Skip Tracing for Real Estate
Ever heard of skip tracing for real estate? It’s a strategy you can use to find and talk to more property owners and sellers. Searchbug helps real estate investors, wholesalers, brokers, and agents proactively find new inventory and generate valuable leads with verified property owner information.
Why spend hours doing research when you can use tools to automate the process? And why waste time on mistaken information when you can get verified data? Now, you don’t have to. In this article, we’ll provide you with the tools and resources you need to get owner information on-demand and build a database that you can count on to maximize your sales volume.
What Is Skip Tracing?
Essentially, skip tracing is the act of locating someone difficult to find. “Skip” refers to the person being searched for—someone who might have “skipped” town, for instance. And then to trace a skip is to track the subject down via a series of clues and leads.
Skip tracing tactics are often conducted by a skip tracer, someone who has made it their job to locate subjects for other people for any number of reasons. But a skip trace can be done by a variety of professionals including a process server, debt collector, bail bondsman or bail agency enforcer (bounty hunter), witness location specialist, repossession agent, private investigator, lawyer, police detective, or journalist. A skip trace is conducted by any person attempting to locate a subject whose contact information is not immediately known.
Skip tracing in the real estate industry involves locating property owners, often for the purpose of purchasing properties or resolving title issues. This technique is particularly useful for real estate investors, wholesalers, and agents who are trying to find owners of vacant, distressed, or otherwise difficult-to-contact properties. Next, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide for effectively using skip racing in the real estate industry.
How to Use Skip Tracing for Real Estate
Where do your leads come from? Do you know who actually owns the property at each address on your list? How much time do you waste with incorrect or outdated contact information? A lead that you can’t contact is worth zero dollars.
Maybe you need to implement some skip tracing strategies to get in contact with property owners. Here’s how:
Step 1: Gather Initial Information
Start with the information you already have about the property and its owner. This can include property address, owner’s name, tax records, previous transactions, or neighboring properties.
Step 2: Use Public Records
Public records are a valuable resource for skip tracing. You can look into county tax assessor’s records, property deed records, local courthouse records, voting records, utility records, etc.
Step 3: Leverage Online Databases and Tools
There are various online tools and databases specifically designed for skip tracing. Searchbug, for example, offers tools that can access a variety of databases for you in seconds.
Reverse phone lookup can help you find out who really owns a property. Use this tool to find names and phone numbers of both people and businesses from a US street address.
If you need to find someone or cross-reference information to verify a property owner, use people search. Use this tool to quickly and easily find people by name. The last name is the only requirement. Results typically include full name, address, phone number, age or date of birth, marital status, relatives, and/or length of residence.
And a property records search can help you evaluate properties and get owner information on potential inventory. Get all the record data for any real property, including sale history for the property, title company and loan details, owner, buyer, and seller names, property size and type, assessed value, and tax and delinquency information.
Step 4: Use Social Media
Social media platforms can provide additional information and potential contact avenues. Look for profiles on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Step 5: Contact Neighbors and Associates
Neighbors can sometimes provide useful information about the property owner. They may know where the owner is or have contact details.
Step 6: Hire a Professional Skip Tracer
If your efforts are not yielding results, you might consider hiring a professional skip tracer. These experts have access to more comprehensive databases and specialized tools.
Searchbug offers access to professional skip tracing for real estate without a monthly fee. The verification process associated with a professional account provides you with access to federally regulated data. Once approved you get access to regulated data sources not available to the general public.
Through this service, professionals access special private data that is often regulated by federal or state guidelines and requires a permissible purpose to access. Searchbug partners with several such data providers and pays hefty monthly fees to access this data, offering customers access to this same specialized data without any setup fees, monthly fees, or monthly minimums.
A skip trace search provides you with current and previous phone numbers, addressees, date of birth, SSN, contact info subject’s relatives, neighbors, and associates. You get high quality data and only pay for what you use.
Step 7: Cross-Reference Information
To ensure accuracy, cross-reference the information you find from different sources. This helps in verifying the owner’s current contact details and whereabouts.
Step 8: Make Contact
Once you have sufficient information, attempt to contact the owner. You can use direct mail methods like letters or postcards. You can make phone calls or send emails. Or you can make in-person visits.
Step 9: Respect Privacy and Maintain Legal Compliance
Always be mindful of privacy laws and regulations when conducting skip tracing. Ensure that your methods are ethical and legal.
Step 10: Keep Detailed Records
Finally, maintain a detailed record of your search process. This should include dates of searches and contacts, sources used, information found, and details of corresponding attempts.
By following these steps and utilizing the available tools and resources, you can increase your chances of successfully locating property owners in the real estate industry.
Practical Tips for Success
When it comes to skip tracing for real estate, it is important to be patient and persistent. However, with online tools and resources available to make your job easier, you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches researching property owners.
Remember to use multiple sources to verify information, and keep your database up to date as information can change as people move and properties change hands.
Ready to add skip trace to your list of property search strategies? Try it today!
