Technology · Member since 2026 · 32 posts · 5 votes
Curious how different people do this.......
When you pull a list (tax delinquent, probate, absentee, whatever you work), what do you look at first before a lead is worth a call or a letter? Equity? How long they've owned it? Whether the owner lives out of state? Something else completely?
And the other side: what makes you throw a lead away straight away? A bad phone number, a house that already sold, an owner who passed years ago.....
Also, how old is too old for a list in your experience? A week, a month, more?
I work with county data and I'm trying to understand what actually matters to the people using it. Would love to hear how you do it, especially if you work Ohio or West Virginia.
The first thing I look at is whether the signals stack. In the Allegheny County data I work with, about 25,000 parcels show three or more distress signals at once, and a tax-delinquent house that also has an absentee owner or an open code violation is a much better call than delinquency on its own. I toss a lead right away if a deed transfer has posted since the list was pulled, the delinquency has been paid off, or the owner is a government agency or nonprofit. On age, I'd re-check anything older than a couple of weeks against the county's latest files before you mail, because payments and sales post constantly.
Before I call or mail a lead, I usually check a few things. I look at how long they've owned the property, estimated equity, whether they're local or absentee, and if there are any signs of distress, like tax delinquency or a vacant property.
I also like to look at recent sales in the area to get a rough idea of value.
But one thing I've learned is not to overanalyze every lead before making contact. You can spend hours researching someone who has absolutely no interest in selling.
A lot of the information that matters most comes from having an actual conversation with the owner. Their situation, motivation, and timeline will tell you more than most data points ever will.
@Travis Goodwin that's fair..... the data can get you to the right door, the conversation does the rest. Hours of research on someone who'll never sell is a real trap.
Charleston caught my eye, I've worked with Kanawha County records. When you say signs of distress, which one has actually turned into deals for you there, tax delinquency or vacancy? And would you still call someone with lots of equity but no distress at all?
The dead ends you listed are the ones I catch most often when I clean lists for investors.
Before anything gets called or mailed, I check the list against the CRM first, because the same owner can show up on more than one list under a slightly different name. Then I pull out anyone on a do-not-contact list, anyone who has sold since the list was pulled, and estate cases where the owner on record has passed, which usually means a probate conversation instead of a cold call.
On one round I cleaned for a land investor, those checks took 2,252 leads down to 2,085 and pulled 18 do-not-contact risks before a single text went out. On age, I re-check ownership and sale status on any list before money goes into it, however fresh the vendor says it is.
@Judith Jonathan the slightly different name problem took me the longest to get right..... SMITH JOHN A on the tax file can be John Smith Trust on the deed. And in the CRM he's just J Smith. What helped most was matching on the mailing address first and the last name second..... then a person checks the close calls by hand. Do you dedupe by hand or with a tool?
Matching on mailing address first is a great call, since names change from file to file but the address usually stays put. I do a mix. A tool does the first pass and groups the obvious matches, and then a person looks over anything close, like a trust name against a personal name at the same address. I've found the hand check matters most when the owner name and the mailing address disagree, because that's where the wrong merges happen.
Do you keep the original tax-file name in its own column so you can undo a merge later?
@Judith Jonathan yes, always..... The raw name from each file stays in its own column. Next to it sits the source file and the date. The merge is only a link between rows, so undoing it never loses anything. The wrong merges I've seen most were estates. Someone strips "Estate of" and two family members suddenly become one person..... that's the case I'd hand check first.
The first thing I look at is whether the signals stack. In the Allegheny County data I work with, about 25,000 parcels show three or more distress signals at once, and a tax-delinquent house that also has an absentee owner or an open code violation is a much better call than delinquency on its own. I toss a lead right away if a deed transfer has posted since the list was pulled, the delinquency has been paid off, or the owner is a government agency or nonprofit. On age, I'd re-check anything older than a couple of weeks against the county's latest files before you mail, because payments and sales post constantly.
@Dan Worth stacking works best for me when the signals are also recent..... A code case from last month plus a new delinquency tells a different story. Two flags that sat there for five years mean much less. So I keep the date each signal first showed up and sort by that..... In Allegheny do code cases get closed out, or do they mostly sit open?
One thing I would add is reachability. Before I spend time on equity or distress, I check whether there is a working phone and a mailing address that is not just the property itself. If a house looks vacant, the letter needs to go to the tax mailing address or it never reaches anyone. I learned that the slow way early on. On age, I am less worried about an older list if I recheck ownership and sale status right before I use it. A fresh list that has not been cleaned wastes more time than an older one that has.
Hajra — my checklist before a lead gets called or mailed, in order:
1. Ownership and mailing address: is the mailing address different from the property, and does the owner name match the county record? If the letter or the call is going to the house itself for an absentee owner, it's wasted.
2. Reachability: at least one verified wireless number, and if it's an LLC or trust, a contactable person behind it. No verified number and no person to reach is a park-it-for-later lead, not a call lead.
3. Throwaways, straight away: disconnected or wrong-person numbers, a sale or transfer since the list was pulled, and a deceased owner with no heir or estate contact to work from.
On age: a list isn't too old at a set number of days — it's too old when ownership or sale status hasn't been rechecked since it was pulled. I call within a few days of pulling and mail within about two weeks, and I recheck ownership and phone verification before I touch anything that's sat for 30 days. A fresh list that was never cleaned wastes more time than an older one that was rechecked.
@Chris Colton and @Jeff Fisher you both landed on the same point..... a list is only as fresh as its last recheck. I saw why in one Ohio county last month. One weekly comparison showed 457 owner changes and 431 tax balances paid off. Every one of those was a wasted letter on a list that still looked new..... Do you recheck tax status too, or mostly ownership?
Thanks Hajra, that Ohio example makes the point well. I recheck both. Ownership tells me who to reach, and tax status tells me whether the situation that put them on the list is still there. If the balance was paid off, the letter is wasted either way.
Good question Hajra. I recheck both, but for different reasons. Ownership is the big one for me, because if the owner changed or it is tied up in an estate or an LLC, I can waste a whole campaign reaching the wrong person. Tax status I check more for motivation and timing. If taxes are behind, that tells me there may be some pressure to sell, and if they just got caught up, the urgency may be gone. It only takes a minute before I call or mail, and it has saved me from chasing a lot of dead leads.
@Jeff Fisher and @Chris Colton one twist on the paid off ones..... look at when it was paid and what happened right before. A big balance cleared right after a new deed usually means the house already sold. A payment plan that just started is different. The owner is still under pressure and only buying time..... Many county treasurer sites show those plans if you know where to look.
That timing piece is spot on Hajra. I have chased paid off leads that looked perfect on paper and turned out the property had already changed hands, it just had not shown up clean in my list yet. Now I check the deed date against the payoff date before I spend time calling. The payment plan ones are interesting too, somebody who just started a plan is often trying to catch up and not out of the woods yet, so they stay on my call list if the rest of the record still shows stress.
Before anything else: does the owner on the list still own it? Check the county appraiser or recorder. Skip-tracing someone who sold three years ago is the most common waste. After that, look for stacked signals (absentee plus tax delinquent or a code violation) over any single filter, and equity, because without it there's no deal to talk about.
Things that get a lead dropped right away: it sold recently, it's already listed with an agent, or the owner died and nobody has authority to sell yet. Set that last one aside and come back to it through probate rather than throwing it away.
On list age: what matters is what's changed since you pulled it, not the date itself. Re-verify ownership before every new round of calls or mail.
One more thing: the check that matters most comes after the first conversation. What the owner told you on that call is a better filter than anything on the list.
@Michael Cox setting estate leads aside is where a lot of deals hide..... The record to watch is the probate docket. Once the court appoints an executor or administrator there's finally someone who can sign. And that date is public. I'd put a reminder on those leads and check the docket every few weeks..... I haven't worked Roanoke records though, so their court site may work a little differently.
Hi Hajra, great question. I see this from the other side — I'm a lender in Florida, so I see which leads actually turn into closable deals and which ones waste everyone's time.
Before I tell a wholesaler a lead is worth working, I check it in this order:
1. Equity first, always
If they bought in 2021-2022 at the top and have no equity, it doesn't matter how motivated they are. I can't fund it and your end buyer can't make money. I look for at least 30-40% equity, or a lot of distress that justifies a deep discount.
2. How long have they owned it?
10+ years of ownership is my favorite signal. Usually means low mortgage, maybe free and clear, and they have room to negotiate. Less than 2 years ownership is a red flag — they probably have no equity and just want out of a bad purchase.
3. Do the signals stack?
One signal alone doesn't mean much. Tax delinquent + absentee + owned 15 years + vacant? Now that's a real lead. Tax delinquent by itself could just be someone who forgot to pay one bill.
What makes me throw a lead away right away:
1. Already sold in the last 6 months — list is stale
2. Owner passed 3+ years ago and nothing filed in probate — you will spend 6 months just finding who can sign
3. LLC owned with no clear owner contact — hard to reach the real decision maker
4. No phone number or bad number after one skip trace — don't keep mailing the same dead lead
How old is too old for a list?
For me, a list is best in the first 2 weeks. After 30 days, if it's a good list, every other wholesaler in Ohio or West Virginia has already called them. After 90 days, it's only good if you are calling with a different angle — most people give up after 1-2 calls.
Since you work with county data, the most valuable thing you can give a wholesaler is not just the list, it's the stack. If you can flag "this one has 3 signals + equity + owner 12 years" — that's gold.
Quick question for you — are you pulling the equity / mortgage balance from county data too, or just the distress signals? The guys I work with will pay more for a list that already has equity filtered in.
Good post, curious what you are seeing in Ohio and West Virginia right now.
@Muyees Ayilara both..... Mortgages and their releases are county records too. So you can see if a loan was paid off and how old the debt is. That's how free and clear owners get found. Nobody can see today's exact balance though. So equity is always an estimate and I label it that way. In Florida the doc stamps also show the price paid, which helps a lot. Disclosure, I run LeadCounty so I'm biased..... it stacks those signals and shows the reason for each one. Happy to show you how a Florida county looks if that's useful.