Real estate investors are using a tool called skip tracing to find distressed properties and connect with motivated sellers. Skip tracing involves using specialized data platforms to aggregate information about a property and its owner, including contact information and financial indicators.

What is Skip Tracing?

Historically, skip tracing was used by debt collectors and bounty hunters to track down individuals who had skipped town. In the real estate industry, skip tracing has been repurposed as a lead-generation strategy. By inputting a property address or owner’s name into a data platform, investors can retrieve deep historical records, current contact information, and hidden financial indicators associated with the owner.

Many distressed or institutional properties are held under generic corporate names, making it difficult to find a viable contact. Skip tracing allows investors to track down original corporate filings and identify specific managing members, registered agents, or individuals behind the company. This information can be used to make direct contact with the owner and negotiate a potential sale.

Benefits of Skip Tracing

Using a property data search tool can help investors uncover ownership history, hidden liens, and direct contact information for motivated sellers. Skip tracing can also help investors identify properties that are likely to be sold quickly, such as those with outstanding tax liens or owners who are facing financial difficulties.

According to recent housing analytics, nearly 1.4 million properties across the U.S. sit vacant, with a small but significant portion referred to as “zombie foreclosures” – properties that owners have abandoned midway through foreclosure proceedings. Skip tracing allows investors to cross-reference property utilities and postal service data to confirm a property is legally vacant and make an offer to the owner before the bank repossesses the asset.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.