Skip Tracing returned mailings

[Philip Pellegrino]

Good morning colleagues.

I am wondering how other wholesalers are going about skip tracing their returned mailings?

Thank you in advance,

Phil

[Pratik P.]

I'm not sure why you guys are spending so much money on skip tracers. Once I have a good stack of returned mail, this is what I do:

1. Google the property address to confirm that it isn't foreclosed or just sold. In that case, take the name off your list and move on.

2. If the property wasn't foreclosed or just sold, use a website like intelius (20/mo) to search the owner's name. Most of the time, I'm able to find them with a bunch of possible phone numbers and recent addresses.

3. Pick up that phone and start dialing. If you can't get a hold of them with any of the given numbers, intelius gives you their relatives and their profiles. So start calling the relatives until you can get a hold of someone and obtain the owner's contact info and leave your info. Offer a $500 referral fee if you close the deal, if they seem uninterested to pass you info. 

4. If all fails, cross check your list's mailing address with the address given in intelius. If intelius has a different address, correct it in your list and re-mail. 

Intelius also will give you other "clues" like email addresses, business names. 

Intelius is just one tool. I've found phone numbers and actual addresses so many times by simply typing "John Doe, Sacramento, CA". Spokeo was also helpful but there's a limit on searches so I stopped using them.  

When it comes to skip tracing, you just have to get creative and use all the tools you have. You're basically a detective. Don't blow $40 on just a phone number. Just my advice :D