Skip Tracing for Real Estate Investors

Market Context

What Skip Tracing Is

Skip tracing is the process of locating a person's current contact information — phone number, email, or mailing address — when you only have their name and a prior address. For real estate investors, the input is typically an owner name and property address from county records. The output is a phone number and sometimes an email for the owner's current residence.

Best Skip Tracing Tools

• BatchSkipTracing: Bulk skip trace at $0.10–$0.18 per record, solid accuracy, integrates with BatchLeads
• Skip Genie: Competitive pricing, real estate focused, good phone match rates
• PropStream: Built-in skip tracing in the deal analysis platform, convenient if you already subscribe
• REISkip: High volume, lower cost per trace for large lists
• Whitepages Pro: Higher accuracy, higher cost — worth it for targeted small lists

Expected Accuracy

Typical phone match rates run 40–70% depending on list quality and service. Of matched numbers, 60–80% will be valid and reachable. Younger owners in urban areas have higher match rates than elderly rural property owners. Refresh your traces every 6–12 months — phone numbers change and old data produces wrong numbers and wasted calls.

Compliance Note

Skip-traced phone numbers must still be scrubbed against the National Do Not Call Registry before outbound calling. Using a DNC-compliant skip tracing service does not automatically mean the numbers are DNC-cleared — these are separate steps. Batch DNC scrubbing services cost $0.01–$0.05 per number and are a required part of any cold calling operation.

Dan White is a licensed Virginia real estate agent at Pearson Smith Realty and founder of FreeDealCalc.com. He has been investing in Northern Virginia real estate for 20+ years.