or texting tool that scrubs against do-not-call lists.
Skip trace step by step
- A prioritized list (see how to find motivated sellers)
- A skip tracing provider
- A do-not-call scrub
- Start from your qualified list, not the whole farm area.Only properties that passed your checks: fit your buyers, have equity, a current signal, and a known owner.
- Clean the list first.Correct owner names and mailing addresses. Remove companies, government owners and duplicates. Dirty input means bad matches.
- Trace in small batches.Tier A first. Check the results before tracing more.
- Scrub against do-not-call lists and your own opt-outs.Every batch, before anyone dials.
- Reach out, and record what happened.Wrong number, no answer, not interested, call back, appointment. Mark dead numbers so you never pay to reach them again.
- Measure the batch.Match rate, right-party contacts, conversations and appointments per batch. Those feed your cost per lead and cost per deal.
| If this happens | Do this |
|---|---|
| Most numbers in a batch are wrong or dead | Check your input data and your provider. A cheaper trace with poor data costs more per conversation. |
| Someone asks you to stop | Stop, record it, and make sure they are never contacted again. |
| You want to trace a whole list “just in case” | Qualify first. Tracing people you won’t call is money and time with no return. |
Deal Radar is built around this order. It scores each property on the probability that its owner is willing to sell below market value, ranks by that score, and you trace only the highest. You can trace by hand or set an automatic rule for properties above a score threshold, with a daily limit.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Tracing the whole list | Trace only qualified properties. |
| Judging a provider by price alone | Compare cost per right-party contact. |
| Skipping the do-not-call scrub | Scrub every batch; it’s the law, and the penalties are per call. |
| Not recording outcomes | Log every number’s result so bad numbers are never paid for twice. |
Next: the individual signals, starting with pre-foreclosure leads. Or back to the wholesaling roadmap.
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Questions
What is skip tracing in real estate?
Skip tracing is finding a property owner’s contact details, such as phone numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses, from their name and property address.
When should I skip trace a lead?
After the property has passed your checks: it fits your buyers, has equity, has a current signal, and you know who can sell. Tracing people you will not call wastes money and time.
Is it legal to call or text skip traced numbers?
It can be, if you follow the rules: scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry and state lists, get the consent the TCPA requires for autodialed or prerecorded calls and marketing texts to cell phones, call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time, and honor opt-outs. Have an attorney review your outreach.
What is a skip tracing match rate?
The share of traced records that come back with usable contact details. It depends on the provider, the quality of your list and the owner.
How do I compare skip tracing providers?
By cost per right-party contact, not by price per record. A cheap trace with poor data costs more per real conversation.
