PSA: Listsource.com may be MISSING LEADS if you sort by date!!!

PSA: Listsource.com may be MISSING LEADS if you sort by date!!!

Contractor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

I don't know how I never learned this after using list source for years, but for you wholesalers and marketers out there this could be a game changer. Definitely is for me.

If you build a list, say AO in a zip code, and then filter by last recorded date or last market sale date, list source will trim the list WAAAYYY down to only the records they have a date for. I got curious because when I filtered for a large date range, my list became tiny. The problem is, OVER HALF of the records of any given list doesn't have a date in their database, so those get left off right out of the gate.

I just downloaded a list without using the date filter, and made sure to pay extra to append the data with listsource's additional data like last market recording date etc. Here's what I found:

65% do not have a date for "last market sale date"

55% do not have a date for "last market recording date" 

*all records except a couple had a recording date if they had a sale date. There were 10 - 20% that had a recording date but no sale date.

The data also provided this, though I couldn't find a way to filter for it before buying a list on the website:

65% did not have a date for "OWNER TRANSFER SALE DATE"

*Roughly 50% of the ones who had owner transfer date also had either a last market sale or recording date.

0Reply
68 views

9 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Flipper/Rehabber · Bakersfield, CA · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Yep. All one needs to do is buy the  list with 1-1-1900 to today as last sale date and suppress against that a list without the sale date as a filter. 

    The second list never gets hit with marketing and most wont do this exercise do to the cost of the list. 

    The same can be said when picking unknown equity as well. 

    Happy House Hunting

  • Realtor · White Oak, TX · Member since 2012 · 62 posts · 24 votes
    7y

    @Allan Smith forgive me for being dense but I am inexperienced with listsource and do not understand what you mean here... "I just downloaded a list without using the date filter, and made sure to pay extra to append the data with listsource's additional data like last market recording date etc". Do you mean that you did what Michael said and bought two lists and compared the two?

    @Michael Quarles  how different would those two lists be if you give yourself a window of nearly 120 years to search through? I would assume that most properties have sold at least once in that time frame. I am sure I am completely misunderstanding what you are getting at.

    I am trying to put together a list for my first time and feel a bit confused. So far I have searched by city and 40-100% equity. I have seen some videos say to search by assessed value and some say to search by last sold date. Which is better or use both? If either of you could shed some light on this for me I would greatly appreciate it. 

  • Contractor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Patrick Bartlett Bottom line is list source's data is incomplete. They only have date data for less than half of the records, so if you filter by date (such as last recorded, last market sale, etc) before purchasing the list, you'll instantly lose half of the records.

    It's hard for us to direct you as far as what filters to use because each investor has a different strategy that works for them. What I CAN tell you is that the assessed value is likely not reflective of the actual value, and the date data is incomplete. I also can tell you that the more targeted your list is, the better your results will be. Just make sure you are targeting people that make sense for your strategy.

    For example, it wouldn't make sense to filter for houses that have an assessed value of at least the median sale price in that area if you want distressed property (you're going to mostly get big expensive houses), but it might make sense to filter for that if you want to target absentee owner sellers who might be more likely to do a lease option deal. And so on.

  • Realtor · White Oak, TX · Member since 2012 · 62 posts · 24 votes
    7y

    @Allan Smith thank you for the reply! I was thinking that the assessed value might help weed out the very undesirable properties/areas, though I haven't really looked into the assessed values of the properties in the rougher areas. I will do that in the morning. If I am being honest I don't completely know what my strategy is. It is a mixture of a couple of things I guess. First I would like to find properties to buy and hold and for now pass off any deals I find but don't want, maybe for a small finder's fee or refer to my agent if they want to much but seem to genuinely want to sell. My other thought is to ''prime the pump". My wife and I are planning to make a move across the country and I am planning on giving whole selling a go and cherry-picking my buy and holds, so I figured I could start advertising now so as to hit the ground running.

    I appreciate your response and for giving my something to think on.

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    6y

    Hi. I have a question. Does this mean it is best not to filter by the date in order to get a more accurate list? Please get back to me. 

  • Contractor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Breanna Terrell if you filter by date it will leave out houses. It will be very accurate, but there will be some houses that would have fit your criteria of last sale date, but listsource didn't have data on them and thus left them off.

  • Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    6y

    Okay. Thank you so much. If not by date, what are some other good filters to use to ensure the properly wasn't just recently purchased?

  • Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 110 posts · 52 votes
    6y

    There are definitely ways to play with the filters so that you get back a lot of those “lost leads” without including a ton of properties you don’t want.

  • Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 110 posts · 52 votes
    6y

    To elaborate: The “No Data” list is a great way to get a lot of those leads you’d miss out on plugging in specific dates.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.